Alan Sproates

Football player infobox| playername= Alan Sproates
dateofbirth =
cityofbirth =
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Retired
position = Midfielder
years = 19??-1963
1963-1965
1965-1974
1972
1973
1974
1974
clubs = Sunderland
Swindon Town
Darlington
→ Miami Fusion (summer)
→ Vancouver Whitecaps (summer)
→ Hartlepool United (loan)
→ Scunthorpe United (loan)|caps(goals) = ? (?)
? (?)
315 (?)
? (?)
? (?)
? (?)
? (?)

Alan Sproates was a football player from England.

Football career

He was part of the deal which took Jimmy Lawson to Swindon, the club never regretted it. Alan was a north east lad, who moved to Swindon Town from Sunderland at the age of 19. He spent two years there, and played a handful of games.

Things moved quickly after Darlington F.C. (the Quakers) beat Swindon in the League Cup on 22 September 1965. Lawson went to Wiltshire, 21 year old Alan and £8,000 came in the opposite direction-and what good business that turned out to be, as Quakers also used that cash to buy Bobby Cummings from Newcastle United. Darlington chairman Harry Robinson said: "We are very happy to sign Sproates, who gave a good display in the cup tie against us. I am sure he will be a big asset."

And so he was. Alan stayed until the end of the 1973/74 season, making over 300 league appearances. He made an instant impact on his debut, playing at left-half, in the 3-0 win over Bradford. The Evening Despatch said: "The biggest success of the day was without doubt the debut of Alan Sproates. He showed immense skill and was applauded off the field." That skill was to become one of the hallmarks of Darlington's successful promotion season in 1965/66, and their near miss in 1969. And those moments of quality lit up some of the depressing re-election campaigns after that.

Alna established an excellent understanding with Ray 'Yogi' Yeoman in midfield, and they controlled the game between them especially the 4-0 at Torquay on 8 January 1966. "Ray Yeoman had one of his biggest games yet backed by Alan Sproates in a perfect midfield partnership", said the "Echo".

Alan was a real crowd pleaser which endeared him to the Feethams faithful, and from time to time he indulged in a touch of showboating. At Doncaster on 9 September 1966, according to the "Echo": "He received a backheel from Don Radcliffe just in front of the crwon. He flicked the ball up on to his instep and stood their quietly going through a session of ball practice while the crowd watched in awed silence and the Doncaster Rovers defence stood mesmerised." Darlo's answer to George Best, maybe?

Alan's best game was the ill-fated Third Division relegation season at home to QPR, who before the game on 27 March 1967 paraded the League Cup around the ground. They included the up and coming genius Rodney Marsh, and Alan marked him out of the game-and then joined him for a drink in the LaBamba nightclub afterwards!

Alan was back in the thick of action for the next promotion push in the 1968/69 season, and when he scored the winner against Newport County on 7 October 1968 from a Lance Robson nod down, Darlington were on top of the League. Ray Yeoman who took over as manager, used him in a variety of positions and Alan stayed with the club through the barren years which followed the failed promtion campaign.

The Quakers changed managers regularly as they slid down the League, and they applied for re-election twice. There wasn't much to shout about in those years, although Alan scored one of the best goals of the 1970/71 season-"a delightful winner", said the Echo-against Brentford on the last day of the season.

Alan missed very few games over the next two seasons, and still managed to turn in some crowd pleasing moments. Even though the Quakers lost 3-0 at home to Torquay United on 16 December 1972, the Despatch wrote of one incident: He brought the ball under control and passed it back in a way many of his colleagues found difficult to do with their feet."

Alan tried new pastures with the club's permission, and he played the summers of 1972 and 1973 in the newly created North American Soccer League for Miami and Vancouver, playing against the great Pelé, in fact one of his treasured mementos is a photo of him with the great man.

Alan played his last game for Darlington in the 2-1 home win over Reading on New Year's Day 1974, and picked up a knee injury. he had a brief loan spell at Hartlepool, and then moved on to Scunthorpe, before emigrating to America. he was given a well-earned testimonial against Middlesbrough on 23 March 1974, which was good timing because only a few days before, Boro had clinched promotion by beating Oxford United. Plus the government had lifted the ban on using floodlights, so there was no need for the club to hire a generator. A crowd of 6,000, by far Darlo's best gate of the season, turned up to see two matches, involving then Boro manager Jack Charlton and several big names. Alan managed to miss a penalty though!

Alan played 315 league games for the Quakers and was voted one of the members of the all time Darlo Dream Team when Darlington moved grounds. He now lives in San Anselmo, California, and keeps in touch with friends in Darlington, and still plays occasionally for the local veterans.

Honours

As a player

Darlington
*Fourth Division runner-up: 1965-66