Spouncer Alf Image 1 Nottingham Forest 1905

Description

Gainsborough, Lincolnshire born outside left Alf Spouncer began his football career with hometown club Gainsborough Trinity in 1893 and joined Sheffield United in October 1895, spending 1895-96 at Bramall Lane without making a first team appearance. He re-joined Gainsborough Trinity, by now elevated to the Second Division, in the summer of 1896 and made his Football League debut at Grimsby Town in their second League match, top scoring for the club with 15 goals in 28 appearances over the 1896-97 season. In May 1897 he joined First Division Nottingham Forest for £125 and in his debut season he helped Forest to the FA Cup Final, where they beat Derby County 3-1 at The Crystal Palace.

Spouncer played in thirteen seasons for Nottingham Forest, all but one of them in the First Division. After they were relegated in 1906, he scored 7 goals as Forest won the Second Division Championship in 1906-07 to return to the top flight at the first time of asking. He lost his place in the Forest first team at the start of the 1909-10 season, playing only five matches, the last two of which at the start of January 1910 both ended in 4-1 defeats against Aston Villa and Bury. After leaving Forest later the same year he failed to find a new club and retired from playing, having scored 52 goals in 337 appearances for Forest, with exactly 300 coming in the League.

He won one cap for England when he was selected against Wales at The Cardiff Arms Park in a 1-1 draw in March 1900.

Spouncer later had a brief foray into management with Barcelona, taking charge of the Catalans during the 1923-24 season. He won the Campionat de Catalunya with ten wins out of ten, but in the Copa del Rey, his Barcelona side were soundly beaten 6-1 in the semi-final replay against the eventual winners, Real Unión.