Derek Spalding
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| Derek Spalding | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Derek Spalding | |
| Date of birth | ||
| Place of birth | Scotland | |
| Playing position | Defender | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
1978-1982 1983-1984 1984-1986 |
Hibernian Chicago Sting Toronto Blizzard Chicago Sting (MISL) |
119 (15) 34 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1982 | United States | 1 (0) |
| Teams managed | ||
1990 |
Chicago Power (assistant) Chicago Power |
|
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Derek Spalding (born in Scotland) is a former U.S.-Scottish soccer defender. He played seven seasons in the North American Soccer League and at least two in the Major Indoor Soccer League. He also earned one cap with the U.S. national team in 1982.
Contents |
[edit] Professional
Growing up in Scotland, Spalding signed with First Division club Hibernian as a youth player. He worked his way through the reserves before gaining a spot on the first team in 1976.[1] He played with Hibs until 1978 when he left Scotland to move to the United States. Spalding had married a woman from the U.S., so he qualified for a green card. When he signed with the Chicago Sting of the North American Soccer League (NASL) in 1978, he counted as one of the team’s American players.[2] He played five seasons in Chicago, winning the 1981 NASL championship with the Sting. In 1983, he signed with the Toronto Blizzard and spent two seasons in Canada. In both 1983 and 1984, Spalding and his team mates went to the NASL championship, only to lose to the Tulsa Roughnecks in 1983 and the Sting in 1984. Both the Blizzard and the NASL folded at the end of the end of the 1984 season. With the collapse of the NASL the Sting jumped to the Major Indoor Soccer League and on November 22, 1984, Spalding signed with the Sting.[3] In 1986, Spalding underwent ankle surgery following a game injury. He lost the rest of the season, then was cut by the Sting and denied workers compensation benefits. This led Spalding to join Rudy Glenn, who had also suffered a career ending injury, in a suit against the Sting in September 1986.
[edit] National team
Spalding earned one cap with the U.S. national team in a 2-1 win over Trinidad and Tobago on March 21, 1982.[4]
[edit] Coaching and team management
Spalding served as an assistant coach with the Chicago Power of the National Professional Soccer League. During the 1989-1990 season, head coach Karl-Heinz Granitza was fired and Spalding served as head coach for the remainder of the season. He was fired at the end of the season, to be replaced by Pato Margetic.[5]
In 1995, became the director of the Chicago Stingers of the USISL.
Spalding coaches the Libertyville High School boy’s junior varsity soccer team.
