Bury have been expelled by the English Football League after a takeover bid from C&N Sporting Risk collapsed.
The League One club had been given until 17:00 BST on Tuesday to complete the deal, having been granted an extension to Friday’s initial deadline.
Bury are the first team to drop out of the EFL since Maidstone’s liquidation in 1992.
League One will comprise of 23 clubs for the rest of the season, with only three teams to be relegated.
“Today is undoubtedly one of the darkest days in the league’s recent history,” said EFL executive chair Debbie Jevans.
“I understand this will be a deeply upsetting and devastating time for Bury’s players, staff, supporters and the wider community. There is no doubt today’s news will be felt across the entire football family.”
Bolton Wanderers, also of League One, have been given 14 days to avoid being expelled themselves, with their prospective takeover by Football Ventures (Whites) Limited still yet to go through.
In a statement on Monday the club’s administrators warned they are on the brink of liquidation, saying if they were unable to resurrect the move the club was “not in a position to carry on trading”.
‘No-one wanted to be in this position’
The EFL had suspended each of Bury’s first six fixtures this season, requesting evidence the Shakers could pay off creditors and had the funding to make it through the campaign.
In a statement at 23:05 BST on Tuesday, the league said they decided “after a long and detailed discussion” to withdraw Bury’s EFL membership “with enormous regret”.
“No-one wanted to be in this position but following repeated missed deadlines, the suspension of five league fixtures, in addition to not receiving the evidence we required in regard to financial commitments and a possible takeover not materialising; the EFL board has been forced to take the most difficult of decisions,” Jevans said.
Bury were initially given until 23:59 BST on Friday to either provide the required information or find a buyer to take them over.
With the third-tier side effectively an hour from being thrown out of the EFL, owner Steve Dale told BBC Radio Manchester he had sold the club and they were set to survive.
That news subsequently secured them an extension until Tuesday to complete the deal, but C&N Sporting Risk quickly expressed concern it was still not enough time.
An estimated 300 volunteers turned up at the club’s Gigg Lane home on Tuesday to help get the ground ready for Saturday’s scheduled game against Doncaster Rovers, but their efforts were in vain.
Founded in 1885 and first elected to the EFL nine years later, Bury were playing in what is now known as the Championship as recently as 1999 and have twice won the FA Cup.
No club has ever dropped out of the third tier before, and the Shakers also become the first FA Cup winners to have been expelled by the EFL.
England women’s manager Phil Neville, whose mother Jill resigned as Bury’s club secretary last week, described their demise as an “absolute disgrace” on Friday.
Supporters staged numerous protests in the build-up to the deadline, with former director Joy Hart handcuffing herself to a drainpipe outside their Gigg Lane home and a coffin reading ‘RIP Bury FC 1885-?’ placed at the directors’ entrance.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham also wrote to EFL chief executive Debbie Jevans asking for the club to be granted more time “given the urgency of Bury’s plight”.
