Good Luck Statto

Rich Gilbert

Michael Lacey was born and bred in Harpenden.  His love for sport developed at a very early age and by the late 1970’s was a season ticket holder at his beloved Luton Town Football Club. He followed the team both home and away and kept a scrap book of newspaper cuttings of anything concerning the mighty Hatters.  His love for the game and Luton had an effect on others and soon he was encouraging me, my brother and a number of friends to go along as well. Mike was very passionate about his sport, as I was to find out in the famous Luton win at Manchester City on the 14^th May 1983 when Raddy Antic buried the saving goal 5 minutes from time to keep Luton up in the old First Division and relegate City. Before I knew it he was kissing me on the ear and embracing me with absolute delight! We also went on to enjoy many other highlights like winning the League Cup against Arsenal at Wembley in 1988, the FA Cup semi-finals in 1985, 1988 and 1994, but since then shared many other low points like relegation and administration but throughout it all Mike has always remained positive and full of hope which sums up his character.
He is also a very good footballer in his own right.  We play weekly and I always hope that I am on his side as invariably you will then go on to win. He is quick and a very good thinker, showing awareness of players around him, not only from his own side but from the opposition as well. He is also very involved in coaching Harpenden Colts and without a doubt he will be sorely missed there as well.

He was always a special cricketer. I used to play against him every year from the early 1980’s in the annual Harpenden Inter Church Competition.  Mike was an excellent batsman representing All Saints, playing very correctly with a beautiful straight bat and picking off the bad balls with ease to the boundary. Though young, he was impossible to bowl out, much as I tried. These church games were surprisingly competitive, and other future Dolphin cricketers were also involved in these games like the Gregory’s, the Downe’s and Richard Finch. It was obvious Mike had a talent for cricket and he was invited to join the Harpenden Dolphins where he made his debut for them in April 1991 against Sandridge. He found the experience very exciting, and I remember receiving a call from him one evening when he made an outstanding contribution to a game at Bamville. The following year he persuaded me to play due to a shortage of players. Originally I said it would be a one off as I had one young child and another one due within the week, but Mike soon made me change my mind and I found myself playing regularly as well. Mike has since gone on to be the first Dolphin ever to exceed 5,000 runs and he also holds the record for the most number of centuries achieved by a Dolphin. His highest score was a mighty 136 against Kings Langley III in 2004. Mike is a great fielder, sharp and quick and with one of the safest pair of hands at the club. Occasionally he kept wicket and brave till the end has even played on with a broken foot! He also captained the team and has enjoyed being vice skipper for a number of years. His roll as Team Secretary has been superb, keeping the AGM in good order, encouraging healthy discussions but knowing when to close them down and move on to the next issue.

His loyalty to both his football and cricket clubs is also reflected in his line of work. He joined HSBC, (then known as the Midland), from school instead of going to University. He has worked very hard to climb up the ladder and now he is looking forward to a very exciting challenge in Hong Kong. So after living in Harpenden all of his life many people would find moving abroad very daunting, but typical of Mike, he just takes it all in his stride.

 He has a competitive edge to him that is born to win be it in football, cricket, squash, badminton, table tennis or snooker. He has a fantastic understanding and reassuring way of assessing games both in playing and watching that can only fill you with confidence and pass on that similar will to succeed. We shall all miss Mike, Liz, Oliver and Jonathan, but we wish them well and I am sure that they will have a fantastic time in Hong Kong and it won’t be long before they are playing for one of the local sport clubs out there on the edge of China and they will receive the friendship of the Lacey’s that we have all come to enjoy over the years.

Richard Gilbert