Midfielder Joins Brewers After Trial
Brewers boss Gary Rowett has bolstered his midfield options by agreeing a deal to sign former Crewe central midfielder Lee Bell on a one year contract. Bell said that joining Burton Albion was the ‘right move’ for him after interest from a number of clubs during the summer.
Bell, 29, has spent two previous spells at Burton Albion between 2005 and 2007. He then went on to play for Mansfield Town and Macclesfield Town before returning to his first club, Crewe Alexandra, in 2010 where he helped the side to promotion through the League Two play offs last season.
Bell has featured as a trialist so far during pre-season for the Brewers, making appearances against Aston Villa, Gresley FC and Derby County.
Speaking after agreeing the deal Bell said, ‘I’m delighted to be signing, not many people make three debuts for one club. I’m looking forward to it and can’t wait for the season to start. I know Gary, I came in to do a bit of training and I think I’ve done quite well in the matches. I’m pleased it’s happened so now I’m looking forward to getting started. It’s been a long summer, I had interest from the SPL and possibilities of moving down to London but I didn’t really fancy that so it had been an uncertain summer really.’
Bell has impressed so far for the Brewers during the three friendly matches in which he has featured, with the midfielder displaying a competitive attitude in the centre of the park. Bell continued, ‘If you go into the friendly with a friendly attitude you can end up with a serious injury so you need to treat each game on merit and do what you would in a normal game.’
Bell made 36 appearances last season as Crewe gained promotion to League One and is hoping to see the success he enjoyed at Gresty Road continue this year at the Pirelli Stadium. ‘Hopefully I can pass some of that on to the lads,’ said Bell. I’m coming off the high of last season of getting promoted with Crewe and I want to try and achieve that again.’
Bell is a familiar face at Burton Albion with the location and his relationship with the players and manager a factor in joining the Club. He said, ‘I know some of the boys here, I’ve played with Calvin (Zola) at another club and I know Aaron (Webster) and played with Gary (Rowett) so that had a factor on the move. It was just the right move for me. There was a lot of thinking to do but it was the right move for me.’