Lee Bracey will be our guest for the AFC Liverpool fixture tomorrow evening, James Bentley looks back on his career.
Lee Bracey arrived at Gigg Lane from Halifax Town in the late summer of 1993, following Gary Kelly’s injury sustained after John McGinlay’s vicious assault on him in the first round of the League Cup versus Bolton, which Bury won 2-0.
Choosing not to continue with Craig Nixon, who replaced Kelly from the bench, or amateur Paul Collings, who played the first game after the Bolton game, manager Mike Walsh turned to Bracey and gave him a route back into the Football League following Halifax’s relegation into the Conference the season before. His Bury debut was the second leg of the League Cup tie and after the Wanderers drew the tie level in normal time, the match went to a penalty shootout. Bracey saved the first penalty, taken by former Shakers hero David Lee, though the visitors went on to claim victory.
Penalties were something of a speciality of Bracey’s during his time at Bury. While he was at Swansea City, he saved a Liam Robinson spot kick on a snow-covered Gigg Lane pitch in February 1991 and he continued this fine form from 12 yards with saves in the home win versus S¿¿¿¿horpe United and two in the same game at Doncaster Rovers’ tumbledown Belle Vue, in a game which Bury won 3-1.
Bracey played every game for the remainder of the 1993/94 season but the following two seasons saw him as second choice following Kelly’s recovery. However, he always stepped up to the plate when he was needed across those two campaigns including in such crucial games as the FA Cup second round match versus Crewe at Gresty Road in which Bury shocked their opponents from the division above their own.
After Kelly’s departure, Lee remained second choice following Dean Kiely’s arrival. He did not make any appearances in the 1996/97 season and after the Shakers sealed the Division Two championship he moved to Ipswich Town for a fee of £40,000. He later played for Hull City, where he saw out his Football League days.
Credit: Greater Manchester Police
While first training and subsequently working as a constable for Greater Manchester Police, Essex boy Lee turned out for a number of non-league clubs in the north including Chorley and Rossendale United. He has settled in the area with his wife Claire and their two boys and it will be a pleasure to welcome back this fans’ favourite.
