Sion Spence ( cy, Siôn Spence, born 2 October 2000) is a Welsh professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

club Gloucester City.

Club career

Cardiff City

Spence started his career at

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

where he was awarded the club's academy player of the year award for the 2017–18 season. Spence was also part of the Cardiff City Under-18s side that was crowned champions of the PDL2 South. In September 2019, Spence joined

Cymru Premier The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to ...

side Barry Town United on loan.

Crystal Palace

Following his release from Cardiff, Spence joined

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side Crystal Palace in September 2020, initially joining up with the club's under-23s side. On 9 July 2021, Spence joined recently-relegated

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

side

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

on a season-long loan deal. He made his professional debut in a 2–0

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...

defeat to Cheltenham Town. On 25 September 2021, Spence made his league debut for the club when he came on as a 90th minute substitute for Harvey Saunders against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

. He scored to give Rovers a 2–1 victory, the club's first away win for 9 months. Spence was released by Crystal Palace at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Gloucester City

On 4 August 2022, Spence signed for

club Gloucester City on a one-year deal.

International career

In 2016, Spence scored for the Wales under-16 side as they defeated Northern Ireland under-16 side 3–1 to retain the Victory Shield. He has also represented Wales at under-19 and under-21 level. In June 2021, Spence was shown a red card whilst representing the U21 team in a 0–0 draw with

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnist ...

. Spence was shown a second yellow card for what was deemed to be simulation, despite having to leave the field on a stretcher on account of the challenge in the opposing penalty area. In October 2021, Spence was called up to the Wales squad for the

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023) will be the 24th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (27th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football ...

qualifying matches against Moldova and

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

on 8 and 12 October 2021 respectively, featuring off of the bench in the 5–0 defeat in the second of the two matches.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Sion 2000 births Living people Welsh footballers Wales youth international footballers Wales under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Cardiff City F.C. players Barry Town United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Gloucester City A.F.C. players Cymru Premier players English Football League players National League (English football) players