Bury News Feed

We can confirm the departure of forward Connor Comber. We have been informed by another club that Connor has agreed to sign for them. We haven’t had any contact with him for a number of weeks. Numerous attempts have been made to contact him with no response. Connor had been struggling with a knee injury sustained towards the end of pre-season, which left him out the squad in initial weeks. The 23-year-old made 85 appearances for the club scoring 29 goals and making 22 assists. We would like to wish him all the best for the future. View the full article

Our women’s first team hosts Fleetwood Town Wrens following a successful first home game at Gigg Lane, with the Shakers looking to build on the strength they delivered over the bank holiday weekend.
 Fleetwood Town Wrens finished eighth in the table last season, just one place above Bury. Out of two games played so far in the 2024-25 season, the Wrens drew 3-3 against FC United of Manchester, and lost 4-3 against Crewe Alexandra, currently sitting eight in the table compared to Bury’s third place seat. In the most recent meeting between the sides we saw a level draw with each team scoring a goal, back in March. Earlier in the season, in Bury’s home fixture, the Shakers came out on top in what was an impressive 3-1 win. Don’t miss out on what will undoubtedly be an exciting game, and head down to Gigg Lane to show your support. Entry via turnstile at the Manchester Road End from 7pm. Prices: £3 adults, £1 children Parking: limited – spaces are first come first served Please note, this match has a 200 person capacity, and the kiosk will be open for food and drink. View the full article

CEO Neil Sears will host his first Q&A update video of the new season in September. Neil will be able to answer relevant questions about football around operations & day to day running of the club. We’d encourage fans to watch the previous CEO update videos, so we avoid repeats of questions that Neil has answered previously. Please email your questions to media@buryfc.co.uk by 5pm on Monday 16th September. View the full article

Thank you for your continued support of the club. Bury FC is a community, fan-owned football club competing in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division. #BuryFC | #PartOfIt

Thank you for your continued support of the club. Bury FC is a community, fan-owned football club competing in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division. #BuryFC | #PartOfIt

Thank you for your continued support of the club. Bury FC is a community, fan-owned football club competing in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division. #BuryFC | #PartOfIt

Thank you for your continued support of the club. Bury FC is a community, fan-owned football club competing in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division. #BuryFC | #PartOfIt

It’s the final game in our Gigg Lane triple header this week, as we host Cheadle Town on Bank Holiday Monday. Saturday saw us book our place into the next round of the FA Vase, with a 3-1 win over Maghull. After a goalless first half. Iyrwah Gooden got the first goal inside five second half minutes, before Bebeto Gomes poked home from close range on 73 minutes. Maghull’s Adam Hammill grabbed a goal back with an amazing free kick, whilst Alik Babayan sealed the victory in stoppage time. We return to the league action in sixth position, five points off league leaders Ramsbottom who picked up another league victory on Saturday, in one of the five league games played whilst the Shakers were in cup action. You can hear from manager Dave McNabb and the outgoing Efe Ambrose, as well as catchup on the match highlights below: In Opposition – Cheadle Town Cheadle Town are in 10th position in the league, having drawn 0-0 at home to Stockport Town on Wednesday evening in their last league outing before a 3-1 win in the FA Vase against Glasshoughton Welfare. They started life in 1961 as a Sunday League side called Grasmere Rovers and took their present name in 1983 when they joined the NWCFL. They finally reached the Premier Division after a highly successful 2022-23 season and finished in 13th position in 2023-24. On the Day & In the Ground Our brand new Matchday @ Gigg guide is available to read to find out everything you need to know going on in and around the ground. Click on the image to the left to review all Gigg has to offer! Tony Rigby is our special guest in Starkies & Eyelevel Sponsors Lounge. Match Coverage & Live Stream If you are unable to make it to the action at Gigg Lane, we’ll have all the live coverage across our media platforms. Live Stream: The game will be broadcast live from Gigg Lane via our new streaming service accessed via TicketCo. The cost is £7.29 (inc.VAT & fees). Season ticket holders can gain access to live streams for FREE as part of their season ticket purchase. Enter your 5-letter reference code from your season ticket receipt in the ‘Promocode’ box and click apply. Your link to access the game will be provided in your receipt following the transaction. CLICK HERE TO BUY MONDAY’S LIVE STREAM Keep up-to-date with all our video content via the club’s YouTube Channel. Click to subscribe and never miss highlights and match reaction across the season. Audio Commentary: Roch Valley Radio will be providing commentary for this game. Join the team from the press box at Gigg Lane. Click here ahead of kick-off to listen live. Audio commentary will be provided for every game of the season, so you will never miss a piece of the action. Social Media: Our team will also bring you in-depth text commentary via the club ‘MatchDay Live‘ Twitter feed, with team news and half time and full time updates available also on Facebook and feel like you are there with our match galleries and imagery available over on Instagram. Whatever the weather, wherever you are across the globe, we have you covered. Up the Shakers! #ShakersTogether | #BuryFC | #PartOfIt View the full article

Tony Rigby is our guest for Monday’s Bank Holiday clash with Cheadle Town, James Bentley looks back on his career. Ask a Bury fan between the ages of about 38 and 50 who their favourite player is and it’s a certainty that a significant proportion will answer ‘Tony Rigby’. He is their Greg Farrell, the skilful maestro with a football, the silky maverick who scored some of the greatest goals they ever saw from the time when football meant everything to them – more than their school work, their first, tentative steps into employment and their nightlife in Waldo Peppers and the Roxy. Rigby’s arrival at Gigg Lane was inauspicious to say the least. We knew that in John King, Mike Walsh’s assistant manager in the 1992/93 season, we had a member of the backroom staff who knew the non-league scene inside-out. Nick Daws had already been recruited and, though starting the season playing on a part-time basis, he was fast becoming the reliable, solid pro who would go onto have the most efficient of careers. So when the fashionably-straggly-haired Rigby came from Barrow as the Shakers pushed for promotion from the basement at the first attempt in 1993, hopes were high. Over the next six years, he didn’t disappoint. Coming straight into the side, he made a midfield berth his own and showed a sign of things to come with an excellent goal at York in the league before Bury missed out in the play-offs to the same side, featuring one Dean Kiely in goal. Further magical performances followed in the damp squib that was the 1993/94 season but it was in the following campaign that his stock really rose. His incredible goal against Preston in the second leg of the play-off semi-final played on the Gigg Lane mudbath and sandpit is a favourite goal for a generation of fans and he was only the width of a post away from getting Bury back into the resulting final against Chesterfield at Wembley. The next season brought with it more spectacular strikes including those against Reading – twice – and Lincoln and Cardiff, the latter coming on the day Bury finally escaped the basement. Although he played a restricted role in the second successive promotion season which followed, Tony’s attitude and nature meant that he was the perfect person to have in the squad to keep spirits high as the jitters set in. Yet when he was offered his opportunity in the second tier, he grabbed it with both hands as anyone who was at St Andrews on that chilly night in February 1998 will testify. To score from such a distance, against a goalkeeper who was part of a team pushing for the Premier League, with such an audacious distance, was Tony Rigby all over. It’s why he’s loved and why he’ll get such a terrific response from the fans today. View the full article

We take on Garforth Town in the FA Cup First Qualifying Round next Saturday. We have one coach available for fans to book themselves onto. The supporters coach departs Gigg Lane at 12:30pm, returning at 5:15pm post-match. No Alcohol will be permitted on this coach. Click here to buy your ticket. Any queries, please contact either Joan (07592017525) or Karen (07857316444). View the full article

Thank you for your continued support of the club. Bury FC is a community, fan-owned football club competing in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division. #BuryFC | #PartOfIt

Thank you for your continued support of the club. Bury FC is a community, fan-owned football club competing in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division. #BuryFC | #PartOfIt

Jason Jarrett’s Bury Women’s First team have been working hard over the summer and have welcomed excellent new additions to the squad, are looking sharp and ready for the new season ahead. Following a stunning 5-0 thriller, played behind closed doors at Gigg Lane, they now look forward to further training sessions and matches at the stadium with some restrictions in place initially. The opening game of the season saw the team travel down to local rivals Salford City FC on Wednesday 21st August and they shared the points in a 1-1 draw, with Bury dominating at times. The first home game is against Tranmere Rovers at Gigg Lane, and is part of the club Fun Day on Sunday 25th August. Entry is just £3 for adults and free for children and includes fun day entry, a recreational tournament in the morning, the women’s match at 2pm, followed by a fans team charity match. Then on Wednesday 28th, Fleetwood Town will visit Gigg Lane, followed by Mancunian Unity on Sunday September 1st. For these two matches, and whilst we navigate the logistics and procedures of hosting additional games at the stadium, attendance will be capped at 200 with spectators using the West Stand (Manchester Road End). Our match day caterers will open a kiosk selling food and beverages and the car park will be open on a first come first served basis. Entry for these matches will be £3 for adults and £1 for under 16s. Following these games, we will review the systems in place as we look to grow the fan base for our women’s fixtures. We will be adopting a similar model for our men’s reserves (u23s) fixtures on Monday evenings. View the full article

We are delighted to announce the signing of goalkeeper Mitch Allen. The 24-year-old joins the club after leaving Prescot Cables earlier this month. He started out in the Stoke City academy aged 8 progressing right through the ranks to their Under 18’s side. After leaving Stoke in July 2018 he went into play for Stratford Town, Buxton & Prescot Cables where he spent four years until recently. Mitch was apart of the team that won the playoffs with Cables last season as well as winning goalkeeper of the season in the NPL West. He will provide cover and competition for Tom Stewart. Tom has some work commitments coming up over the next few weeks which will mean he misses a few games, so it was imperative that we had a top class goalkeeper to provide cover. Mitch told buryfc.co.uk after signing: “Delighted to be signing for Bury, such a massive club with great ambitions, can’t wait to get going and to hopefully help the club gain promotion.” Manager, Dave McNabb added: “Mitch has proved himself to be one of the best keepers in the NPL over the last few years. He’s an exceptional shot stopper with the ability to make match winning saves. Mitch’s distribution is another one of his outstanding qualities with the ability to turn defence to attack in the blink of an eye.” Lead Image Credit: John Middleton View the full article

We are delighted to announce the signing of defender Ben Hockenhull. The 22-year-old joins us after leaving Tranmere Rovers in the summer. Ben came through the youth ranks at Manchester United before signing a pro deal at Brentford and spent 2 years there before moving to Tranmere in 2022. Spent most of his time at Tranmere on loan at Warrington Rylands, Chorley, Spennymoor and Southport making 20 appearances in the Northern Premier League and 20 in the National League North. Following his final loan at Southport, Ben started the final three games of the League 2 season for Tranmere. Upon signing he said: “I’m delighted to join a big club like Bury. I can’t wait to show the fans what I can do and help the team try and win the league, taking the club in a direction back to where it belongs.” He joins the Shakers to provide competition in the centre back position now that Efe is leaving the club. Manager, Dave McNabb added: “A brilliant addition following on from Efe leaving the club. I’ve watched Ben a lot playing in the NPL and NLN and have always been very impressed. “A tall, strong and powerful centre half who is very excellent defensively. He’s quick and very comfortable in possession with the ability to play out from the back and help build attacks from deep.” Lead Image Credit: Richard Ault View the full article

The club is sad to report that Saturday’s game will be Efe Ambrose’s last for the club. Arriving on a wave of publicity, we were delighted to welcome Efe to Gigg Lane over the summer, he became an instant hit with the fans and the wider footballing community to see him continuing in the game. The former Celtic player, 35, who had gained experience in the Champions League and secured 4-league titles north of the border as well as international recognition with Nigeria securing the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013, left Scottish League One side Queen of the South at the end of last season. He featured in five out of seven pre-season friendlies and has so far started four games in the competitive campaign, scoring in our 7-1 win at Abbey Hey last week, supplying all those in attendance with his customary back-flip goal celebration. Continuing to reside in Scotland, Ambrose was regularly travelling to the north-west for both training and matches. Despite a willingness to do this and play in front of the Gigg Lane crowd, this has caught up with earlier training times and the rigours of negotiating late motorway closures effecting the Ambrose family to a point whereby it has become no longer be sustainable. After some open conversations with manager Dave McNabb over the past two weeks to explain this decision, Efe agreed to stay on to assist the club during a busy fixture period. Manager, Dave McNabb reacted to the news: “I’m absolutely gutted about the situation with Efe. He has been brilliant for the team since he signed and even better off the pitch with me, the staff and the other players. He’s a true gentleman and one of the kindest and most down to earth men I have ever met. “His love for the game is infectious. During a training session a couple of weeks ago, we ran a session where we had three rolling teams of seven. Efe quickly realised that two teams where a man short which often meant some changeover of bibs as the teams rolled on and off. Efe being Efe, wearing a blue bib, quickly grabbed a red bib and a green bib and put them in his pocket so that whenever his team rolled off, he could quickly put on one of the other colours and carry on playing. Not only did this clearly show how much he loves playing the beautiful game but also show his experience and intelligence. “Unfortunately, despite his desire for the game and how much he has loved his time with Bury a few of the challenges we were aware of when he signed have actually shown to be a bit bigger than anticipated due to some unforeseen elements. “I can’t thank Efe enough for everything he has done for me and the club in his short spell here and wish him and his family nothing but the best for the future.” The game against Maghull in the FA Vase will be Efe’s last so we urge all supporters to give him a great send off at Gigg Lane on Saturday afternoon. View the full article

Mark Patterson will be our guest for our FA Vase fixture against Maghull tomorrow, James Bentley looks back on his career. It’s no overstatement to say that Mark Patterson saved Bury Football Club when he was sold to Bolton in January 1991. Close season spending had reached previously unprecedented levels just six months before, when a combined £430,000 was spent on John McGinlay, Colin Greenall, Roger Stanislaus and Ronnie Mauge. When things started going from adequately to awry on the pitch, culminating in the defeat at Chorley in the first round of the cup, the 1990 cash crisis began as Hugh Eaves withdrew his funding. Mark had been a consistent performer in the Bury midfield since his arrival from Preston in the middle of the 1989/90 season, helping the Shakers to the Third Division play-offs which they lost at the semi-final stage to Tranmere Rovers. A tendency for the spectacular, including a jinking, slaloming run against Blackpool that concluded with a beautiful chip over George Wood, went hand in hand with a combative style that fans love. Patterson’s determination to win was forged on the streets of East Lancashire where he was born and where he made his league debut, for Blackburn Rovers. His performances hadn’t gone unnoticed by Phil Neal, who was managing that lot up Bolton Road. In fact, there was no way he could have not noticed Mark’s opening goal for Bury in the Gigg Lane derby played in October 1990 when he hit one of the most sweetly-struck free-kicks the Manchester Road End has ever seen, from all of 30 yards out, to leave Dave Felgate flapping at fresh air. As the cash crisis bit hard, the entire playing staff was put on the transfer list. Neal pounced and took Mark to Burnden Park where he had a hugely successful spell in Bolton’s team that enjoyed cup runs and promotions while we enviously looked on. But at least we had a club thanks to the Wanderers’ cash that kept the wolf from the door, at least until Bury’s next financial implosion in 2001/02. By that time, Mark had spent a second spell at Bury as he signed for Stan Ternent’s side following a morning meeting in Magaluf with Stan, Sam Ellis, Terry Robinson and his then manager at Sheffield United, Howard Kendall. While not as successful as his first, Mark weighed in with one of the three spectacular goals away at Birmingham City in March 1998. If this all sounds very entertaining, that’s because that’s exactly what Mark’s career was. So too is his story which he tells in his autobiography ‘Old School – A Proper Football Education’ and it will be great to see him back at Gigg. View the full article

The Shakers march on! Tuesday’s convincing 2-0 league victory against AFC Liverpool lifted us to fifth position in the league table, just two points behind leaders Ramsbottom United. We now face Maghull at home in the FA Vase first qualifying stage on Saturday and Cheadle Town in the league on Monday. There was only ever one team in Tuesday’s match, although there was quite a gap between the goals. Skipper Macauley Wilson’s header gave us the lead on 12 minutes, and it was a long 80 minutes more before we hit a second. But Rustam Stepans’ cool and clinical penalty clincher on 90+2 was well worth the wait. After five league games, unbeaten Bury are now in 5th place on 11 points – just two behind Ramsbottom United and Chadderton. Now if we’d won instead of drawing against Irlam in our first game on the 3G pitch… But there’s every reason to be positive as we face two more games at Gigg Lane in three days. Up first: Maghull FC in the FA Vase first preliminary round on Saturday. In Opposition – Maghull Maghull went down 3-2 away to Manchester side Maine Road FC on Monday evening. They are currently fifth in Division One North of the NWCFL, having won four matches, drawn two and lost two. The Merseyside club was founded in 1921 and joined the Zingari Alliance League 1922-23. They were in the Cheshire County League when it linked up with the Lancashire Combination to create the NWCFL in 1988. On the Day & In the Ground Our brand new Matchday @ Gigg guide is available to read to find out everything you need to know going on in and around the ground. Click on the image to the left to review all Gigg has to offer! Mark Patterson is our special guest in Starkies & Eyelevel Sponsors Lounge. Match Coverage & Live Stream If you are unable to make it to the action at Gigg Lane, we’ll have all the live coverage across our media platforms. Live Stream: A live stream will not be available for this game. Keep up-to-date with all our video content via the club’s YouTube Channel. Click to subscribe and never miss highlights and match reaction across the season. Audio Commentary: Roch Valley Radio will be providing commentary for this game. Join the team from the press box at Gigg Lane. Click here ahead of kick-off to listen live. Audio commentary will be provided for every game of the season, so you will never miss a piece of the action. Social Media: Our team will also bring you in-depth text commentary via the club ‘MatchDay Live‘ Twitter feed, with team news and half time and full time updates available also on Facebook and feel like you are there with our match galleries and imagery available over on Instagram. Whatever the weather, wherever you are across the globe, we have you covered. Up the Shakers! #ShakersTogether | #BuryFC | #PartofIt View the full article

Thank you for your continued support of the club. Bury FC is a community, fan-owned football club competing in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division. #BuryFC | #PartOfIt

This week’s Treasureline Winners for Week 13 – 21st August 2024 are in! The rollover this week was £2000 and remember it can reach up to a life-changing £10,000!! Want to be part of it? Join here Prize Draw No. Members Name £2000 Rollover BK1211 J O’GARA £1000 HL1449 B COLEMAN £100 SD4160 A FRANKLAND £50 FA1514 D CARTER £50 RP3468 J FLEMING £25 HK6772 D FERMOYLE £25 LK0038 A EATENBY £10 FA4651 J HARPER £10 HM3855 D GREENWOOD £10 FA0914 MR LITTLEWOOD £10 RP1745 L SCHOFIELD £10 PE1084 D WARDLE £10 HB5121 J HAWLEY £10 NN3465 S WOOD £10 LK5062 A COUSINS £10 PE6515 B GARNER £10 BD3318 H COLE Bury FC is a partner of NYCDA and a beneficiary of the NYCDA Weekly Draw. Gambling Commission account number 5166. Registered Office: 1-2 Frecheville Court, Bury, BL9 0UF. Responsible Person: Mr M Brocklehurst. For more information, please visit www.nycdaweeklydraw.co.uk/treasureline. View the full article

As we fly through the off season, our colleagues at NYCDA have been out and about once more to visit recent Treasureline supporting winners. These are always nice events to showcase what we do, as well as finding out more about them and their connection to Bury FC and the town in general. Next up we made the short trip up Bolton Road to visit Margaret Dudley to help her celebrate her recent win. Whilst not being the biggest Bury FC fan herself, it was nice to hear about Margaret’s pleasure in supporting her local club and its work in the local community. Having lived close to Gigg Lane many years ago, the connection started with her son Gary selling progammes at matches in his younger days. That familiar connection continues to this day with Margaret’s grandson and granddaughter joining the trips to watch the club more recently. Indeed, it was interesting to hear how the support of the club’s various lottery related offers, through both Margaret and her husband Brian, goes back more than 25 years. Sadly, Brian passed away last year, however Margaret has continued on her support, which has led to her recent £1000 win on the NYCDA Weekly Draw. It was nice to hear that she plans to put her well deserved winnings to good use and enjoy some sunshine on holiday later in the year. Right now, you too could be like Margaret for as little as £1 per week. With that in mind, for information including how to join and weekly results, as well as some insights as to where the proceeds are used and the kind of work this partnership will continue to support, please click here. View the full article

Our Women’s first team start the season tonight against Salford City Lionesses. In the opening game of the season the girls will look to start the campaign under Jason Jarrett as they mean to go on. Last week Salford were beaten 1-0 in a tough away opener against Tranmere Rovers. Salford endured a tough 2023/24 season finishing 10th in the North West Women’s Regional League (same division as Bury) picking up just 7 points fewer than Wednesday’s opponents, Bury. In the sides most recent meeting it was Bury who came out on top with a convincing 4-0 victory in April in what was the side’s final match of the season. Early in the season, in Bury’s home fixture, Salford produced a second-half masterclass to earn a 5-0 win. Amongst the summer signings to strengthen squad depth ahead of the new campaign include 16-year-old, latest arrival Leah Costello Eastwood, former Tottenham Hotspur defender Jordan Harding and 16-year-old forward Natalie Ainsworth who has looked like a confident goal scorer in pre-season. Why not come down and support the girls at St Ambrose Barlow RC High School where this match against Salford will be taking place. We hope to see you there tonight for what should be an interesting fixture that we hope Bury can come out on top of. View the full article

We face AFC Liverpool tomorrow (7.45pm) as we start a run of three home games in seven days. And we do so in good heart after two great victories. Notching up an impressive 2-1 win against Avro in the Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round on Saturday after that thumping 7-1 win at Abbey Hey four days earlier. The Shakers took the lead against the Northern Premier League side through Alex Cherera just before half-time. The Oldham side equalised through a free kick late in the second half just as Lewis Alessandra came on as a substitute. But new signing Alessandra grabbed the winner three minutes from time. Maghull FC follow AFC Liverpool at Gigg next Saturday, and Cheadle Town FC on Bank Holiday Monday (both 3.00pm). The last time Bury were at home they played out a disappointing 2-2 draw against Irlam in the first game on the new 3G pitch. We are hoping for better as welcome Merseyside-based opposition to Gigg Lane for the first time of the season. Get all your match details below. In Opposition – AFC Liverpool AFC Liverpool are currently fourth in the NWCFL Premiership table, having won three and drawn one of their four matches, just ahead of Bury’s two wins and two draws. The club was born in 2008 as an expression of frustration by 1,000 Liverpool FC fans at the cost and difficulty of getting tickets for Premier League matches. They insisted that they had no issue with the Anfield club or its owners but with the way the top end of English football was being run. Indeed, they hoped to be considered Liverpool’s “little brother”. After entering into a ground-sharing agreement with Prescot Cables, they joined the North West Counties Football League and three years later accepted the offer of a place in the Premier Division. After relegation and then promotion, they are now seen as an established Premier Division team. On the Day & In the Ground Our brand new Matchday @ Gigg guide is available to read to find out everything you need to know going on in and around the ground. Click on the image to the left to review all Gigg has to offer! Lee Bracey is our special guest in Starkies & Eyelevel Sponsors Lounge. Match Coverage & Live Stream If you are unable to make it to the action at Gigg Lane, we’ll have all the live coverage across our media platforms. Live Stream: The game will be broadcast live from Gigg Lane via our new streaming service accessed via TicketCo. The cost is £7.29 (inc.VAT & fees), with kick-off at 7.45pm. Season ticket holders can gain access to live streams for FREE as part of their season ticket purchase. Enter your 5-letter reference code from your season ticket receipt in the ‘Promocode’ box and click apply. Your link to access the game will be provided in your receipt following the transaction. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE/ACCESS THE LIVE STREAM Keep up-to-date with all our video content via the club’s YouTube Channel. Click to subscribe and never miss highlights and match reaction across the season. Audio Commentary: Roch Valley Radio will be providing commentary for this game. Join the team from the press box at Gigg Lane. Click here ahead of kick-off to listen live. Audio commentary will be provided for every game of the season, so you will never miss a piece of the action. Social Media: Our team will also bring you in-depth text commentary via the club ‘MatchDay Live‘ Twitter feed, with team news and half time and full time updates available also on Facebook and feel like you are there with our match galleries and imagery available over on Instagram. Whatever the weather, wherever you are across the globe, we have you covered. Up the Shakers! #ShakersTogether | #BuryFC | #PartofIt View the full article

This Sunday (25th August), we are hosting our 2024 Family Fun Day at Gigg Lane. Doors open at 10am, with a 7 a side tournament taking place on the new artificial surface from 10:30am. Following the tournament, a winners presentation will take place, after which the Women’s First Team will face Tranmere Rovers in their opening home game of the season. 2pm kick-off. Two 11 a side charity matches, will take place from 4:15pm, with the event finishing at 6pm. A funfair will be on the car park from 10:30, and live music throughout the afternoon. We’ll also have a bar open from midday, selling alcoholic and soft drinks. The car park will also play host to various stalls including kids & adult tombolas and craft stalls. Hot Food will also be available. Tickets remain on sale, £3 adults & free Under 16s, via our website, click here to purchase View the full article

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. View the full article