Simon Spender

Last updated

Simon Spender
Personal information
Full name Simon Spender [1]
Date of birth (1985-11-15) 15 November 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth Mold, Wales
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 The New Saints (academy coach)
Youth career
2002–2004 Wrexham
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2004–2009 Wrexham 110 (5)
2009 → Barrow (loan) 12 (0)
2009–2011 Barrow 87 (2)
2011–2021 The New Saints 202 (5)
Total411(12)
International career
2004–2008 Wales U21 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Simon Spender (born 15 November 1985) is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer who is currently an academy coach at The New Saints.

Contents

Career

Born in Mold, Flintshire, Spender came up through the youth system at Wrexham and made his debut in a 0–0 draw with Plymouth Argyle in March 2004. [2] [3] He made six appearances in the 2003–04 season, impressing in a 2–1 win over Luton Town. [4] He made 19 appearances in the 2004–05 season and was rewarded with his first professional contract in May 2005. [5] Spender made a further 21 appearances in the 2005–06 season and was given a new contract in summer of 2006. [6] [7] He established himself as the first-choice right-back and by the end of the 2007–08 season had made over 100 appearances for Wrexham. [8] Spender missed three months of the 2008–09 season with a broken elbow and in March 2009, joined Barrow on loan for the remainder of the season, helping them to avoid relegation. [9] He was not offered a contract by Wrexham at the end of the season, [9] and signed a permanent two-year contract with Barrow. [10]

Spender spent two seasons with Barrow. In his first year at the club he won the FA Trophy and made the most appearances for the club of any player that season. [11] The following year Spender remained a regular and helped Barrow avoid relegation yet again. In May 2011 he was offered a new contract by Barrow, [12] but chose to take up the option of professional football at The New Saints in the Welsh Premier League. [13] His competitive debut for the club took place on 30 June 2011 against Cliftonville in a UEFA Europa League first qualifying round match. [14]

Spender retired in June 2021 and moved into a coaching role at The New Saints. [15]

Honours

The New Saints [16]

Barrow [10]

Individual

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The New Saints F.C.</span> Association football club

The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, commonly known as The New Saints or TNS FC, are a Welsh professional football club that play in the Cymru Premier, but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They are the most successful club in the Welsh league structure, with 16 league titles to their name. Since the 2001–02 season, they have finished as champions or runners-up in every season, apart from 2008–09, where they finished third in the league. They became the first side playing in the Welsh league system to qualify for the group or league stage of any European competition after reaching the league phase of the UEFA Conference League for the first time in the 2024–25 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duane Courtney</span> English association football player (born 1985)

Duane Jerome Courtney is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Midland League Premier Division club Highgate United. He has played in the Football League for Burnley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Livesey</span> English footballer

Daniel Richard Livesey is an English retired professional footballer. A defender, he made 311 appearances in the Football League, with his longest period being a ten-year spell at Carlisle United. He has also played for Bolton Wanderers, Notts County, Blackpool, Wrexham, Barrow, Salford City and ended his career at Chester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Ingham (footballer)</span> Association football player

Michael Gerard Ingham is a former professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Tadcaster Albion. He has played in the Football League for Carlisle United, Darlington, York City, Wrexham, Doncaster Rovers and Sunderland and at senior international level for the Northern Ireland national team. He is currently assistant coach at Scarborough Athletic.

Paul Anthony Harrison is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He most notably played for The New Saints, having spent 15 years with the club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaun Pejic</span> British footballer

Shaun Melvyn Pejic is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played club football in England, Wales, Canada and the United States and represented Wales at under-20 and under-21 levels. He works as a FIFA gameplay producer for EA Sports.

Steven James Evans is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer who is currently assistant manager of Flint Town United.

Marc Richard Williams is a Welsh footballer who plays as a forward for Caernarfon Town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Reed (footballer)</span> Welsh association football player

Jamie Lee Reed is a footballer and coach who plays as a striker for Connah's Quay Town. Born in England, he has represented Wales at semi-professional level.

Conall Francis Murtagh is a Northern Irish sports scientist and professional football coach who is currently Head of Physical Performance department for Premier League club Liverpool. A former footballer, he made over seventy appearances in the Scottish League, Football League and Football Conference, as well as making 226 appearances in the Welsh Premier League, primarily for Bala Town. He played in European competitions for five seasons, representing Bala Town in Europe in three seasons 2012–13, 2014–15 and 2015–16, Rhyl in 2010 and the Champions League with TNS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Smith (footballer)</span> English footballer (born 1987)

Christian Daniel Smith is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He scored 53 goals in 464 league and cup appearances during a sixteen-year playing career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Holmes</span> English footballer

Daniel Holmes is an English football manager and former player who is currently managing Northern Premier League club Vauxhall Motors. He is a product of Tranmere Rovers' youth system.

Paul Edwards is an English former footballer. He made 246 league appearances in the English Football League.

Mark Dale Thomas McGregor is an English former footballer who played as a defender who is the assistant manager of Runcorn Town. He played 498 games in a 13-year career in the Football League, mostly in the third tier.

Michael Thomas Pearson is a Welsh footballer who plays for Llandudno. He was previously with Barrow in the Conference National in England, with whom he played from July 2008 until June 2013. He began his career with football league team Oldham Athletic. He plays as either a defender or midfielder.

Jonathan Joseph Routledge is an English professional footballer.

Jason Oswell is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Cymru Premier side Newtown.

Scott Ruscoe is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer who was recently the manager of Cymru Premier club Newtown.

Scott David Quigley is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for National League club Eastleigh.

Connell Patrick Rawlinson is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a defender for National League North club Chester.

References

  1. ↑ Hugman, Barry J. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 579. ISBN   1-85291-665-6.
  2. ↑ "Simon Spender". Team profiles. Wrexham F.C. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  3. ↑ "Games played by Simon Spender in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  4. ↑ "Smith praises stand-ins". BBC Sport. 25 April 2004. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  5. ↑ "Spender gets first Wrexham deal". BBC Sport. 27 May 2005. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  6. ↑ "Games played by Simon Spender in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  7. ↑ "Smith excited by Wrexham signings". BBC Sport. 5 July 2006. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  8. ↑ "Simon Spender". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 10 May 2008.
  9. 1 2 "Spender released by Wrexham boss". BBC Sport. 30 April 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  10. 1 2 "AFC Return to Spender". Barrow A.F.C. 15 May 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2009.
  11. ↑ "SPENDER TURNS DOWN AFC AND SIGNS FOR TNS". North-West Evening Mail. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  12. ↑ "Forrest, Goodfellow and Masters released by Barrow". BBC Sport. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  13. ↑ "The New Saints sign Jermaine Johnson and Simon Spender". BBC Sport. 11 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  14. ↑ "New Saints 1–1 Cliftonville". The New Saints FC. 30 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2011.
  15. ↑ "As Simon Spender Hangs up His Boots, We Chat with the TNS FC Legend". 11 June 2021.
  16. ↑ Simon Spender at Soccerway. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  17. ↑ "Dream team 2014/15". welsh-premier.com. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  18. ↑ Sam Williams. "Players Recognised in WPL Team of the Year". Llandudno F.C. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  19. ↑ "2016/17 Dafabet WPL Team of the Season". Welsh Premier League. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.