Out Of Our League is a new podcast series that charts Bury FC’s fall from grace and what the fans did next after their club was expelled from the English Football League last year.
The 10-part series follows fans plotting a return to form and investigates what their demise means for the English game.
It features interviews with unpaid former players, the women’s team cut adrift and the fans that desperately tried to save the Shakers, to look into the failures that led to Bury’s expulsion.
Out Of Our League also goes behind the scenes with the fans left to pick up the pieces and form a new team, Bury AFC.
Travelling across the UK and beyond to meet clubs that have suffered a similar fate and been reborn, plus those on the brink of their own catastrophe, the podcast hears from managers, players and politicians.
The series examines the world of non-league football and asks is a comeback for Bury possible against the backdrop of a pandemic? It’s the never-say-die fans who are at the heart of this story, as they are determined to build a new team up from the ground.
BBC journalists and long-time Bury supporters Mark Crossley and Sanny Rudravajhala present the podcast, which is available on BBC Sounds.
BBC Radio Manchester journalist Mark covered every inch of Bury’s expulsion from the Football League. Sanny recently came through the BBC’s New Voices project, having quit his job of 9 years as a science teacher to return to studying to become a journalist. He once had the added distinction of being the drummer at Bury’s games.
Speaking about the podcast series, Mark Crossley says: “Out Of Our League is the story of what the fans did next and what Bury’s experience means for English football.
“It also comes at a really important time, when the new Premier League and EFL seasons are about to kick off without a fan in sight.”
Sanny Rudravajhala added: “The common theme with every club we have spoken to is that there are characters with the passion and determination to triumph against all odds. At every turn, the Bury supporters starting a new team have been up against it and that’s even before you think about trying to launch during lockdown!”
The first three episodes of Out Of Our League drop are available on BBC Sounds, with the next seven being be released each Wednesday.
