Gary Sprake
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Gareth Sprake[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 3 April 1945||
Place of birth | Swansea,[1] Wales | ||
Date of death | 18 October 2016[1] | (aged 71)||
Place of death | Solihull,[1] England | ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Youth career | |||
1962–1963 | Leeds United | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1962–1973 | Leeds United | 381 | (0) |
1973–1975 | Birmingham City | 16 | (0) |
Total | 397 | (0) | |
International career | |||
1963–1974 | Wales | 37 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Gareth Sprake (3 April 1945 – 18 October 2016) was a Welsh professional footballer. A goalkeeper, he played for Leeds United and Birmingham City and also won 37 caps for Wales.
Sprake became known during his career as a brilliant goalkeeper who was prone to occasional mistakes. He was especially known for his ability to come out to catch crossed balls floating into the box and his shot stopping. At Leeds, Sprake played 504 times, keeping more than 200 clean sheets.[3][4] He spent more than a decade as the number 1 keeper at Leeds during a period when they were a dominant side in the English domestic game.
Club career
Sprake represented Swansea Schoolboys and was noticed by Leeds United soon after he left school and was playing for a local works team.[5]
Sprake joined Leeds as an apprentice, and made a last-minute debut in 1962 when the regular goalkeeper went down with a stomach complaint on the day of a game at
The first of Sprake's two notorious errors came in 1967 when Leeds played Liverpool in a League game at Anfield. Sprake was holding the ball and was set to throw it to the Leeds left back Terry Cooper, only to curtail his throw when he spotted Liverpool winger Ian Callaghan running towards the area he planned to throw the ball. Unfortunately for Sprake, the ball slipped out of his hands behind him and ended up in the net.[6][7] At half-time, the Liverpool tannoy-announcer played "Careless Hands", a record by Des O'Connor, apparently in reference to Sprake's mistake, and during the second half Liverpool supporters on the Kop sang the song repeatedly to Sprake. During his time at Leeds, fans of rival clubs gave Sprake the nickname "Careless Hands" as a result.[8][9]
In the same season Sprake kept a clean sheet as Leeds beat
In 1970, Sprake and Leeds chased a treble of the League, the FA Cup and the European Cup, but ended up with nothing. The League title went to Everton who won by nine points, and Leeds went out of the European Cup in the semi-finals to Celtic. The FA Cup Final provided the stage for the second of Sprake's most memorable errors.
In the
In the second half, Mick Jones put Leeds ahead with just six minutes to go, but Chelsea again equalized. Sprake suffered a knee injury and was replaced by David Harvey in the replay, which Chelsea won 2–1.
Sprake was still the first-choice keeper for Leeds in the following two seasons, but was replaced by Harvey at the tail of both, including the 1972 FA Cup Final. Sprake watched from the sidelines as Leeds defeated Arsenal 1–0 in 1972 with a goal from Allan Clarke and a superb performance by Harvey at the other end. In the same year, due to his need of first-team football, Sprake publicly criticised Revie for his treatment of him and so his relationship with his manager, teammates, and the Leeds supporters soured. He only played once in the 1972–73 season, missed two more Cup finals, and eventually left for Birmingham City for £100,000 (breaking the world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper in the process) to play first-team football and regain his place in the Welsh team.
International career
Sprake was the youngest-ever goalkeeper to appear for Wales when he made his international debut as an 18-year-old against Scotland on 20 November 1963.[5]
Sprake won 37 caps for Wales between 1963 and 1974.[10]
After football
A back injury brought Sprake's career to an end at the age of 30, the injury resulting from a near fatal
Following his retirement, Sprake worked as a salesman for a short period before becoming a borough council training officer in Solihull, a job which he remained in for over 14 years.[4] His biography, Careless Hands: The Forgotten Truth of Gary Sprake by Tim Johnson and Stuart Sprake (his nephew), was published in 2006.[7] In November 2009 Sprake was given an award by the Football Association of Wales for his contribution to Welsh football during the 1960s and 1970s.[14] Sprake died at the age of 71 on 18 October 2016.[15]
Honours
- Leeds United
- Football League Second Division: 1963–64
- Football League First Division: 1968–69
- 1968
- 1971
- FA Charity Shield: 1969[16]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Gary Sprake". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ISBN 978-0362000948.
- ^ a b c Shaw, Phil (21 April 2006). "Black sheep of Elland Road: Wild man of Leeds fights to clear name". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
- ^ a b c Culley, Jon (16 November 1993). "Where are they now? Gary Sprake". The Independent. London. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
- ^ a b Maurice Golesworth (1965). Soccer Who's Who. The Sportsmans Book Club.
- ^ "Gary Sprake speaks". BBC Leeds. 9 March 2006. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
- ^ a b "Goalie Gary Sprake's nightmare game recalled in new biography". newswales.co.uk. 14 February 2006. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
- ^ Murphy, Alex (4 July 2007). "The 50 worst footballers". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 12 October 2011.
- ^ Hackett, Robin (21 July 2011). "Own goals". ESPN FC. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ "Gary Sprake". eu-football.info. Retrieved 19 October 2016..
- ^ Chaudhary, Vivek (12 August 2000). "Gary Sprake: "Club should pay"". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
- ^ "Sprake back at Leeds". BBC Leeds. 2 October 2006. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
- Sabotage Times. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ "The FAW / SA Brains Football Awards Evening". Football Association of Wales. 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ Mason, Peter (20 October 2016). "Gary Sprake obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
- ^ "2 August 1969 - Leeds United 2 Manchester City 1". mightyleeds.co.uk. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
External links
- Gary Sprake at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database