DARREN Bullock didn’t take many prisoners in a Bury shirt – as Craig Bellamy will attest.

It was February 1999 and Bruce Rioch’s Norwich City came to play against the Shakers at Gigg Lane, a game which would see Bullock make his first start after a £200,000 move from Swindon Town.

In Bellamy’s autobiography ‘Goodfella’ he recalled lining up before the game.

“We played Bury at Gigg Lane and when I wandered out for the warm-up before the game, a guy called Darren Bullock was loitering in the tunnel.

“He had some skinhead sidekick standing next to him and they were both getting lairy.

“Oi, Bellamy,” I heard one of them say as I went past, “you’re going to get your legs broken today.”

“Luckily for me, Bullock didn’t hang around long enough to do me any damage. He got sent off after 11 minutes for dancing on Peter Grant’s head.”

Bullock vehemently denied the charge but was landed with a three-match FA ban in the end.

Neil Warnock was livid with ref Mark Warren’s decision: “I didn’t see the incident, but I looked at the video after the game and I think it was harsh.

“There was no way Darren could have got out of it.”

Bury Times:

We raided the archives for a picture from Gigg Lane’s past and came up with this - a header from Chris Swailes in a 2-1 victory against Portsmouth in September 1999. Bury were in the dizzy heights of third in Division One and won the game with first-half goals from Andy Preece and in-form French striker Laurent D’Jaffo. It also saw an appearance from blink-and-you’ll-miss-him midfielder Simon Baldry, who made just five sub appearances for the Shakers. Do you remember much from the game? Email us at burysport@nqnw.co.uk

This week in Shakers history

1922: After 30 years as tenants, director Herbert Duckworth proudly announced at a meeting of shareholders that he and his fellow directors had managed to secured ownership of Gigg Lane without any cost to the club. A mystery benefactor was involved – who later turned out to be Mr John Brandwood, a close friend of Mr Duckworth.

1968: Bury’s chase for promotion continued apace with Bobby Owen and George Jones on target in a 2-0 victory against Reading – a result made all the more impressive as it was done without the injured Alec Lindsay.

1979: Ken Beamish, a £33,000 buy from Port Vale, scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 victory against Exeter City at Gigg Lane. Craig Madden scored the other goal on the day for Dave Hatton’s side.

1986: Gigg Lane welcomed the Match of the Day cameras for the first time as they bowed out of the FA Cup at the fifth-round stage against Watford.

Name the player

Bury Times:

This week’s mystery Shakers man, sporting some fine chin furniture, is an Ormskirk lad who played for the club between 1992 and 1997.

He played 166 league games for Bury and scored 19 goals for the club.