WALKING into Gigg Lane for last week's match against Wrexham, you sensed something just wasn't quite right.

Chairman Terry Robinson's resignation on Monday had cast a giant shadow over the club and couldn't you tell?

His decision to sever his links with the Shakers speaks volumes about the grim situation at Gigg.

It's a sequence of events that should concern everybody who has affection for the 117 year-old club.

Little did Terry know that when the Hugh Eaves saga reared it's ugly head, the former Bury FC owner's shareholding would still be up for sale two-and-a-half years later.

The strain of keeping the Shakers afloat during those difficult times has clearly taken its toll on a man who had reluctantly reached the end of his tether.

While Terry has never been a stranger to making ends meet on a shoestring - what lower division club chairman is? - the lack of progress in Mansport's proposed takeover of the club resulted in an uncertainty that made an extremely difficult job virtually impossible.

We at the Bury Times wish Terry well in whatever he goes on to pursue in the future and thank him for the sterling work he has put in on the club's behalf. He hasn't always seen eye-to-eye with what's been printed on the pages of the BT, but that's never been allowed to get in the way of as amicable a relationship a chairman and his local newspaper can have.

He leaves having overseen some of the brightest days in the club's modern history.

Who could forget that day at Wembley in May 1995 (despite the defeat!); the amazing back-to-back promotions that followed and that glorious St Valentine's Day 1998 when the Shakers beat Manchester City at Maine Road - a result that just goes to show how quickly fortunes can change in the world of football?

Terry can also depart knowing that no-one could have done more to keep professional football on the menu at Gigg Lane and not even his most vociferous critics - and no-one knows better than him he has one or two - could deny he had the club at heart.

The remaining directors, Fred Mason and John Smith, also know well enough what a tough act they have to follow as they step into the breach.

They, as well as manager Andy Preece and all the staff, will need the full support of the town over the next difficult weeks.

Hopefully the consortium will now move quickly to take over the reins and end the uncertainty that has resulted in the departure of the club's longest-serving chairman.

They too will need the support of the town and we welcome their involvement in taking the club into a third century.

Whatever happens, it is now more important than ever to stick together and get behind Bury Football Club.

Why not start tomorrow afternoon when the lads take on runaway Second Division leaders Reading at Gigg?

PHIL THORP (sports editor)