Tributes have come flooding in after our former goalkeeper Gary Sprake died yesterday, but he remains a controversial figure in the history of our club.
Sprake was born just outside Swansea and joined Leeds as an apprentice in 1960 before turning professional in 1962. He soon became our first choice keeper and remained a key member of the side though the first half the glorious Revie era during the late 1960s, and also became the youngest ever goalkeeper to appear for Wales when he made his international debut as an 18-year-old against Scotland in November 1963.
In total he made 508 appearances for Leeds, and his honours included the first and second division titles, the League Cup and the Fairs Cup. But as even has his medal collection began to grow, his reputation began to be marred by a couple of awful blunders in high profile games.
In a game at Anfield he managed to throw the ball into his own net while attempting to hurl it upfield, leaving the Kop to taunt him with the Des O’Connor song ‘careless hands’ for the rest of the game. It was a nickname that stuck. And he may well have cost Leeds a trophy in the 1970 cup final, as he let a tame shot go under his body for Chelsea’s first equaliser. We went on to draw a game we should have won, before losing the replay.
So it was that David Harvey replaces Sprake as the first choice keeper at the start of the 1970s, and remained there for the second half of the glory years. The consensus among the fans at the time was that although Sprake may have been the more spectacular shot-stopper of the two, Harvey was the more reliable. Sprake was eventually sold to Birmingham City for £100,000 in 1973, a fee which broke the world record for a goalkeeper.
I remember watching an interview with Don Revie during the 1980s, when the great man was asked what he would have changed during his time at Elland Road, with the benefit of hindsight. Revie’s reply was that the one thing he should have done was to have changes the goalkeeper earlier than he did. But the Don’s comments may well have been influenced by Sprake’s subsequent involvement in the allegations of bribery against Revie.
In the late 1970s the Daily Mirror alleged that Revie and Billy Bremner had tried to influence the outcome of the final league game at Wolves in May 1972, when Leeds needed only a draw to complete the double. Bremner later won damages of £100,000 when he sued for libel, while Wolves striker Dereck Dougan said they all hated Leeds so much they wouldn’t have thrown the game for any amount of money!
Inevitably, Sprake’s decision to speak out about Revie was to sour his relationship with the rest of the Revie team, and he was the only one who was never invited to any of their many reunions in later years. But it seems that he eventually made up his differences with Eddie Gray, who told the Yorkshire Post "For me, he was as good as almost any goalkeeper I’ve seen. He was unbelievably talented, really he was”.
Leeds will hold a minute’s applause in memory of Sprake before Tuesday’s League Cup tie against Norwich City at Elland Road. And a statement from the club read "It is with immense sadness that Leeds United learnt of the passing of former goalkeeper Gary Sprake at the age of 71. All the players, management, and staff at Leeds United sends its condolences and support to the Sprake family at this difficult time.”