{{short description|English footballer}} {{use British English|date=December 2018}} {{use dmy dates|date=December 2018}} {{infobox football biography | name = Alan Sproates | image = | caption = | fullname = | position = Midfielder | height = {{height|ft=5|in=10}}<ref name=NASLJ/> | birth_date = {{birth date|1944|6|30|df=y}} | birth_place = Hetton-le-Hole, England | death_date = {{death date and age|2015|2|5|1944|6|30|df=y}}<ref name=MarinIJ/> | death_place = California, United States | youthyears1 = 19??–1961 | youthclubs1 = Sunderland | years1 = 1961–1963 | clubs1 = Sunderland | caps1 = 0 | goals1 = 0 | years2 = 1963–1965 | clubs2 = Swindon Town | caps2 = 3 | goals2 = 0 | years3 = 1965–1974 | clubs3 = Darlington | caps3 = 315 | goals3 = 17 | years4 = 1973 | clubs4 = → Miami Toros (loan) | caps4 = 9 | goals4 = 0 | years5 = 1974–1975 | clubs5 = Scunthorpe United | caps5 = 24 | goals5 = 0 | years6 = 1975 | clubs6 = USC Lion (Adelaide) | caps6 = | goals6 = | years7 = 1978 | clubs7 = Los Angeles Skyhawks | caps7 = | goals7 = | years8 = 1980–1981 | clubs8 = San Francisco Fog | caps8 = | goals8 = }} '''Alan Sproates''' (30 June 1944 – 5 February 2015) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He made nearly 350 appearances in the Football League, including more than 300 for Darlington, and also played in Australia and the United States.
==Career== Sproates was born in 1944 in Hetton-le-Hole, which was then in County Durham.<ref name=Hugman/> He began his football career with Sunderland, where he turned professional in 1961, but made no first-team appearances before he joined Swindon Town in 1963.<ref name=Hugman>{{Hugman|18625|accessdate=20 December 2018}}</ref> After two seasons in which he played only five first-team games,<ref name=STFC>{{cite web |url=http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/Person.asp?PersonID=SPROATEA |title=Alan Sproates |website=Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk |publisher=Richard Banyard |accessdate=20 December 2018}}</ref> Sproates moved to Darlington in part-exchange for Jimmy Lawton.<ref name=Darlo>{{cite web |url=http://www.darlington-fc.net/page/FormerPlayers/0,,10339~1013162,00.html |title=Alan Sproates – 1965–1974 |publisher=Darlington F.C. |date=18 May 2007 |accessdate=12 July 2009 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118201038/http://www.darlington-fc.net/page/FormerPlayers/0,,10339~1013162,00.html |archivedate=18 November 2008}}</ref> He remained at the club until 1974, making 315 league appearances and helping the club reach runners-up spot in the Fourth Division and promotion to the Third Division in the 1965–66 season.<ref name=Darlo/><ref name=NB/> He spent the summer of 1973 playing in the North American Soccer League for Miami Toros.<ref name=NASLJ>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasljerseys.com/Players/S/Sproates.Alan.htm |title=Alan Sproates |website=NASL Jerseys |publisher=Dave Morrison |accessdate=20 December 2018}}</ref>
After a year with Scunthorpe United,<ref name=NB>{{cite web |url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player9/alansproates.html |title=Alan Sproates |website=UK A–Z Transfers |publisher=Neil Brown |accessdate=20 December 2018}}</ref> Sproates was signed by Ukrainian Sports Club Lion in Adelaide playing in the South Australian First Division. He was so impressive that he was voted the Best and Fairest player in the league winning the John Martin Medal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/States/SA/All-BnF.html |title=South Australia's Best and Fairest Player of the Year Awards |first=Peter |last=Georgaras |website=OzFootball |accessdate=24 August 2016}}</ref> Soon after he moved to the United States, where he coached football and played in the American Soccer League for Los Angeles Skyhawks<ref name=SI>{{cite news |url=http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1093655/2/index.htm |title=A Roundup of the Week May 1–7 |website=Sports Illustrated |publisher=CNN |date=15 May 1978 |accessdate=12 July 2009 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130102080659/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1093655/2/index.htm |archivedate=2 January 2013}}</ref> and for the San Francisco Fog during the 1980–81 Major Indoor Soccer League season.<ref name=NASLJ/>
Sproates and his wife, Bonnie, lived in San Rafael and San Anselmo, in Marin County, California.<ref name=MarinIJ>{{cite news |url=https://www.marinij.com/2015/03/01/in-san-rafael-friends-and-family-honor-late-soccer-pro-sproates/ |title=In San Rafael, friends and family honor late soccer pro Sproates |first=Janis |last=Mara |newspaper=Marin Independent Journal |date=1 March 2015 |accessdate=20 December 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/7002312.california-fans-set-to-help-quakers/ |title=California fans set to help Quakers |newspaper=The Northern Echo |location=Darlington |date=28 January 2004 |accessdate=20 December 2018}}</ref> He died in California in 2015 at the age of 70.<ref name=MarinIJ/><ref name=Hugman/>
==Honours== '''Darlington''' * Fourth Division runners-up: 1965–66
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sproates, Alan}} Category:1944 births Category:2015 deaths Category:Footballers from Hetton-le-Hole Category:People from San Anselmo, California Category:Soccer players from Marin County, California Category:English men's footballers Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Sunderland A.F.C. players Category:Swindon Town F.C. players Category:Darlington F.C. players Category:Miami Toros players Category:Scunthorpe United F.C. players Category:Los Angeles Skyhawks players Category:San Francisco Fog (MISL) players Category:English Football League players Category:North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Category:American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Category:Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Category:English expatriate men's footballers Category:English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Category:Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Category:English expatriate sportspeople in Australia Category:Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Category:20th-century English sportsmen