BURY chairman Stewart Day provided Shakers fans who trekked down to Southend on Friday night with an early Christmas present after treating them to a free pie and a hot drink.

Day organised for all the 177 Bury supporters who made the 500-mile round trip to receive a voucher for refreshments on entry to Roots Hall.

The gesture, which would have cost around £800, was not the first time the chairman has dipped into his own pocket to reward the Bury faithful.

Day made a similar gesture to fans on a Tuesday night trip to Torquay and put on 19 free coaches for a trip to Norwich in the Capital One Cup.

“We just wanted to give something back to the fans that had travelled down on a Friday evening just before Christmas," Day told BBC Greater Manchester after the disappointing 4-1 defeat at Southend.

“We wanted to give them something in return so what I did was I put a voucher on for them so that every supporter that came through the turnstile got a free hot drink and a free pie paid for by myself.

 

 

“I think people have got to appreciate that people have paid their hard earned money to come and watch the team play.

"We are very thankful of that and very thankful of the support they give to us. They are long journeys when you have got to go to places like Southend on a Friday night just before Christmas.

“Some clubs have done away travel and tried to pay for that but we have just tried something a little bit different.

“We are very thankful for the supporters. The supporters are the main thing at a football club, so we wanted them to know just how appreciated they are.

“It's a massive thing for us and the town and that's why I wanted to make sure it's going from strength to strength and the supporters are a vital part of that.

“Hopefully, they will come down more in their numbers.

"We have got a big game against Barnsley on boxing day and hopefully we will have a big attendance for that fixture.”