Bury Town FC

They did it! Promoted from the Isthmian League North Division! They’re managed by Cole Skuse, long time Ipswich Town midfielder (and yes, I’m part of the rare club of people who’ve seen him score!). Their director is also Alan Lee (

@Alandesmondlee), former Ipswich Town striker (I was at Elland Road the day Lee scored for us and sent Leeds down – I seem to remember him picking up a Leeds fan by the neck and placing him back into the stands during some of the chaos/pitch invasions that day).

Founded in 1872, Bury Town FC (@BuryTownFC) is one of the oldest football clubs in the country, boasting an impressive history. Their squad once included the brilliantly named Reginald De Courtney Welch, who not only played in the first-ever England vs Scotland international but also represented Wanderers FC, winners of the inaugural FA Cup in 1872.

Thanks to a community whip-round, they also became the first team in Suffolk to have floodlights, hosting the county’s first evening game in 1953. Their badge is a standout: modern, simple, and striking. Featuring the crown and crossed arrows of St Edmund, which also appear on the Suffolk flag and the Greene King brewery logo. As a logo, there’s few better. We all know the story, but it’s well worth a visit, so let’s #GetTheBadgeIn.

Cast your mind back 1,200 years to 840 AD. Edmund was King of East Anglia, a powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom that had thrived for centuries. To give context, the famous burial of King Rædwald at Sutton Hoo occurred 200 years earlier. However, by the 700s, a new threat had emerged…

Around 50 years before Edmund’s birth, the Vikings made landfall at Lindisfarne (north of Newcastle). They noticed the peculiar religion of the monks and, more importantly, the undefended wealth of the monasteries. After slaughtering the inhabitants, stealing the women, and looting everything, they returned to Norway and told their mates, “Lads, you won’t believe the away day we just had…. Same again next week?”.

And they did. Many, many times. The raids grew larger and more frequent until, in 869, the Vikings decided to go all in and take the land for themselves. They assembled an invasion force known as The Great Heathen Army, led by famous leaders, including Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan Ragnarsson. The Lowestoft band The Darkness made a brilliant video on this for their song Barbarians, a great history lesson on this incident – and surely a contender for a Suffolk National Anthem?

According to legend, when the Danes invaded East Anglia, King Edmund attempted to appease them by offering horses, hoping they would spare his kingdom. Instead, they ravaged the region and captured him. Refusing to renounce his Christian faith, Edmund was tied to a post and shot with arrows until he resembled a pincushion, yet he refused to die (there is a great statue of poor old Edmund covered in arrows on the roundabout as you enter the town today). Frustrated, the Danes beheaded him and discarded his head in the forest. The legend tells that Edmund’s followers searched for his head, which miraculously answered their calls, guiding them to its location where a wolf was guarding it from harm. This miracle contributed to Edmund’s sainthood, and his shrine in Bury St Edmunds became a significant pilgrimage site. The “Bury Wolves” is surely a future American Football/Speedway team or something?

Regardless, Edmund was given a sainthood and has a very strong claim to be the legitimate Patron Saint of England (he isn’t Turkish, for a start). We’ve also just missed St Edmund’s Day, on November 20th So that’s the badge. Bury itself has thrived as a centre of trade and pilgrimage, boosted by its grand Abbey, founded in the 11th century. Its thriving wool and brewing industries played a key role in its economic success, while its regular market, first granted a charter in 1235, attracted merchants from across the region.

More recently Greene King and Silver Spoon Sugar supply the nation with dopamine hits. Greene King today is owned by Hong Kong-based Hutchison Holdings, who also own Superdrug, the phone operator 3, and Felixstowe Port. Quite a portfolio. There are few things as English as being too stubborn to die.

There are few places as English as Bury St Edmunds. Each weekend Bury Town FC take to the pitch they’re representing a town of Angles, Abbeys, and Ale. Come on Bury, let’s get promoted this season and join the big boys in the National League. Do it for Edmund, do it for England.