A player many in the Boro faithful hold in high regard for his heroics and personality both on and off the pitch, Luke Joyce’s efforts helped the club capture two trophies during two years at the Neuven Stadium, winning both the Manchester Premier Cup and the NPL Premier Division title before drawing the curtain against Workington at the start of 2024.

Now the Head of Recruitment at Fleetwood Town, we recently interviewed Joycey in which he discussed his time at Radcliffe, his 19-year professional career, and his new role with the League Two side.

(Q)  Starting off, we’ve just passed the two-year anniversary since you officially retired from your playing career, how do you begin to look back on your time as a player and what are some of your favourite memories?

(A)  ‘I look back on my time as a player with great fondness and pride, I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities I got and that I was able to live out my dream of being a professional footballer. It wasn’t all smiles as there were plenty of ups and downs to test your character and resolve but overcoming those make the good times even sweeter.

The big games against Liverpool & Man City are highlights for obvious reasons but also the landmark moments of first-ever appearance, first-ever start, first-ever goal along wearing the captain’s armband for the first time in my career at Accrington Stanley are hugely special. To play for proper traditional football clubs that are have great fanbases and are steeped in tradition and history was something I’ll never take for granted.’

(Q)  Was there a sense of sadness as you played your final game against Workington and began to realise how real it was that your career was coming to an end, or were you immensely proud of what you’d achieved and satisfied that it was the right time?

(A)  ‘It was a mixture of emotions to be honest, I think partly the fact I knew it was my last game made it slightly easier and that I’d had time to digest it and get my head around it, along with the fact I was retiring to start the next chapter of my working career. It would have been much harder if my career had ended out of my own control with an injury or the fact a club didn’t want to sign you. My last game didn’t exactly play out how I envisiged it but I suppose that’s football.’

(Q)  Growing up starting in the youth ranks at Bolton Wanderers before eventually moving on to Wigan Athletic, did you have that belief in yourself at the time that you’d have such an incredible career, or were you taking one step at a time in a sense and seeing what would happen?

(A)  ‘In total honesty I’ve never been the most confident of people and have never classed myself as a person/player with lots of natural talent, especially when I was younger and didn’t necessarily always believe I would make it all the way to being a professional.

What I did have was a massive amount of work ethic, desire and determination that I would give everything I had to be the best I can be and along the way I got quite a few rejections which always made me more determined to prove people wrong, whereas some players I played with let it get the better of them and they struggled to recover.’

(Q)  You made over 600 senior appearances across eight clubs at various levels, do you have a favourite season from your illustrious career?

(A)  ‘That is such a hard question as I’ve enjoyed moments from all of those seasons. Probably a couple of personal favourites would be the year we got to the play-off semi-final with Carlisle only to lose in the dying seconds against Exeter, and I finished the season with a few personal accolades and awards, along with my second season at Port Vale being awarded the Players’ Player of the Year.’

(Q)  We can’t not talk about that 2023/24 title-winning campaign, when you of course closed the curtain midway through, what was the feeling like to be a part of that, especially with such a huge margin between the Boro and the rest of the teams?

(A)  ‘It was amazing to play a small part in that success and I was gutted to be leaving the lads and the club with only half the job done, but we had more than enough with the squad and players we had to get over the line without me. It was special to come back and share the celebrations with the lads although through my own fault didn’t feel like I deserved to be there.’

(Q)  There was a lot of talent in that squad, but they were also brilliantly managed by Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley, what was it like to be guided by those two and how do they compare to other gaffers you’ve played under?

(A)  ‘The gaffers were great at managing the players as individuals but also as a collective, they didn’t get too high with the wins or too low when we didn’t perform as well as we should have. They were very similar in how they worked to when I was at Accrington with Jon Coleman and Jimmy Bell, they worked extremely well together and were great at motivating a group of players.’

(Q)  Immediately after retiring you became the North Scout for Premier League outfit Brentford, how did you adapt to that immediate change of hanging your boots up and diving head first into a new role at such an incredible club?

(A)  ‘It was an amazing opportunity but also one that was quite daunting as I’d never been a Scout before, and working at such a high profile club brought pressures of its own. The club were amazingly patient and supportive to allow me the time to adjust and find my way in a totally new role.’

(Q)  You recently departed Brentford to take on a new challenge as the Head of Recruitment at Fleetwood Town, how did that come about and what has it been like so far?

(A)  ‘The opportunity came about with Fleetwood contacting me about the role, and after a few conversations and lots of thinking time, I felt it was a positive next step into a more senior recruitment role. The job gives me a lot more involvement and will expose me to areas of recruitment more than just scouting will, and will allow me to learn and develop.

It was difficult to pull away from Brentford after only two years in the job as I loved it and went to some amazing games but they were super supportive in understanding my reasons why.’

(Q)  Finally, Radcliffe are currently situated in fifth place in the National League North, having had a fantastic season so far, how often do you keep up to the date with the Boro’s results, and what has caught your eye if you do?

(A)  ‘They are having a great season and have adjusted to the National League North amazingly well. I’m not surprised they’ve attacked it, knowing Marcus and the Managers as I do, they aren’t the type of characters to be happy at just competing, they want to at the top end of the table and that’s exactly where they find themselves. I’m always looking out for their results and was down at the Chester game as part of my Fleetwood role.

Radcliffe, the club and the people will always have a special place in my heart and I’ll be forever grateful for the effort they went to to allow me my last ever game – UTB!’