This season Prostate Cancer UK is the official charity of The
Football League. To celebrate, we've asked bloggers from each of
the 72 clubs to count down their top five strikers to have worn the
No9 shirt, in recognition of the fact that prostate cancer
affects one in nine men.
Golden nugget: The transfer fee for Dave Nugent helped keep Bury afloat. Photo courtesy of PA
Here blogger Mark Crossley, of mark-crossley.co.uk, selects
Bury's five best No9s… and one to forget!
5. David Nugent (2002-05)
Deceptively quick, strong in the air and comfortable with either
foot, the 16-year-old Nugent had bags of potential when he first
broke into the Bury side back in 2002. 'The Nuge' went on to make
more than 100 appearances for the Shakers before joining Preston
for £110,000 in January 2005. That fee and the subsequent add-ons
have helped keep the club afloat since.
4. Derek Spence (1972-76 &
1983-84)
A natural predator capable of some glorious strikes, Northern
Irishman Spence scored arguably the finest ever Gigg Lane goal
against Barnsley back in the 70s. He appeared on the scoresheet
more than 40 times for Bury, either side of spells at Blackpool and
Olympiakos(!), and famously equalised in Rotterdam against the
masterful Dutch side of Cruyff et al during a World Cup qualifier
for Northern Ireland in 1976.
3. George Jones (1961-64 & 1966-73)
A local lad who quickly established himself as a firm favourite
with the fans, Jones went on to hit the back of the net 125 times
in 319 games during two separate spells at Gigg Lane. He was also a
key member of the England youth team that won UEFA's International
Youth Tournament on home soil in 1963, beating Northern Ireland 4-0
at Wembley in the final.
2. Norman Bullock (1920-35)
During an incredible career, the legendary Bullock racked up a
record 539 appearances for the Shakers, playing everywhere from
centre-forward to centre-half. He scored 127 times for Bury and
twice in three games for England - one of only five Bury players
ever to wear the three lions. He later became the club's first
post-war manager and was also an analytical chemist.
1. Craig Madden (1977-86)
In a nutshell, Madden remains the most deadly striker to have ever
graced the hallowed Gigg Lane turf. His goalscoring record remains
unparalleled - 153 goals in 336 games for the Shakers over the best
part of a decade, including a staggering 43 in the 1981-82 season
alone. Three years later 'Charlie' helped fire Bury to promotion,
and he was voted the club's all-time cult hero by fans in
2005.
And the worst…
Bas Savage (2005)
Savage only played five times for the Shakers in a brief loan
spell from Reading in 2005, but most who saw him would say that was
definitely five times too many. Slow, a liability in possession and
feeble in front of goal, he struggled to make any kind of impact as
Graham Barrow's Shakers toiled their way to a 17th-place finish in
League Two.
Follow Mark on Twitter @markcrossley