On 23 and 24 November, this year’s Design Manchester festival closed with the We Are Bury pop-up exhibition in the railway arches at Mayfield close to Manchester Piccadilly Station. Curated by Zoë Hitchen, who began her career as a photographer with Bury Football Club, the exhibition brought together an extensive range of mementoes and memorabilia from one of the oldest football clubs in England, which was expelled from the English Football League (having been promoted to League One the previous season) on 27 August 2019.

The case of Bury highlighted the precarious nature of community football and the massive cultural and social impact on local communities of the sport's failure to find a better structure for securing its grass roots.

Design Manchester's Kasper de Graaf was executive producer of the exhibition, which was presented by Design Manchester in partnership with Bury Art Museum.

Photos by Sebastian Matthes / Manix for Design Manchester.