Paddy Lacey

For Patrick Lacy, see Lacy baronets.

Patrick Lacey

Lacey in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Patrick Sean Lacey [1]
Date of birth	(1993-03-16) 16 March 1993 (age 31)
Place of birth	Liverpool, England
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Flint Town United
Youth career
	Tranmere Rovers
	Manchester United
	Liverpool
	Sheffield Wednesday
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2012	Bradford City	0	(0)
2011	→ Southport (loan)	0	(0)
2011–2012	→ Vauxhall Motors (loan)	6	(1)
2012	Droylsden	12	(1)
2012–2013	Altrincham	26	(0)
2013–2016	Barrow	89	(4)
2016–2017	Accrington Stanley	11	(1)
2019–2020	Southport	14	(0)
2020	Stalybridge Celtic	7	(1)
2020–2022	Chester	22	(3)
2022–2023	Warrington Rylands 1906	10	(0)
2023–	Flint Town United	12	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 February 2024

Paddy Lacey
Statistics
Weight(s)	Middleweight
Boxing record
Total fights	10
Wins	10
Wins by KO	2
Losses	0
Draws	0
No contests	0

Patrick Sean Lacey (born 16 March 1993) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cymru North side Flint Town United. He made eleven appearances in the Football League for Accrington Stanley. ^[2] Lacey has since also competed in boxing, with his debut fight occurring in October 2021. ^[3]

Football career

Early career

Lacey started his career in the academy of Tranmere Rovers, before joining Manchester United, where he played alongside players such as Ravel Morrison and Jesse Lingard. After a month with Manchester United, he was given the chance to join Liverpool, the club he had supported as a child, and took up this offer. ^[4]

Bradford City

On 8 July 2011, Lacey signed for EFL League Two club Bradford City on a one-year deal following his release from Sheffield Wednesday. ^[5] During his time at Bradford he had loan spells at Southport and Vauxhall Motors, before agreeing to depart the club by mutual consent on 31 January 2012. ^[6]

Accrington Stanley

On 21 July 2016, he joined Accrington Stanley on a one-year deal. ^[7] He made his debut for Stanley in the club’s 1–0 EFL Cup victory against Burnley on 24 August, coming off the bench in the 83rd minute for Billy Kee. ^[8] He made his Football League debut, and first league appearance for Accrington, against Morecambe on 27 August, coming off the bench in the 82nd minute for Shay McCartan. ^[9] He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win over Portsmouth on 17 September. ^[10]

On 5 May 2017, Accrington announced they had terminated Lacey’s contract after he admitted to a breach of anti-doping regulations. He had been given a 14-month ban by the Football Association having tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, following a game against Hartlepool United the previous November. ^{[11] [12]}

One month after his contract was terminated, Lacey was arrested at Glastonbury Festival in possession of 20.3 grams of cocaine, 16.8 grams of MDMA, and £520 in counterfeit £20 notes. He pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a controlled substance, and passing an item as genuine which he knew to be a counterfeit. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison in July 2017. ^[13]

Return to non-league football

Following his release from prison, on 14 January 2019 it was confirmed that Lacey had joined Southport on an 18-month contract. ^[14]

In January 2020, he joined Northern Premier League Premier Division club Stalybridge Celtic before later joining Chester in September 2020. ^[15] After suffering a knee injury in February 2021, Lacey raised funds to pay for the surgery he needed. ^[16]

On 15 February 2022, it was announced that Lacey had decided to leave Chester in order to take up an offer with an unnamed Northern Premier League club. ^[17]

On 16 February 2022, Lacey signed for Northern Premier League Division One West side Warrington Rylands 1906 on a short-term deal until the end of the 2021–22 season. ^[18]

On 29 July 2023, Cymru North side Flint Town United announced the signing of Lacey from Warrington Rylands. ^[19] Just days later, on 1 August, Lacey’s younger brother Luis joined him at Flint Town on loan from Transmere Rovers. ^[20] He made his league debut for the Silksmen on 18 August against Ruthin Town, receiving a red card in the 53rd minute of the 1–1 draw. ^{[21] [22] [23]}

Boxing career

Lacey has also fought as a professional boxer, alongside his semi-professional football career and his day job as a carpet fitter. ^[24]

Professional boxing record

10 wins (2 knockouts, 8 decisions), 0 losses [25]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
Win	1–0	Stanko Jermelic	PTS	4	15 October 2021	Olympia, Liverpool, Merseyside	Professional boxing debut.
Win	2–0	Pavel Albrecht	PTS	4	26 November 2021	Olympia, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	3–0	Vasif Mamedov	PTS	4	11 December 2021	Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	4–0	Josh Crook	PTS	4	5 March 2022	Olympia, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	5–0	Jake Bray	PTS	4	14 May 2022	Winter Gardens, Blackpool, Lancashire
Win	6–0	Ryan Broten	TKO	1 (4),0:43	17 June 2022	Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	7–0	Seamus Devlin	PTS	6	3 September 2022	Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	8–0	James McCarthy	PTS	6	11 March 2023	Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	9–0	Fernando Valencia	PTS	4	23 September 2023	Grand Central Hall, Liverpool, Merseyside
Win	10–0	Owen Kirk	KO	1 (8),1:40	21 October 2023	Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside

Personal life

Lacey’s brothers, Luis and Shea are also footballers, playing for Tranmere Rovers and Manchester United, respectively. He also had a older sister Lauren and nephew Zack. ^{[26] [27]} Born in England, Lacey is of Irish descent. ^[28]

References

1. "Retained List 2016-17" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
2. "Games played by Paddy Lacey in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
3. Boxing record for Paddy Lacey from BoxRec (registration required)
4. Railston, Steven (4 March 2023). "'I rejected Manchester United Class of 2011 for Liverpool ... went to prison and became a professional boxer'". manchestereveningnews.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
5. "Bradford City sign 18-year-old midfielder Patrick Lacey". BBC Sport. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
6. "Lacey makes Bradford exit". Sky Sports. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
7. "Lacey signs one-year deal". Accrington Stanley F.C. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
8. "Stanley 1 Burnley 0 (aet)". Accrington Stanley F.C. 24 August 2016. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
9. "Stanley 2 Morecambe 3". Accrington Stanley F.C. 27 August 2016. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
10. "Accrington 1–0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
11. "Paddy Lacey: Accrington Stanley sack midfielder after 14-month drugs ban". BBC Sport. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
12. "Statement: Paddy Lacey". Accrington Stanley F.C. 5 May 2017. Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
13. Thomas, Joe (3 August 2017). "Professional footballer jailed after being caught with drugs at Glastonbury". Liverpool Echo.
14. "SIGNING | Patrick Lacey". 14 January 2019.
15. "Midfielder Paddy Lacey signs for Chester FC". www.chesterfc.com. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
16. "Thousands raised as ex-Bantam reaches target required for major surgery". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 14 February 2021.
17. "Paddy Lacey departs the Deva". Chester FC. 15 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
18. @RylandsFC (16 February 2022). "Rylands FC land themselves a knockout!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
19. "Paddy Lacey joins the Silkmen". Flint Town United. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
20. "Luis Lacey joins brother Paddy at Flint". Flint Town United. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
21. "Flint pegged back, as Lacey sees Red". Flint Town United. 19 August 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
22. "Gresford are back in Cymru North action at Flint following unscheduled break". The Leader. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
23. davenwsport (19 August 2023). "JD Cymru North - Holywell romp to 5-1 win at 10-man Denbigh". Grassroots North Wales | Championing Local Sport | Dave Jones Sportswriter | nwsport.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
24. "The footballer rebuilding his life in boxing". BBC Sport.
25. "BoxRec: Paddy Lacey".
26. "Five Tranmere youngsters sign new contracts". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
27. "Shea-Lacey". www.manutd.com. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
28. "EP 4: Ex Pro Footballer, now Undefeated 10-0 Pro Boxer | Paddy Lacey's INCREDIBLE Story – Common Sense with Joey Barton". Irish Podcasts.

External links

• Patrick Lacey at Soccerbase
• Patrick Lacey at Soccerway