ALEX BRUCE By CHRIS DUNLAVY

IN football, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Or, in the case of Alex Bruce, who turns up to your weekly kickabout. Every Tuesday night, the Macclesfield boss gets together with a star-studded collection of former pros for a game of nine-a-side in neighbouring Cheadle. “Stevie Ireland was the instigator and it started out as a WhatsApp group of about five or six people,” says Bruce, referring to the former Manchester City and Aston Villa midfielder. “Now it’s about 20, and some of the names in that gr...