MORE than 1,000 Bury football fans staged a weekend “promotion party” to celebrate their team’s elevation to League One.

Their heroes arrived in a vintage open-top bus at the new Rock development on Sunday to be greeted by chanting, cheering and flag-waving supporters.

Earlier, Shakers players and officials were guests at a private civic reception at the Town Hall, courtesy of their current sponsors, Bury Council.

But the highlight of Sunday afternoon’s celebration was the enthusiastic welcome the team received as their bus rolled into St John’s Square on The Rock around 3pm. After a few, short speeches, the players and their fans sang along, and even danced to, various songs played over the loudspeaker.

And the colourful scene was bathed in sunshine which had helped bring out the crowds. There was joy for the supporters as the Bury players were presented with their Football League medals for achieving automatic promotion. And the squad proudly held aloft the League Two runners-up trophy.

Bury mayor Councillor John Byrne, a loyal Shakers fan, congratulated the team on its success in winning promotion.

And commenting on the large gathering of fans, he said: “It means even more to them that you’ve turned out to say thank you to them in this way.

“In their last eight games, they’ve won six, drawn one and had one defeat. That is fantastic. We are going high next season — aren’t we?”

Caretaker manager Richie Barker thanked all the players and club staff and paid tribute to the supporters who had welcomed the team. “This is a massive boost to the players. Your support has been absolutely excellent.

“And a massive thank you to everyone who has made my job so easy,” he added.

Commenting on Bury’s performances since he took charge of the first team, Mr Barker continued: “They were excellent in every game. So, a big thank you to every one of them.”

One of Bury’s faithful fans among the throng was Mr Stephen Edyvean. He said: “I’ve been a Shakers supporter for around 55 years. At the start of the season, I believed we’d a chance of going up because we were near enough to promotion during the previous few seasons.

“And I think we can make a big push in League One. The reason why I’m here today is because I support the team and wanted to welcome the players.”

Another avid Shakers supporter who attended Sunday’s celebration was former Bury Council leader Laurie Bullas. Praising the team’s results following the departure of previous manager Alan Knill, he said: “This is a brilliant example of what can be achieved by sticking to your principles and pulling together.”

David Laycock, Rock centre director, commented: “This is a fantastic day for Bury and this celebration brings a real feelgood factor to the town.”