Silvio Spann (born 21 August 1981) is a

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

nian

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 played professionally in countries including Italy, Japan, Croatia and England. Spann is 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 ...

. He is the son of Leroy Spann, former Trinidad and Tobago national team player who currently coaches a youth football team, the Middlesex Phantoms, in the MAPLE league in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

Club career

Spann has played in Italy, for

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

and

Sambenedettese A.S. Sambenedettese S.r.l. is an Italian association football club, based in San Benedetto del Tronto, Marche. Sambenedettese currently plays in Serie D. History Foundation The club was founded in 1923 as ''U.S. Sambenedettese''. In 195 ...

. His move to Japan occurred after he failed to get a work permit in England, where

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

were both interested in him. Spann's contract with Japanese club

Yokohama FC is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club currently plays in the J1 League, which is the first tier of football in the country. The club was formed by fans of Yokoh ...

finished just before the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, forcing him to return home where he re-signed for

W Connection W Connection Football Club is a football club from Trinidad and Tobago, which currently plays in the TT Pro League. The club plays its home games at the Manny Ramjohn Stadium in Marabella. The club's offices are based at the Point Lisas Industria ...

. It was announced in July 2007 that Spann would be attending a two-week trial with Sunderland. He also spent time on trial at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. Silvio Spann later went on to sign a 3-year contract with Wrexham who play their football in the

Football 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 Lea ...

after international teammates, and former Wrexham players, Carlos Edwards and

Dennis Lawrence Dennis William Lawrence CM (born 1 August 1974) is a Trinidad and Tobago former professional footballer and current first-team coach at Coventry City. He was the manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team from 2017 to 2019. Prior to coa ...

gave the club a glowing report. Silvio has been granted the number 16 shirt at Wrexham. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 league defeat to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

, a game in which he later got sent off. He was transfer listed by Wrexham in May 2008 following the club's relegation to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

. Despite being transfer listed, he remained with the club until he was released at the end of the 2009–10 season.

International career

His international debut came against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

in July 2002. Spann had been named in the Trinidad and Tobago national team for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

in Germany, but had to drop out after sustaining a hamstring injury in the run-up to the tournament. On 7 June 2007, in the Gold Cup Tournament at the

Home Depot Center Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignit ...

in Carson, Silvio Spann scored a spectacular free kick more than 40 meters out against El Salvador, but Trinidad & Tobago were defeated 2–1.

Club statistics

National team statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list T&T's goal tally first.'' Source

Personal life

His younger brother Silas Spann of Joe Public F.C. is currently member of the

Trinidad and Tobago national football team The Trinidad and Tobago national football team, nicknamed the " Soca Warriors", represents the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in international football. It is controlled by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association, which is a ...

.Silas Spann – Trinidad and Tobago – Caribbean Football
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References

External links

*
Soca Warriors Online
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spann, Silvio 1981 births Living people Trinidad and Tobago footballers Trinidad and Tobago international footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate footballers 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Association football midfielders W Connection F.C. players TT Pro League players A.C. Perugia Calcio players A.S. Sambenedettese players Expatriate footballers in Italy GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Expatriate footballers in Croatia Yokohama FC players J2 League players Expatriate footballers in Japan Expatriate footballers in Wales Wrexham A.F.C. players English Football League players Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Italy Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Japan Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Wales