Roy Sproson

Roy Sproson was born on 23 September 1930 and died in January 1997. He was an English footballer and football manager for Port Vale.

A one club man, Roy holds the all time appearance record for Vale, making 837 appearances for Vale between 1950 and 1972. This includes a run of 128 consecutive appearances between April 1954 and March 1957.

Roy's honours as a player include the Third Division (North) championship and reaching the FA Cup semi-final in 1953-54, and the inaugural Fourth Division championship in 1959-60. He was also named Gilette Sportsman of the Year in 1970.

Injury forced Roy to finish his playing career in 1972, but he remained at Vale in a coaching capacity. Roy was appointed caretaker manager in January 1974 (after Gordon Lee left to join Blackburn Rovers) and was appointed on a permanent basis in April of the same year. However he was sacked in October 1977 after a poor run of results.

The Sproson name figures prominently in Port Vale's history. Roy's older brother Jess played as a forward for Vale between 1940 and 1947, and his nephew Phil (Jess's son) was a central defender between 1978 and 1989.

To this day, a group of Vale fans continue to raise money to erect a statue of Roy Sproson at Vale Park. Port Vale's away kit for the 2005-06 season (in the club's old amber and black colours) bore the motto '837 - One Man One Team', embroidered on the left sleeve to honour Roy's memory