Alistair Sperring (born 26 October 1963) is an English retired 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 le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Born on

Hayling Island Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island was later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st c ...

, Sperring began his career with

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 1983, and later played for

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

Bognor Regis Town Bognor Regis Town Football Club is an English football club based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Nicknamed 'The Rocks',the club is an FA Chartered Standard Community club affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They currently compe ...

and Hayling United.

Career

Alistair Sperring initially joined the

Southampton F.C. Academy Southampton F.C. B team and Academy or Saints B and Academy is the youth organisation run by Southampton F.C. to encourage and develop young footballers in the south of England. Renowned players including Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, and Alan Shear ...

as an apprentice in July 1980 at the age of 16, before signing professional terms in August 1983. He made his first and only appearance for the club on 8 November 1983 in the third round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

, which the Saints lost 2–1. During the game, the goalkeeper missed the ball with a punch and collided with teammate Mark Wright, who had to be substituted off due to a broken nose. After a brief loan spell with

between August and September 1984, Sperring left Southampton. He completed a trial for

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in January 1985, and later joined

in September 1985. The goalkeeper returned to Hayling Island in 1987 to end his playing career with Hayling United. After retiring from football, Sperring entered the motor industry and eventually became the managing director of Havant Motor Factors, a spare parts specialist.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sperring, Alistair 1963 births People from Hayling Island Living people English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Southampton F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Bognor Regis Town F.C. players Footballers from Hampshire