Spencer Prior
Encyclopedia
Spencer Justin Prior is an English
former footballer. He was a central defender
who retired at the end of the 2006-07
season, finishing his career with hometown club Southend United
, where he began his career. In between, he played for Norwich City
, Leicester City
, Derby County
, Manchester City
and Cardiff City
.
made moves to sign him. He opted for Norwich because they had qualified to play in Europe for the 1993-94 season and they paid Southend a fee of £300,000 for his services. In his first season at Carrow Road
he played in the historic 2-1 win at Bayern Munich and the 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan that saw City eliminated from the UEFA Cup
.
During his first two seasons with Norwich, Prior found it difficult to establish himself as a first team regular. After the club had been relegated from the Premiership
in 1995, however, Prior became a regular selection under the management firstly of Martin O'Neill
and then Gary Megson
. It was a difficult season for Norwich which was played out against weekly demonstrations at chairman Robert Chase. Prior ended the season by being voted Norwich City player of the year
. In August 1996, Leicester paid £600,000 for him. He had played 89 games for Norwich.
In his first season at Leicester, Prior got a league cup winner's medal as the Foxes beat Middlesbrough
in a replayed final. Prior moved to Derby in 1998 but did not settle there, though did manage to score the winner in a game against Sheffield Wednesday. A number of clubs showed an interest in him before Manchester City signed him shortly before the transfer deadline in the 1999-00 season. City had signed him to replace the injured Andy Morrison
as they had only been able to field two central defenders (Gerard Wiekens
and Richard Jobson
) for most of the season. His impact on the team was immediate, his goals earning City numerous victories and ultimately promotion. As City arrived in the Premiership Prior found his first team opportunities limited as the then City manager, Joe Royle
, bought Steve Howey
, Richard Dunne
and Paul Ritchie, while Andy Morrison
also returned from his lengthy injury.
Thus, Prior moved to Cardiff City F.C.
for a £700,000 fee. His three year stint at Ninian Park
was a difficult one and he failed to win over the City supporters. Indeed, even before he stepped onto the pitch as a substitute in one game, he was met with a chorus of boos from the Cardiff fans. During his time he consistentley complained about the abuse he received from fans. In September 2006, reflecting on his time at the club, he suggested he was targeted by the boo boys because he was English despite the fact he was playing with other English players who were considered fan favourites, prompting fury from many Bluebirds supporters.
Prior was released by Cardiff and returned to the club where he began his career, Southend United, in July 2004. In his first two seasons back at Roots Hall
, the team won consecutive promotions.
and is now a football analyst for Fox Sports Australia
and owns Love Football, an equipment retailer. He also coaches a number of teams at Sydney Grammar School
, and was the Head Coach at Mosman Football Club in 2007 and 2008,leading a significant improvement in its coaching capabilities.
In December 2008, A-League
club Newcastle Jets announced they had signed the 37-year old Prior for the remainder of the 2008-2009 season.
1 January 2011 confirmed as assistant head coach of the Matildas, assistant to Tom Sermanni
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
former footballer. He was a central defender
Defender (football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
who retired at the end of the 2006-07
2006-07 in English football
The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five...
season, finishing his career with hometown club Southend United
Southend United F.C.
Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...
, where he began his career. In between, he played for Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
, Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
, Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
, Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
and Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
.
Biography
Prior made 135 league appearances in his first spell with Southend. His solid performances in the centre of the Shrimpers defence attracted the attention of other clubs and in the summer of 1993 both Norwich and Wolverhampton WanderersWolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
made moves to sign him. He opted for Norwich because they had qualified to play in Europe for the 1993-94 season and they paid Southend a fee of £300,000 for his services. In his first season at Carrow Road
Carrow Road
Carrow Road is a football stadium in Norwich, England, and is the home of Norwich City Football Club. The stadium is located toward the easterly end of the city, not far from Norwich railway station and the River Wensum....
he played in the historic 2-1 win at Bayern Munich and the 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan that saw City eliminated from the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...
.
During his first two seasons with Norwich, Prior found it difficult to establish himself as a first team regular. After the club had been relegated from the Premiership
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
in 1995, however, Prior became a regular selection under the management firstly of Martin O'Neill
Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...
and then Gary Megson
Gary Megson
Gary John Megson is an English former football player and is currently manager of Sheffield Wednesday.He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers...
. It was a difficult season for Norwich which was played out against weekly demonstrations at chairman Robert Chase. Prior ended the season by being voted Norwich City player of the year
Norwich City player of the year
The Norwich City player of the year award is voted for annually by Norwich City's supporters, in recognition of the best overall performance by an individual player throughout the football season...
. In August 1996, Leicester paid £600,000 for him. He had played 89 games for Norwich.
In his first season at Leicester, Prior got a league cup winner's medal as the Foxes beat Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
in a replayed final. Prior moved to Derby in 1998 but did not settle there, though did manage to score the winner in a game against Sheffield Wednesday. A number of clubs showed an interest in him before Manchester City signed him shortly before the transfer deadline in the 1999-00 season. City had signed him to replace the injured Andy Morrison
Andy Morrison
Andrew Charles "Andy" Morrison is a Scottish ex-football player who played at centre half. He is currently Assistant Manager at Northwich Victoria.-Early career:...
as they had only been able to field two central defenders (Gerard Wiekens
Gerard Wiekens
Gerard Wiekens is a former Dutch footballer who played for Veendam of the Eerste Divisie. Wiekens was born in in Oude Pekela. He usually played as a defender, but could also play in midfield or as a sweeper.-Club career:...
and Richard Jobson
Richard Jobson (footballer)
Richard Jobson is an English former footballer who made nearly 600 appearances in the Football League and Premier League over a twenty-year career, representing Watford, Hull City, Oldham Athletic, Leeds United, Southend United, Manchester City, Tranmere Rovers and Rochdale...
) for most of the season. His impact on the team was immediate, his goals earning City numerous victories and ultimately promotion. As City arrived in the Premiership Prior found his first team opportunities limited as the then City manager, Joe Royle
Joe Royle
Joseph "Joe" Royle is an English football manager. In his club career, he played for Everton , Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the England national team...
, bought Steve Howey
Steve Howey (footballer)
Stephen Norman "Steve" Howey is a former footballer who played for the England national team. At club level, he made more than 300 appearances in the Football League and the Premier League, playing for Newcastle United, Manchester City, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and Hartlepool United...
, Richard Dunne
Richard Dunne
Richard Patrick Dunne is an Irish footballer who plays as a defender for Aston Villa and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he was a member of the 2002 FIFA World Cup squad and helped his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012.Dunne began his professional career at Everton...
and Paul Ritchie, while Andy Morrison
Andy Morrison
Andrew Charles "Andy" Morrison is a Scottish ex-football player who played at centre half. He is currently Assistant Manager at Northwich Victoria.-Early career:...
also returned from his lengthy injury.
Thus, Prior moved to Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
for a £700,000 fee. His three year stint at Ninian Park
Ninian Park
Ninian Park was a football stadium in Leckwith, Cardiff, Wales. Until 2009, it was the home ground of Cardiff City F.C., who compete in the English Football League Championship...
was a difficult one and he failed to win over the City supporters. Indeed, even before he stepped onto the pitch as a substitute in one game, he was met with a chorus of boos from the Cardiff fans. During his time he consistentley complained about the abuse he received from fans. In September 2006, reflecting on his time at the club, he suggested he was targeted by the boo boys because he was English despite the fact he was playing with other English players who were considered fan favourites, prompting fury from many Bluebirds supporters.
Prior was released by Cardiff and returned to the club where he began his career, Southend United, in July 2004. In his first two seasons back at Roots Hall
Roots Hall
Roots Hall is a multi-use sports stadium in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, primarily used for football games and is the home of the Football League Two club Southend United. With a capacity of 12,392 Roots Hall is the largest football stadium in Essex, and is the current venue for the final of...
, the team won consecutive promotions.
Australia
After retiring from football, Prior moved to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and is now a football analyst for Fox Sports Australia
Fox Sports (Australia)
Fox Sports is an Australia group of sports channels. They are owned by the Premier Media Group, which is in turn owned by News Corporation, and Consolidated Media Holdings. Its main competitors are ESPN, which has little local content and the free-to-air digital channel One HD...
and owns Love Football, an equipment retailer. He also coaches a number of teams at Sydney Grammar School
Sydney Grammar School
Sydney Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, selective, day school for boys, located in Darlinghurst, Edgecliff and St Ives, all suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
, and was the Head Coach at Mosman Football Club in 2007 and 2008,leading a significant improvement in its coaching capabilities.
In December 2008, A-League
A-League
The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...
club Newcastle Jets announced they had signed the 37-year old Prior for the remainder of the 2008-2009 season.
1 January 2011 confirmed as assistant head coach of the Matildas, assistant to Tom Sermanni
Honours
With Cardiff CityCardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
- Football League Division Two play-off winner: 1
-
- 2002-03The Football League 2002-03The 2002–2003 season was the 103rd completed season of The Football League.-Football League First Division:Portsmouth won the First Division by some distance, passing manager Harry Redknapp’s old club, West Ham on the way down. Leicester City earned a somewhat controversial promotion, as...
- FAW Premier CupFAW Premier CupThe FAW Premier Cup is a defunct Welsh football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008...
winner: 1
- FAW Premier Cup
- 2001–02
- 2002-03