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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

, Port Vale,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

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

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. He 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 coaching with Stoke City and served as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

for eight games in 1985. He began coaching at the

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

Academy in 1996.

Playing career

Lacey played for Leek C.S.O.B. and St. Luke's College (in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

) before joining

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

. 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. Histor ...

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

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

ed out to local rivals Port Vale 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 Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

, 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 took the club to within four points of promotion. Lacey remained a key first-team member under new boss Roy Sproson 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'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 Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseysi ...

and led the club to an 18th-place finish in 1976–77. Lacey played 83 league games for the club before moving on to

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

club Stafford Rangers.

Coaching career

After retiring from the field, he became the youth coach at

in 1980, rising through the ranks of

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

coach,

and finally youth development officer. He was appointed as the club's caretaker manager in April 1985, following the departure of Bill Asprey. Stoke lost all eight of their matches under his management and were

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

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

after Mick Mills was appointed as the "Potters" new permanent

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

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

Academy.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Port Vale *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

fourth-place promotion: 1969–70

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacey, Tony 1944 births Living people Footballers from Leek, 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 English football coaches Stoke City F.C. non-playing staff Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff