Matt Sparrow

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Matt Sparrow
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Sparrow playing for Brighton & Hove Albion in 2011
Personal information
Full name Matthew Ronald Sparrow
Date of birth (1981-10-03) 3 October 1981 (age 42)
Place of birth Wembley, England
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Lincoln City
Number 21
Youth career
0000–1999 Scunthorpe United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2010 Scunthorpe United 336 (36)
2010–2013 Brighton & Hove Albion 47 (6)
2013 Crawley Town 17 (3)
2013–2015 Scunthorpe United 35 (4)
2015 → Cheltenham Town (loan) 11 (1)
2015– Lincoln City 11 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:53, 13 July 2015 (UTC)

Matthew Ronald "Matt" Sparrow (born 3 October 1981) is an English professional footballer who plays for Lincoln City. He last played for Scunthorpe United in the League One. A midfielder, he has made 440 appearances in the Football League, including 369 for Scunthorpe United.

In his 16-year-long playing career, Sparrow has previously played for Brighton & Hove Albion, Crawley Town and Cheltenham Town.

Club career

Scunthorpe United

Born in Wembley, London, Sparrow spent 11 years of his professional career at Scunthorpe United, playing in the bottom three tiers of league football for them. He formally signed for the club as a 16-year-old and played in the FA Youth Alliance final for Scunthorpe at the old Wembley stadium against West Bromwich Albion.[1]

After spending several months in prison in 2001, he became a regular in the Scunthorpe first team.[2]

In August 2007, he was offered a new three-year contract with the club.[3]

Sparrow scored the opening goal in the 2008–09 League One Play-off Final at Wembley Stadium against Millwall which led them to a 3–2 victory to clinch promotion to the Championship.

On 24 June 2010, it was reported[4] that Sparrow had turned down a new contract offer and was looking elsewhere to continue his career.

Testimonial year

Sparrow made his 300th appearance for Scunthorpe in April 2009, and subsequently played in a testimonial match which took take place on 1 May. Former Scunthorpe striker Billy Sharp and veteran midfielder Peter Beagrie returned for the match. Also involved were Jack Cork, Alex Calvo Garcia, Jamie McCombe, Jamie Forrester, John Eyre, Lee Ridley, Paul Wilson, Steve Housham, Andy Butler, Mark Jackson, Martin Carruthers, Steve Torpey, Lee Hodges, Paul Harsley, Wayne Graves, Lee Turnbull, Tony Daws, Andy Crosby, Ian Baraclough, Cleveland Taylor, Chris Hope, Kevin Sharp, Kevin Pressman, Paul Musselwhite, Justin Walker, Ross Hyslop, Brian Quailey, Sam Beagrie, Des Comerford and Simon Elliott – plus managers Brian Laws and Nigel Adkins.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 29 June 2010, Sparrow signed for League One side Brighton & Hove Albion, penning a three-year contract. Brighton won the League One championship that season (in which Sparrow scored four goals) and were promoted to the Championship. In the 2011–12 season, Sparrow scored two goals, both in the 3–0 home win over Southampton. However, he received a red card and a three-match suspension in February's win against Leicester City, for a reckless sliding tackle.

Crawley Town

On 10 January 2013, Sparrow signed for League One and fellow Sussex side Crawley Town on a free transfer.[5] Sparrow made his Crawley debut only two days later on 12 January, coming on in the 67th minute as a substitute replacing fellow midfielder Dannie Bulman, in a 2–0 defeat against Tranmere Rovers.[6] He made his home debut on 2 February in a 1–1 draw against Swindon Town.[7] He scored his first goal for the club on 9 February in a 2–1 defeat against his former club Scunthorpe United.[8] He scored his second goal for the club in a 2–2 draw against Yeovil Town.[9] He played 17 times for Crawley in the league that season, scoring three goals as they finished a very credible 10th place, their highest-ever league placing.

Return to Scunthorpe United

Sparrow returned to his old club Scunthorpe United on 2 July 2013 after being released by Crawley Town.[10] On 5 May 2015 it was announced that Sparrow wouldn't be offered a new deal and was free to leave the club.[11]

Lincoln City

On the 24th of June 2015 he signed a one-year deal with Conference Premier club Lincoln City and make his debut in a home game against Cheltenham Town.

Personal life

He attended the John Leggott College in Scunthorpe between 1998 and 2000, studying Leisure and Tourism.[12]

Career statistics

As of 1 April 2014.
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Scunthorpe United 1999–2000[13] Second Division 11 0 0 0 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 13 0
2000–01[14] Third Division 11 4 0 0 2 0 0 0 13 4
2001–02[15] Third Division 24 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 25 1
2002–03[16] Third Division 42 9 3 0 1 0 3[lower-alpha 2] 0 49 9
2003–04[17] Third Division 38 3 6 0 2 0 4[lower-alpha 1] 1 50 4
2004–05[18]
 League Two 44 5 3 1 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 49 6
2005–06[19]
 League One 39 5 3 0 2 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 45 5
2006–07[20]
 League One 29 4 3 0 2 0 0 0 34 4
2007–08[21]
 Championship 32 1 1 0 1 0 — 34 1
2008–09[22]
 League One 36 4 3 0 1 0 10[lower-alpha 3] 2 50 6
2009–10[23] Championship 30 1 1 0 3 1 — 34 2
Total 336 37 24 1 16 1 20 3 396 42
Brighton & Hove Albion 2010–11[24] League One 29 4 5 2 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 36 6
2011–12[25] Championship 18 2 3 0 1 0 — 22 2
2012–13[26] Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 47 6 8 2 2 0 1 0 58 8
Crawley Town 2012–13[27] League One 17 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 3
Scunthorpe United 2013–14[28] League Two 20 2 1 0 1 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 23 2
Career totals 420 48 33 3 19 1 22 3 494 55
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  2. ↑ 1 appearance in Football League Trophy, 2 appearances in Football League Third Division play-offs
  3. ↑ 7 appearances in Football League Trophy, 3 appearances and 2 goals in Football League One play-offs

Honours

Scunthorpe United

Brighton & Hove Albion

References

  1. ↑ Sparrow is targeting silverware – BBC Sport
  2. ↑ Scouting report – The Guardian
  3. ↑ Iron reward Sparrow with new deal – BBC Sport
  4. ↑ Sparrow leaves The Iron – www.scunthorpe-united.co.uk
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20919276
  7. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21209214
  8. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21311362
  9. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21665724
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ http://www.scunthorpe-united.co.uk/news/article/iron-announce-retained-list-2440421.aspx
  12. ↑ Former Students (Alumni) – Significant Alumni Member (Matt Sparrow – John Leggot College
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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