Brian Sparrow

Brian Sparrow
Personal information
Full name	Brian Edward Sparrow
Date of birth	24 June 1962
Place of birth	Bethnal Green, England
Date of death	6 December 2019 (aged 57)
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s)	Full back
Youth career
1977–1982	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team
1982–1984	Arsenal
1982	→ Wimbledon (loan)
1983	→ Millwall (loan)
1984	→ Gillingham (loan)
1984–1987	Crystal Palace
19??–1990	Enfield
1990–1992	Crawley Town
Total
Managerial career
1991–1992	Crawley Town (player-manager)
1996	Crawley Town (caretaker)
2012	Shenzhen Main Sports
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Brian Edward Sparrow (24 June 1962 – 6 December 2019) was an English professional footballer who played as a full back.

Career

Born in Bethnal Green, Sparrow began his career at Arsenal,^[3] from where he spent loan spells at Wimbledon, Millwall and Gillingham.^[4] After spending three seasons with Crystal Palace,^[4] Sparrow dropped down to non-league football with Enfield and then Crawley Town, where he was player-manager from 1991 to 1992,^[5]

After retiring as a player, Sparrow worked as reserve-team manager of Wimbledon, made a brief return to Crawley as caretaker manager,^[5] and coached at Brentford and Crystal Palace.^[6] On 26 February 2012, Sparrow was appointed as the manager of China League Two side Shenzhen Main Sports, the same day the club was founded.^[7]^[8] He left China after club boss Sammy Yu resigned in July 2012.^[9]

He died on 6 December 2019, at the age of 57.^[10]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Brian Sparrow". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
^ "Profile". Arsenal F.C. Archived from the original on 18 August 2010.
^ ^a ^b "Brian Sparrow". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Brian Sparrow". Crawley Town F.C. 7 December 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
^ "Sparrow's an Eagle". BBC Sport. 25 July 2000. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
^ "余怀英组新军征战中乙前阿森纳球员深圳执教鞭". Sohu Sports.
^ Tang Zhe. "Shenzhen out to recapture former glory". China Daily. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
^ 深圳中乙队主席被迫退出自称因生命安全被威胁 (in Chinese)
^ "Brian Sparrow (24.6.1962 - 6.12.2019)". Crystal Palace F.C. 7 December 2019. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019.