Spencer Prior

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Spencer Prior
Personal information
Full name	Spencer Justin Prior
Date of birth	April 22, 1971
Place of birth	Southend, England
Nickname	Spinner
Position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Southend United
Number	5
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1989-1993 1993-1996 1996-1998 1998-2000 2000-2001 2001-2004 2004-	Southend United Norwich City Leicester City Derby County Manchester City Cardiff City Southend United	135 (3) 74 (1) 64 (0) 54 (1) 30 (4) 81 (2) 63 (2)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01/10/2006.

Spencer Justin Prior (born 22 April 1971 in Rochford, Essex) is an English professional footballer. He is a central defender who currently plays for Southend United. He previously played for Norwich City, Leicester City, Derby County, Manchester City and Cardiff City.

Prior began his career with Southend, for whom he made 135 league appearances. His solid performances in the centre of the Shrimpers defence attracted the attention of other clubs and in the summer of 1993 both Norwich and Wolverhampton Wanderers made moves to sign him. He opted for Norwich because they had qualified to play in Europe for the 1993-94 season and they paid Southend a fee of £300,000 for his services. In his first season at Carrow Road he played in the historic 2-1 win at Bayern Munich and the 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan that saw City eliminated from the UEFA Cup.

During his first two seasons with Norwich, Prior found it difficult to establish himself as a first team regular. After the club had been relegated from the Premiership in 1995, however, Prior became a regular selection under the management firstly of Martin O'Neill and then Gary Megson. It was a difficult season for Norwich which was played out against weekly demonstrations at chairman Robert Chase. Prior ended the season by being voted Norwich City player of the year. The club was in a desperate financial position, however, and in the summer of 1996 Prior was one of a number of players to be moved on in order to keep the club afloat. Leicester paid £600,000 for him. He had played 89 games for Norwich.

In his first season at Leicester, Prior got a league cup winner's medal as the Foxes beat Middlesbrough in a replayed final. Prior moved to Derby in 1998 but did not settle there. A number of clubs showed an interest in him before Manchester City signed him shortly before the transfer deadline in the 1999-00 season. City had signed him to replace the injured Andy Morrison as they had only been able to field two central defenders (Gerard Wiekens and Richard Jobson) for most of the season. His impact on the team was immediate, his goals earning City numerous victories and ultimately promotion. As City arrived in the Premiership Prior found his first team opportunities limited as the then City manager, Joe Royle, bought Steve Howey, Richard Dunne and Paul Ritchie, while Andy Morrison also returned from his lengthy injury.

Thus, Prior moved to Cardiff City F.C. for a £700,000 fee. His three year stint at Ninian Park was a difficult one and he failed to win over the City supporters. Indeed, even before he stepped onto the pitch as a substitute in one game, he was met with a chorus of boos from the Cardiff fans. In September 2006, reflecting on his time at the club, he suggested he was targeted by the boo boys because he was English, prompting fury from many Bluebirds supporters.^[1]

Prior left Cardiff at the end of his contract and returned to the club where he began his career, Southend United, in July 2004. In his first two seasons back at Roots Hall, the team won consecutive promotions.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Spencer Prior career stats at Soccerbase
• Career details on Flown from the Nest website

Southend United F.C. - Current Squad
1 Flahavan | 2 Francis | 3 Wilson | 4 Hunt | 5 Prior | 6 Barrett | 7 Gower | 8 Maher | 10 Eastwood | 11 Cole | 12 Bradbury | 13 Collis | 15 Clarke | 16 Sodje | 17 Campbell-Ryce | 18 Hammell | 19 Paynter | 20 Lawson | 21 Hooper | 24 Harrold | 25 Moussa | 26 McCormack | 27 Arnau | Manager: Tilson