What can Bury fans expect from their six new signings?

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However, Williams will face tough competition from another new signing – former Liverpool and England goalkeeper, Chris Kirkland. The 35-year-old shot-stopper spent time on trial with the club in Tenerife last summer, but negotiations broke down and he instead joined Preston North End, where he made just six appearances before his release last month.

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Kirkland was extremely highly-rated whilst a youngster at Coventry City and a £6 million move to Liverpool in 2001 appeared to be the start of his journey to becoming England number one.

Unfortunately, his time on Merseyside didn’t work out as well as many had hoped it would. After spending the first few years as a backup to first-choice Jerzy Dudek, Kirkland was finally given his opportunity to make the position his own ahead of the 2004/05 campaign. Four appearances in the group stage of that season’s Champions League, which Liverpool would eventually go on to win, followed, but injuries hampered his progress, and after slipping behind Scott Carson in the Anfield pecking order, Kirkland was shipped out on loan to West Bromwich Albion in an attempt to rejuvenate his floundering career.

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Despite a call-up to the England squad early on, he struggled to displace Tomasz Kuszczak during his time with The Baggies and headed back to Anfield full of disappointment after an underwhelming spell in the West Midlands.

Kirkland’s next stop would be just down the road at Wigan Athletic. The towering goalkeeper eventually found a home here during a successful six-month loan spell. It was during this period that Kirkland won his only England cap, famously netting his father £10,000 in the bargain. When his son was eleven years old, Eddie Kirkland had placed a bet of £100 at 100/1 odds that Chris would play for England before the age of 30. A second-half substitute appearance against Greece in August 2006 subsequently guaranteed that a large windfall would be on its way to the Kirkland household in the days following.

The inevitable departure from Liverpool followed in 2006, and Kirkland established himself as The Latics’ number one over the course of the next four years. However, he lost his place at the beginning of the 2010/11 season, when, after conceding ten goals in the first two games of the season, he was replaced by Ali Al-Habsi. Loan spells at Leicester City and Doncaster Rovers followed for Kirkland, but both were ended prematurely due to a persistent back injury.

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Kirkland moved on again in 2012, this time to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday, where he went on to make 85 league appearances before leaving in 2015 in search of first team football. After a frustrating spell at Deepdale last term, he will be hoping his move to Bury can bring about more first team opportunities.

However, for supporters, this is certainly a surprising signing. The addition of Williams just days earlier appeared to have solved the goalkeeping predicament, and what this means for promising young goalkeeper Jack Ruddy, who is now third in the pecking order is uncertain. The youngster has been linked with a move away from the club in recent weeks, and Kirkland’s arrival may well signal the imminent departure of the 18-year-old.