BURY FC fans reacted with sadness, despair and anger after their club was expelled from the Football League.

The Shakers were given until 5pm on Tuesday to finalise a takeover or their 125-year stay in the league would be over.

After a takeover from prospective buyers C&N Sporting Risk collapsed, the EFL issued a statement later that evening confirming the club’s expulsion.

Devastated fans gathered at Bury’s Gigg Lane home on Wednesday morning to try and take stock of the news that has stunned a community.

Simon Ronksley, aged 41, said he was in a “state of shock”.

“It is just gut-wrenching,” he added.

“This club is an addiction. It is something I have grown up with and there are very few things you keep with that constancy apart from family.”

Fellow fan Greg Edyvean, aged 38, added: “Last night I was absolutely devastated, but I’ve woken up angry. The EFL wanted to make an example of us. It’s disgusting.

“This will wreck this community. I’ve got no interest in football any more; this was my interest and everything else fit around it. Now there’s nothing.”

Margaret Smith, 86, had to be helped to Gigg Lane to say goodbye to her club. She proudly told onlookers she had been to every home game for more than 80 years, since getting become a supporter at age four.

She said: “My husband had been watching this team since he was four he's now 88 and he's so devastated he can't face coming here.

"He's lying on the couch, he's broken-hearted. I have seen so many players at this club and it's a crime what they have done to it. It's devastated a community."

Greg’s uncle, Stephen Edyvean, has been following the Shakers for 55 years and said the club’s expulsion had left him feeling “gutted, empty, and devastated”.

He also took aim at the EFL, accusing them of making a “scapegoat” of the club. “We have been let down,” said Mr Edyvean.

“It’s an absolute disgrace, the way the EFL have handled it. They kept saying they were helping us, but they seemed hell bent on getting rid of us.”

As the rain teemed down on Gigg Lane, devastated fans continued to arrive at the ground, adding to the tributes adorning the railings outside.

Among them was Michael Henson, aged 25. Three generations of his family have supported the Shakers and he said he was still feeling “numb” after hearing the news.

“I’m heartbroken,” he said. “The club I have supported all my life has gone.

“It means everything. It is somewhere to go when you have had a bad week and need to forget everything.”

A fan of 70 years, Kenny Hindle, had turned up at the ground to try and get a refund on the season ticket he bought earlier in the summer.

He said: “The club means everything to me. It’s just your life, isn’t it? I had a lot of friends here and I just hope it can rise again.”

David Foster, aged 61, from Edenfield, added: “How can two people take away all this? Steve Dale and Stewart Day have ruined this place.

“I know we sometimes walk out and think you aren’t going to come back, but you still do because it is in your blood. Once a Shaker, always a Shaker.”