Macclesfield FC have signed their first-ever former Premier League player.

In an incredible coup for the club, 36-year-old Alex Bruce has come out of retirement to play for our town's club.

The ex-Leeds United, Ipswich Town and Birmingham City defender has over 48 appearances in the Premier League.

The majority of these came for Hull City, where he spent five years from between 2012 and 2017.

Alex Bruce, who is son of Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce, initially retired after a spell at Kilmarnock on November 23 2020.

However, the exciting Macclesfield project, and opportunity for coaching has attracted Bruce to our town's new club.

The experienced defender will provide top flight experience to improve Macc's young defence, who have let in four goals across two League games.

Despite this, they kept a clean sheet in a four-goal thumping of Burscough in the FA Cup, which was their most recent fixture.

Macc will take on Irlam on Saturday, and Prestwich Heys on Saturday, for both of which Bruce is eligible for.

Bruce is also the first Northern Irish player to sign for the squad, having been capped twice for them across 2013-14.

He is also the first Macclesfield FC senior international to have been capped for a national team.

The club said this in a statement: "Macclesfield FC are delighted to confirm that in addition to training with the Club and mentoring our First Team, Alex Bruce has also registered as a player at the Leasing.com Stadium.

"This will allow him to play for The Silkmen if required. Welcome, Alex!"

Along with reserve goalkeeper Steve Hodgson and Silkmen manager Danny Whitaker, Bruce is the third member of Macc's coaching staff to also be a part of the squad.

Bruce's inclusion now means eight of our club's 25 players are defenders.

In total, Bruce played 300 Football League and Premier League matches, scoring seven times.

Macclesfield Nub News joins fans and the club in welcoming him to the club.

He has over 81,000 followers on Twitter.

He also has an Instagram, which shows some of the best images of his career.

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