Success came the club's way very quickly, because after being one of the founder members of Division 2 in 1894, they were champions the following season. The promotion they gained as their reward ended with a stay in the First Division until 1912, when the club developed quite a reputation as one of the best in the country at the time.

The Shakers obtained their nickname in 1891 when the chairman remarked that he expected his team to "shake" their opponents. However, referees got to hear of this and fearing the worst have ensured that the club have had disciplinary problems ever since. Many believe that the nickname actually derived from the nerves exhibited by the Bury players prior to their FA Cup Final of 1900, which they ended up winning. There were no such worries when they recorded a 6-0 victory over Derby County in the 1903 Final - a record that still stands today, nearly 100 years on.

Since these heady days, Bury have struggled in the lower divisions, although as recently as 1998-99, they were in the First Division. Even staging the first ever floodlit cricket match in Great Britain was a huge flop. The lack of success (the Third Division championship in 1961 aside) has prompted the club to consider drastic measures to try and "re-glamourise" itself. One such scheme wanted to change the name of the club t Manchester North End. Unsurprisingly, the two segments of some of their close rivals names did not appeal to the fans and the idea was scrapped. Another recent development has thrown up the idea of Bury and Rochdale merging to form a new club, but when the FA revealed that the "new" club would have to play in the lower division of the two "old" clubs, the proposal was soon interred under a welter of complaints. Many Spurs fans are hoping that the Lancashire club would merge with their North London rivals to become Bury-Arsenal. Yes, surely something many would like to see.

In 1981, the club had only scored three goals in eight league games, so they put an inexperienced young keeper in goal for training to encourage their forwards and in their next game they won 3-1 !! Unfortunately, they got carried away with the idea and put the youngster in goal for the following match and lost 7-0 !!

Although there is not too much exotic about the club these days, tropical health experts have been flocking to Gigg Lane after an outbreak of Beri-Beri, but it only turned out to be the fans breaking into song in praise of their team a la Frank Sinatra's "New York New York".

FAMOUS PLAYERS : - Colin Bell, Danny Wilson, Tony "Digger" Barnes, Norman Bullock, Neville Southall, Archibald Coughing, Bill Gorman.

FAMOUS FANS : - Mike Reid (Classic FM DJ), Mark E Smith (Musician - The Fall)

AWAY : Shirts - Peach and blue
Shorts - Peach and blue
Socks - Peach and blue

0 - 8  .v.  Swindon Town Div.3     8.12.1979