Anthony John Lacey (born 18 March 1944) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Stoke City,

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, and Stafford Rangers. He made 288 league appearances in a ten-year career in the Football League, and won

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

out of the Fourth Division with Port Vale in 1969–70. He later went into

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ing with Stoke City, and served as caretaker manager for eight games in 1985. He began coaching at the

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

Academy in 1996.

Playing career

Lacey played for Leek C.S.O.B. and St. Luke's College (in Exeter), before joining

Tony Waddington Anthony Waddington (9 November 1924 – 21 January 1994) was an English football manager at both Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City. Waddington had a seven-year playing career with Crewe Alexandra before becoming a coach at Stoke City. He progre ...

's Stoke City. He made one substitute appearances in the First Division in the 1967–68 season, and made four league and cup appearances in the 1968–69 campaign. He then fell out of the first team picture at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

, and never played for the "Potters" again. Lacey was

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

ed out to local rivals

in February 1970. He was an ever-present for the rest of the season and was signed permanently in April 1970 for a fee of £2,500. He scored his first senior goal on 9 March 1970, in a 3–0 win over Hartlepool at

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

, and finished the campaign with 18 Fourth Division appearances to his name, as the "Valiants" were promoted in fourth place. He scored two goals in 46 games in the 1970–71 season, missing just two Third Division matches. He scored once in 33 games in the 1971–72 campaign, before playing 29 games in the 1972–73 season, as

Gordon Lee Gordon Lee may refer to: *Gordon Lee (comic store owner) (1958–2013), American comic book store owner charged with distributing obscene materials *Gordon Lee (congressman) (1859–1927), U.S. congressman from Georgia *Gordon Lee (footballer) (193 ...

took the club to within four points of promotion. Lacey remained a key first team member under new boss

Roy Sproson Roy Sproson (23 September 1930 – 24 January 1997) was an English footballer and football manager for Port Vale. A one-club man, he holds the all-time appearance record for Vale, making 837 starts (and 5 substitute appearances) for Vale ...

, and scored three goals in 49 appearances in the 1973–74 season. He scored twice in 40 games in the 1974–75 season, but was handed a free transfer to

in May 1975.

Walter Joyce Walter Joyce (10 September 1937 – 29 September 1999) was an English professional footballer and manager who played as a wing half, born in Oldham, Lancashire. His son, Warren Joyce, also played for Burnley Burnley () is a town and the ...

's "Dale" posted a 15th-place finish in the Fourth Division in the 1975–76 campaign. Brian Green then took charge at

Spotland Spotland ( ) is a district of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The Rochdale ward name is Spotland and Falinge. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 10,805. It lies on the River Spodden, and is the home of Spotland Stadium ...

, and led the club to an 18h place finish in 1976–77. Lacey played 83 league games for the club, before moving on to Northern Premier League outfit Stafford Rangers.

Coaching career

After retiring from the field he became the youth coach at Stoke City in 1980, rising through the ranks of

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

coach, caretaker manager and finally youth development officer. He was appointed as the club's caretaker manager in April 1985, following the departure of

Bill Asprey William Asprey (born 11 September 1936) is an English former football player and manager. A defender, he made 418 league appearances in a 15-year career in the Football League. He then had a 25-year career as a coach. He spent 1953 to 1965 at ...

. Stoke lost all eight of their matches under his management, and were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

out of the First Division. He returned to the backroom staff at the

after

Mick Mills Michael Dennis Mills MBE (born 4 January 1949) is an English former footballer who played for Ipswich Town, Southampton and Stoke City. He managed Stoke City, Colchester United and Birmingham City. During his career he achieved Ipswich To ...

was appointed as the "Potters" new permanent

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. Lacey left the club in 1996, and later worked at the

Academy.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

;Port Vale * Football League Fourth Division fourth-place promotion: 1969–70

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, Tony 1944 births Living people Sportspeople from Leek, Staffordshire Footballers from Staffordshire English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Stoke City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players English football managers Stoke City F.C. managers English Football League managers Association football coaches Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff