Shayne Bradley - Chesterfield and Lincoln City

Chesterfield and Lincoln City

In December 2002, Bradley signed for Mansfield's local rivals Chesterfield, agreeing a contract until the end of the 2002-2003 season. He made his Chesterfield debut in the 1-0 home defeat to Oldham Athletic on 21 December 2002 before scoring in his next two games. On 18 January 2003, Chesterfield entertained Bradley's previous club Mansfield Town, whom he had left under something of a cloud. In the build-up, he expressed the opinion that he did not think that Watkiss rated him as a player and that the club had treated him badly by playing him when he was not fully fit. The game, however, proved to be a disaster for Bradley when, just three minutes after coming on as a substitute, he was sent off for spitting at Mansfield defender Rhys Day; Bradley later sent a personal personal letter of apology to Day.

Following the resulting suspension, Bradley struggled to make the first-team and, in March 2003, joined Lincoln City on a month's loan, debuting in the 3-0 home victory over Hartlepool United on 4 March 2003. A calf injury saw him limp off after 35 minutes of his second game against Southend United at Roots Hall and miss the following three games before making a goalscoring return in the 1-0 home victory over Kidderminster Harriers on 25 March 2003. However, he sustained an ankle injury in the pre-match warm-up for the following game with Bristol Rovers and returned to Chesterfield, having been fit for just three of the seven games Lincoln played in the month.