Phil Sproson
Phillip Jess Sproson (born 13 October 1959) is an English former footballer who played as a central defender. He played in 500 matches (426 in the league) for Port Vale and scored 41 goals (33 in the league); this places him second in the list of appearances for Port Vale. He is the nephew of Port Vale defender Roy Sproson and son of Jess Sproson, who played for Vale between 1940 and 1947. A strong and technically competent central defender, he helped Port Vale to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1982–83 and 1985–86, and was twice named on the PFA Team of the Year. Forced to retire in February 1989 due to a knee injury, he attempted a comeback with Birmingham City and later represented Stafford Rangers and Northwich Victoria. He remained in the game after retirement and became a football agent. Early and personal life Phillip Jess Sproson was born in Stoke-on-Trent on 13 October 1959. He was the nephew of Port Vale club record appearance holder Roy Sproson an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire and one of the largest cities of the Midlands. Stoke is surrounded by the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Alsager, Kidsgrove and Biddulph, which form a conurbation around the city. The city is wikt:polycentric, polycentric, formed from Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, the federation of six towns in 1910. It took its name from the town of Stoke-upon-Trent where the main centre of government and the principal Stoke-on-Trent railway station, railway station in the district were located. Hanley is the primary commercial centre. The other four towns which form the city are Burslem, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton and Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton. The home of the pottery industry in England, it is known as Staffo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Association Football Contracts
Association football contracts are the legal contracts for both amateur and professional football. Football contracts overlaps substantially with contract, tort and labour law. Issues like defamation, privacy rights and intellectual property law are also an integral aspect of football contracts. This area has been subject to a number of controversies since the 1990s (see the Bosman ruling and the Webster ruling). These cases have coincided with the rebalancing of player power and increased media scrutiny and commercialisation of football. Labor law: Association Football Contracts Labor law has always been an extremely important determinant of association football contracts. The way countries classify labor done by football players is essential to many aspects of the football players' contract. In the 21st century we have seen some shifts in the nature of labor classification in football. In some countries football players are classified as service providers rather than e ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
John McGrath (footballer, Born 1938)
John Thomas McGrath (23 August 1938 – 25 December 1998) was an English footballer and manager in the Football League. He played as a defender, and started his career at Bury from 1955 to 1960. He then spent the next eight years with Newcastle United following a £24,000 transfer, helping them to the Second Division title in 1964–65. In 1968, he joined Southampton for a £30,000 fee, where he would spend the final six years of his playing career, although he also played briefly for Brighton & Hove Albion in 1973. He played 537 league and cup games in a 19-year career in the Football League, scoring six goals. Starting his management career at Port Vale in 1979, he won them promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1982–83. He left to take the reins at Chester City in 1984. Appointed manager at Preston North End in 1986, he led them to promotion out of the Fourth Division as runners-up in 1986–87 before departing in 1990. He finished his career with a brief ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Northampton Town F
Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is situated on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; the population of its overall urban area was recorded as 249,093 in the 2021 census. The parish of Northampton alone had 137,387. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates to the Bronze Age, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. In the Middle Ages, the town rose to national significance with the establishment of Northampton Castle, an occasional royal residence which regularly hosted the Parliament of England. Medieval Northampton had many churches, monasteries and the University of Northampton, all enclosed by the town walls. It was granted a town charter by Richard I in 1189 and a mayor was appointed by King John in 1215. The town was ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Dennis Butler
Dennis Anthony Butler (born 24 June 1944) is an English former professional football player and manager. He played as a winger for Bolton Wanderers between 1959 and 1968 before ending his playing career following five years at Rochdale. Later, when he worked as a coach and assistant manager, he spent an unsuccessful time as Port Vale manager between 1978 and 1979. Playing career Dennis played for Leigh Grammar School and Atherton Schoolboys before joining Bolton Wanderers at 15 in 1959. He spent nine years with the club, racking up 65 appearances. Dennis made his debut under Bill Ridding in December 1963 at Aston Villa. The following week, he made a winning Burnden Park debut against the great Tottenham Hotspur side before scoring his first league goal at Arsenal in January 1964. At the end of the 1963–64 season, the "Trotters" were relegated out of the First Division. He was an ever-present until a bad cartilage injury in October 1964 kept him out of football for nearly a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Vale Park
Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated during 1989–1998 to become an all-seater stadium. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49,768 managed to squeeze in for a 1960 FA Cup fifth round fixture against Aston Villa. Overview At 525 feet above sea level, it is the eleventh highest ground in the country and second-highest in the English Football League. The pitch is clay underneath the grass, rather than sand. These two factors make the pitch vulnerable to freezing temperatures. It is an extremely dry pitch, which often makes passing football quite difficult. There is also a coal seam under the pitch, and numerous mine shafts dotted around the local area, including many under the park opposite th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Promotion And Relegation
Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes called open leagues. In a system of promotion and relegation, the best-ranked team(s) in a lower division are ''promoted'' to a higher division for the next season, and the worst-ranked team(s) in the higher division are ''relegated'' to the lower division for the next season. During the season, teams that are high enough in the league table that they would qualify for promotion are sometimes said to be in the ''promotion zone'', and those at the bottom are in the ''relegation zone'' (colloquially the ''drop zone'' or ''facing the drop''). These can also involve being in zones where promotion and relegation is not automatic but subject to a playoff, such as in the EFL Championship where teams 3rd to 6th enter a playoff for promotion to the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2004, following the formation of the Football League Championship, the division was renamed Football League Two. Founder clubs of the Third Division (1920) Most of these clubs were drawn from what was then the top division of the 1919–20 Southern Football League, in an expansion of the Football League south of Birmingham. As Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City was long considered a potential entrant for the Second Division due to their FA Cup exploits and Southern League dominance, they were sent directly into the Second Division and Grimsby Town, who finished in last place in the Second Division in 1919–20, were relegated. * Brentford F.C., Brentford * Bright ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Bobby Smith (footballer, Born 1944)
Robert William Smith (born 14 March 1944) is an English former footballer and football manager. He was capped by England at Schoolboys and Youth level. He is the son of Conway Smith and grandson of Billy Smith, from whom he gets his middle name. A reserve player for Manchester United, he moved on to Scunthorpe United in 1965, where he established himself in the first team. Moving on to Grimsby Town in 1967, he Transfer (association football), transferred to Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., Brighton & Hove Albion the following year. In 1971, he signed with Hartlepool United F.C., Hartlepool United via Chester City F.C., Chester, before he finished his playing career with Bury F.C., Bury in 1973. Appointing as Bury's manager in 1973, he led the club to Promotion and relegation, promotion out of the Football League Fourth Division in 1973–74 in English football, 1973–74, before he was sacked in November 1977. Quickly installed as Port Vale F.C., Port Vale manager, he moved on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |