Derek Spalding

Derek Spalding (born 20 December 1954 in Dundee, Scotland) is a former soccer player, who played as a defender. Spalding played for Hibernian in the Scottish Football League until he emigrated to the United States in 1977. He then 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 US national team, in 1982.

Derek Spalding
Personal information
Date of birth (1954-12-20) 20 December 1954
Place of birth Dundee, Scotland
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1972–1977 Hibernian[1] 74 (1)
1978–1982 Chicago Sting 119 (15)
1982–1983 Chicago Sting (indoor) 4 (0)
1983–1984 Toronto Blizzard 34 (0)
1984–1986 Chicago Sting (indoor) 51 (10)
National team
1982 United States 1 (0)
Teams managed
1990 Chicago Power
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

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 1972.[1] Spalding played for Hibs in the 1974 Scottish League Cup Final, which Hibs lost 6–3 to Celtic.

He played with Hibs until he left Scotland to move to the United States. Spalding had married an American woman and therefore 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 teammates 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 1984 season. With the collapse of the NASL, the Sting jumped to the Major Indoor Soccer League and Spalding signed with the Sting on 22 November 1984.[3] Spalding underwent ankle surgery following a game injury in 1986. 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.

National team

Spalding earned one cap with the US national team in a 2–1 win over Trinidad and Tobago on 21 March 1982.[4]

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 boys' junior varsity soccer team.

See also

References
  1. "HIBERNIAN: 1946/47 – 2007/08". Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Database. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
  2. 1981 Chicago Sting [Mobile] – BigSoccer
  3. Transactions The New York Times
  4. USA – Details of International Matches 1980–1989 Archived 9 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  5. Power taps a reliable old source – Chicago Sun-Times – HighBeam Research
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