Bury are one game away from reaching the FA Cup first round proper for the first time in eight years, with Harrogate Town visiting Gigg Lane on Saturday in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round.
For a club that has been through a remarkable amount since 2019, the tie carries real significance. Bury have been promoted to League One, expelled from the EFL, folded, re-formed and re-emerged since George Glendon agreed a deal to join them just days before the club was expelled from the Football League. Now, with Bury operating in the seventh tier of English football, the chance to move into the first round proper offers both a sporting target and a symbolic one.
What is at stake?
The prize for Bury is simple: win and they go through to the FA Cup first round proper. That would mark their first appearance at that stage in eight years and give the club a major lift as they continue to focus on promotion from the Northern Premier League.
There is also the wider value of a cup run. A place in the first round proper brings added attention, live Sport coverage and prize money, all of which matter to a club at this level.
George Glendon on a big day for the club
Glendon, who joined Bury from Radcliffe Borough this summer, said the tie is huge for everyone connected with the club. He described it as “massive for the club for what they have been through” and said he hopes Saturday can become “a special day” if Bury can cause an upset and reach the first round proper.
He also pointed to the atmosphere around the cup run so far, saying Bury have done well in the competition and in the league, and that the occasion should mean a lot to the fans. For Glendon, the emotional pull is clear: he was around the club in 2019 and saw first-hand what happened when Bury folded, making this latest chapter feel especially meaningful.
A familiar name with a different context
Glendon’s journey with Bury has stretched across very different periods in the club’s history. In 2014, he was on the bench for Manchester City in a Champions League match against Bayern Munich, a game City won 3-2. Years later, he was training with Bury in the week they went bust and had been due to play at Doncaster away before the club’s collapse was confirmed.
He has described his time with Manchester City as “the best times of my life”, pointing to the experience, the places he got to see and the friendships that came from it. But Saturday gives him a different kind of opportunity: one tied directly to Bury’s present and to what the club still hopes to build.
Harrogate Town provide the opposition, but Bury will feel the bigger challenge is internal as much as external. With the club still working its way back and the first round proper within reach, the tie gives the Shakers a chance to add another important moment to a long recovery story.
