Paddy Lacey

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. Lacey has since also competed in boxing, with his debut fight occurring in October 2021.

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.

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. 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.

Accrington Stanley
On 21 July 2016, he joined Accrington Stanley on a one-year deal. 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. 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. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win over Portsmouth on 17 September.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

On 29 July 2023, Cymru North side Flint Town United announced the signing of Lacey from Warrington Rylands. Just days later, on 1 August, Lacey’s younger brother Luis joined him at Flint Town on loan from Transmere Rovers. 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.

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

Professional boxing record
Stanko Jermelic
 * style="text-align:center;" colspan="13"|10 wins (2 knockouts, 8 decisions), 0 losses
 * - style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;"
 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Res.
 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Record
 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Opponent
 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Type
 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Round, time
 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date
 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Location
 * style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes
 * - align=center
 * Win
 * 1–0
 * align=left|
 * PTS
 * 4||15 October 2021
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Olympia, Liverpool, Merseyside
 * align=left|Professional boxing debut.
 * - align=center
 * Win
 * 2–0
 * align=left|🇨🇿 Pavel Albrecht
 * PTS
 * 4||26 November 2021
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Olympia, Liverpool, Merseyside
 * align=left|
 * - align=center
 * Win
 * 3–0
 * align=left|🇷🇺 Vasif Mamedov
 * PTS
 * 4||11 December 2021
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside
 * align=left|
 * - align=center
 * Win
 * 4–0
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Josh Crook
 * PTS
 * 4||5 March 2022
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Olympia, Liverpool, Merseyside
 * align=left|
 * - align=center
 * Win
 * 5–0
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Jake Bray
 * PTS
 * 4||14 May 2022
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Winter Gardens, Blackpool, Lancashire
 * align=left|
 * - align=center
 * Win
 * 6–0
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Ryan Broten
 * TKO
 * 1 (4), 0:43 ||17 June 2022
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside
 * align=left|
 * - align=center
 * Win
 * 7–0
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Seamus Devlin
 * PTS
 * 6||3 September 2022
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside
 * align=left|
 * - align=center
 * Win
 * 8–0
 * align=left|🇬🇧 James McCarthy
 * PTS
 * 6||11 March 2023
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside
 * align=left|
 * - align=center
 * Win
 * 9–0
 * align=left|🇲🇽 Fernando Valencia
 * PTS
 * 4||23 September 2023
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Grand Central Hall, Liverpool, Merseyside
 * align=left|
 * - align=center
 * Win
 * 10–0
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Owen Kirk
 * KO
 * 1 (8), 1:40 ||21 October 2023
 * align=left|🇬🇧 Liverpool Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside
 * align=left|

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. Born in England, Lacey is of Irish descent.