Derek Spence

Derek Spence

Derek Spence in 1994
Personal information
Full name	Derek William Spence
Date of birth	18 January 1952 (1952-01-18) (age 59)
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1969–1971	Crusaders	?	(?)
1971–1972	Oldham Athletic	6	(0)
1972–1976	Bury	140	(44)
1976–1978	Blackpool	27	(3)
1978	Olympiakos	21	(6)
1978–1980	Blackpool	58	(18)
1980–1982	Southend United	103	(32)
1982	Sparta Rotterdam	?	(0)
1982	Sea Bee	?	(?)
1982–1983	Hong Kong Rangers	?	(?)
1983–1984	Bury	13	(1)
Total		348	(98)
National team
1975–1982	Northern Ireland	29	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Derek William Spence (born 18 January 1952 in Belfast) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer. He played as a forward in a career spanning seventeen years from 1969 to 1986.

He played for clubs in Northern Ireland, England, Greece, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. He also played for Northern Ireland.

Club career

Spence started his career with Irish League club Crusaders in 1969, before making the short trip to England in 1971 to join Fourth Division side Oldham Athletic. He spent one year at Boundary Park, making just six league appearances for the Latics, before joining Bury in 1972. It was at Gigg Lane that he spent the majority of his thirteen-year career and scored the most league goals – 44 in 140 league games.^[1]

Spence inside Rangers' trophy room in 1994. He was a guest of his friend, then-Raith Rovers manager and former Northern Ireland teammate Jimmy Nicholl, for the 16 April league match between the two clubs.

In 1976, Spence joined Second Division side Blackpool, and made his debut for the Seasiders against Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest on 16 October. He complemented the twin striking powers of Mickey Walsh and fellow new signing Bob Hatton. However, at the end of the season he found his place under threat from Stan McEwan.

A serious injury kept Spence out of the entire 1977–78 campaign, which ended with Blackpool's relegation to the Third Division for the first time in their history.

Spence then joined Greek Alpha Ethniki club Olympiacos, where he made 21 league appearances, scoring six goals. He then returned to Blackpool, who were then playing in the Third Division, for a fee of £27,000^[2] and joined forces with Tony Kellow, who had signed from Exeter City. Between them, they scored 27 goals in the 1978–79 season, nearly half of the team's total, with Spence top scorer on sixteen goals. Speaking about his return to Lancashire, he said "I made quite a lot of money from my time in Greece, but being there put me in the international wilderness. From being a regular in the squad, I became an outcast. So, despite the crowd being fantastic and the players who loved me, I moved back to England."^[2] He nearly did not rejoin, however. "I had basically agreed terms with Arthur Cox at Chesterfield when Bob Stokoe rang me. He invited me back to Blackpool and, to be honest, I jumped at the chance. Needless to say, Arthur wasn't too happy."^[2]

On 26 December 1979, in a game against Hull City at Bloomfield Road, Spence suffered an injury serious enough that it eventually forced his premature retirement from the game. In 1980, he moved to Fourth Division side Southend United, helping them to win promotion in the 1980–81 season as champions. He scored 32 goals in 104 games over a two-year period.

Between 1982 and 1986, Spence spent spells with Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam and Hong Kong clubs Sea Bee and Hong Kong Rangers before finishing his professional career with a second spell at Bury in 1986.^[1] He retired in 1986 at the age of 34 and eventually hung up his boots in Non-League football with Oldham Town in the North West Counties Football League.

International career

Spence won his first Northern Ireland cap on 16 March 1975, in a single-goal victory over Yugoslavia in Belfast. He went on to win 29 caps in total, scoring three goals. His most notable appearance occurred on 13 October 1976, when he came on as a late substitute and scored a late equaliser against the Netherlands in a World Cup qualifying game in Rotterdam.^[3]

He ended his international career after discovering, via Teletext, that Billy Bingham had left him out of the 1982 World Cup squad.^[4]

Post-football career

Spence, posing with his Sportslink car in 1994.

Spence ran his own off-licences in Walmersley, Bury, Greater Manchester, firstly, and then in Hambleton, Lancashire. He eventually returned to his first love of football by setting up his own coaching school, Sportslink. Then in 1990 he returned to Blackpool F.C. as the club's Football in the Community Officer, succeeding fellow ex-Tangerine and Shaker Craig Madden, a role he continues to fulfill,^[1][5] along with his wife, Lyn.^[6]

Personal life

Spence is married to Lyn, with whom he has two children. He also has two children from his first marriage.

Honours

Southend United

• Fourth Division champions: 1980–81

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Great memories". Bury F.C.. 1 February 2008. http://www.buryfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/LatestNews/0,,10422~1230612,00.html. Retrieved 15 September 2008. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Gillatt, Peter (30 November 2009). Blackpool FC on This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-905411-50-2. 
3. ^ Gillespie, Marshall (6 July 2006). "Goalscoring Substitutes". Irish Football Association. http://www.irishfa.com/the-ifa/news/2295/goalscoring-substitutes/. Retrieved 15 September 2008. 
4. ^ Blackpool: A Complete Record: 1887–1992, Breedon Books, Roy Calley (1992)
5. ^ "Contact Us". Blackpool F.C.. http://www.blackpoolfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/FeedbackForm/0,,10432,00.html. Retrieved 15 September 2008. 
6. ^ "Football in the Community". Up The Pool (Blackpool: Blackpool F.C.) 2008–09 season (Blackpool vs Derby County): 91. 21 October 2008. 

External links

• Profile at NIFG.co.uk

Persondata
Name	Spence, Derek
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 January 1952
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date of death
Place of death