After Football
A back injury brought Sprake's career to an end at the age of 30, resulting from a near fatal blood clot in his back which forced him to undergo spinal fusion surgery. His severe back problems have been largely blamed on regular injections of cortisone he was given during his early career at Leeds. Since retiring Sprake has undergone seven operations on his back. He subsequently kept his profile low, returning to his native Wales. His comments to the Daily Mirror about former Leeds manager Don Revie and club captain regarding match-fixing, stuck in the craw of his Leeds team-mates, all of whom were fiercely protective of their manager and the team's reputation. As such, Sprake has remained the only member of Revie's team who has been excluded completely by the club, uninvited to team reunions and funerals, and those within it.
Following his retirement, Sprake worked as a rep for a short period before becoming a borough council training officer in Solihull, a job which he remained in for over 14 years. His biography, Careless Hands: The Forgotten Truth of Gary Sprake (Tim Johnson & Stuart Sprake), was published in 2006. In November 2009 Sprake was given an award by The Welsh FA for his contribution to Welsh football during the 1960s and '70s.
Read more about this topic: Gary Sprake
Famous quotes containing the word football:
“In this dream that dogs me I am part
Of a silent crowd walking under a wall,
Leaving a football match, perhaps, or a pit,
All moving the same way.”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
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