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Gigg Lane
Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gigg Lane was in continuous use by Bury until August 2019 when the club was expelled from the English Football League. The ground did not host competitive men's football between 4 May 2019, when Bury hosted Port Vale, and 29 July 2023.
In November 2020, Bury F.C. was placed in administration and the ground was later put up for sale by the administrator. In February 2022, the Est.1885 fans' group completed a deal to purchase the entire property. They also acquired the trading name and memorabilia of Bury F.C. The new owners formed the company Gigg Lane Stadium Limited and stated their intention to reopen the ground as a football venue by August 2022. On 29 July 2023, the newly reformed Bury FC played its first game at Gigg Lane, beating Glossop North End 5–1 in the North West Counties Football League.
Gigg Lane has four covered stands and has been an all-seater stadium since 2000. Its capacity when last used in 2019 was 11,840. The record attendance is 35,000 for an FA Cup tie in 1960 when the stands were nearly all terraced. FC United of Manchester had a ground-sharing agreement with Bury from 2005 to 2014. Besides football, the ground has been used for other sports including rugby league – it was the home of Swinton Lions for ten years from 1992.
Ahead of the 1885–86 English football season, the newly formed Bury F.C. leased a plot of land on Gigg Lane from the Earl of Derby's estate. On 12 September 1885, the first match played there was a friendly against Wigan A.F.C. and Bury won 4–3. Gigg Lane is one of the world's oldest professional football venues; the oldest in continuous use (excluding wartime) is Deepdale, home of Preston North End, which opened for football on 5 October 1878, seven years before Gigg Lane.
In 1889, Bury was a founder member of the Lancashire League and the ground began to be used on a regular basis. The first FA Cup tie played at Gigg Lane was a qualifying round match between Bury and Witton Albion on 3 October 1891, the home team winning 3–1. The ground staged its first match in the competition proper on 2 February 1895 when Bury defeated Leicester Fosse 4–1 in a first round tie.
In 1894, Bury joined the Football League and competed in the 1894–95 Second Division, which they won, thereby gaining promotion to the First Division. Their first Football League game at Gigg Lane was a 4–2 victory over Manchester City on 8 September 1894, before a crowd of 7,070.
Development of the ground over many years increased its capacity to around 32,000 before the Second World War. Anticipating a full house for the FA Cup third round tie against neighbouring Bolton Wanderers on 9 January 1960, the club installed additional crush barriers in the Manchester Road End. This raised the capacity to 35,000 and, as expected, the ground was full for the cup tie; the crowd that day remains the ground record. The tie ended 1–1 and Bury lost the replay 4–2 after extra time. Gigg Lane's record crowd for a Football League game is 34,386 at a Second Division (tier two) match against Blackpool on 1 January 1937, which Blackpool won 3–2. The highest all-seater attendance at Gigg Lane was recorded on 26 December 1999 when a crowd of 9,115 watched a Second Division (tier three) match against Burnley.
Gigg Lane's lowest crowd for a competitive first team game is 461 at a Football League Trophy tie against Tranmere Rovers on 26 February 1986. The ground's lowest Football League crowd is 1,096 at a Fourth Division match against Northampton Town on 5 May 1984.
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Gigg Lane
Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gigg Lane was in continuous use by Bury until August 2019 when the club was expelled from the English Football League. The ground did not host competitive men's football between 4 May 2019, when Bury hosted Port Vale, and 29 July 2023.
In November 2020, Bury F.C. was placed in administration and the ground was later put up for sale by the administrator. In February 2022, the Est.1885 fans' group completed a deal to purchase the entire property. They also acquired the trading name and memorabilia of Bury F.C. The new owners formed the company Gigg Lane Stadium Limited and stated their intention to reopen the ground as a football venue by August 2022. On 29 July 2023, the newly reformed Bury FC played its first game at Gigg Lane, beating Glossop North End 5–1 in the North West Counties Football League.
Gigg Lane has four covered stands and has been an all-seater stadium since 2000. Its capacity when last used in 2019 was 11,840. The record attendance is 35,000 for an FA Cup tie in 1960 when the stands were nearly all terraced. FC United of Manchester had a ground-sharing agreement with Bury from 2005 to 2014. Besides football, the ground has been used for other sports including rugby league – it was the home of Swinton Lions for ten years from 1992.
Ahead of the 1885–86 English football season, the newly formed Bury F.C. leased a plot of land on Gigg Lane from the Earl of Derby's estate. On 12 September 1885, the first match played there was a friendly against Wigan A.F.C. and Bury won 4–3. Gigg Lane is one of the world's oldest professional football venues; the oldest in continuous use (excluding wartime) is Deepdale, home of Preston North End, which opened for football on 5 October 1878, seven years before Gigg Lane.
In 1889, Bury was a founder member of the Lancashire League and the ground began to be used on a regular basis. The first FA Cup tie played at Gigg Lane was a qualifying round match between Bury and Witton Albion on 3 October 1891, the home team winning 3–1. The ground staged its first match in the competition proper on 2 February 1895 when Bury defeated Leicester Fosse 4–1 in a first round tie.
In 1894, Bury joined the Football League and competed in the 1894–95 Second Division, which they won, thereby gaining promotion to the First Division. Their first Football League game at Gigg Lane was a 4–2 victory over Manchester City on 8 September 1894, before a crowd of 7,070.
Development of the ground over many years increased its capacity to around 32,000 before the Second World War. Anticipating a full house for the FA Cup third round tie against neighbouring Bolton Wanderers on 9 January 1960, the club installed additional crush barriers in the Manchester Road End. This raised the capacity to 35,000 and, as expected, the ground was full for the cup tie; the crowd that day remains the ground record. The tie ended 1–1 and Bury lost the replay 4–2 after extra time. Gigg Lane's record crowd for a Football League game is 34,386 at a Second Division (tier two) match against Blackpool on 1 January 1937, which Blackpool won 3–2. The highest all-seater attendance at Gigg Lane was recorded on 26 December 1999 when a crowd of 9,115 watched a Second Division (tier three) match against Burnley.
Gigg Lane's lowest crowd for a competitive first team game is 461 at a Football League Trophy tie against Tranmere Rovers on 26 February 1986. The ground's lowest Football League crowd is 1,096 at a Fourth Division match against Northampton Town on 5 May 1984.
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