Former Ipswich Town, Yeovil Town, Millwall and Bristol Rovers midfielder Ed Upson retires after firing Bury Town to promotion

Bury Town’s promotion hero Ed Upson has retired.

After scoring the winning goal in the FA Youth Cup final for Ipswich Town back in 2005, Upson went on to enjoy a long career within the professional game, turning out for the likes of Yeovil Town, Millwall, MK Dons, Bristol Rovers, Newport County and Stevenage.

He dropped into non-league football in 2022 to join Stowmarket Town, where he spent a season before linking up with his hometown club Bury.

And his final act on a football pitch proved to be a defining one as he curled in a stoppage-time winner to secure the Blues a 1-0 victory over Brightlingsea Regent in the final of the Isthmian League North Division play-offs last month.

Paying tribute to the 35-year-old, Bury’s assistant manager Paul Musgrove said: “Ed has been huge for us, absolutely huge.

“He’s someone that carries himself extremely well and while I wouldn’t say he’s a natural leader in the sense that he doesn’t shout and scream, he goes about his business quietly and with class.

“His quality always showed, he was always passing on little bits of information to the lads and I think having him in the group calmed people down.

“He’s right up there as one of the best players I’ve seen in the non-league game and that isn’t always the way when players drop down from being professional.

“I go back a long way with Ed and it’s tough to see him go. We’ll miss him a lot but as a friend I couldn’t be happier for him to go out in the way he did. It was the perfect ending.”

Without Upson’s calming presence in the middle of the pitch, Bury will have to adapt as they prepare for their first campaign at Step 3 in a decade.

But while his influence will be sorely missed, Musgrove is confident that the squad learned plenty from Upson that will hold them in good stead.

“There were times last year when we took Ed out because he had a slight knock or to protect him fitness wise and the boys didn’t too badly without him,” added Musgrove.

“We’ll have to find a slightly different way because we’re never going to find another player like Ed, but the boys are more than capable. They can all handle a football and they’ll have learned a lot from him.

“Yes Ed is going to leave a hole but the lads that are staying and the new signings are more than good enough to step up.”