Brian Edward Sparrow (24 June 1962 – 6 December 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a full back.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Edward Sparrow[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1962-06-24)24 June 1962[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Bethnal Green,[1] England | ||
| Date of death | 6 December 2019(2019-12-06) (aged 57)[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Full back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1977–1982 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1982–1984 | Arsenal | 2 | (0) |
| 1982 | → Wimbledon (loan) | 17 | (1) |
| 1983 | → Millwall (loan) | 5 | (2) |
| 1984 | → Gillingham (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 1984–1987 | Crystal Palace | 63 | (2) |
| 19??–1990 | Enfield | ||
| 1990–1992 | Crawley Town | ||
| Total | 92 | (6) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1991–1992 | Crawley Town (player-manager) | ||
| 1996 | Crawley Town (caretaker) | ||
| 2012 | Shenzhen Main Sports | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Born in Bethnal Green, Sparrow began his career at Arsenal,[3] from where he spent loan spells at Wimbledon, Millwall and Gillingham.[4] After spending three seasons with Crystal Palace,[4] Sparrow dropped down to non-league football with Enfield and then Crawley Town, where he was player-manager from 1991 to 1992,[5]
After retiring as a player, Sparrow worked as reserve-team manager of Wimbledon, made a brief return to Crawley as caretaker manager,[5] and coached at Brentford and Crystal Palace.[6] On 26 February 2012, Sparrow was appointed as the manager of China League Two side Shenzhen Main Sports, the same day the club was founded.[7][8] He left China after club boss Sammy Yu resigned in July 2012.[9]
He died on 6 December 2019, at the age of 57.[10]
Crawley Town F.C. – managers | |
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