Bill Asprey
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Asprey | ||
| Date of birth | 11 September 1936 | ||
| Place of birth | Wolverhampton, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | |||
| Stoke City | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1953–1965 | Stoke City | 304 | (23) |
| 1965–1967 | Oldham Athletic | 80 | (4) |
| 1967–1968 | Port Vale | 31 | (0) |
| Total | 415 | (27) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1975–1978 | Rhodesia | ||
| 1979–1980 | Oxford United | ||
| 1980–1982 | Syria | ||
| 1983–1985 | Stoke City | ||
| 1992 | ATM FA | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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William Asprey (born 11 September 1936) is an English former football player and manager. A defender, he made 418 league appearances in a 15-year career in the Football League. He then had a 25-year career as a coach.
He spent 1953 to 1965 at Stoke City, making 341 appearances in all competitions. He helped the "Potters" to the Second Division title in 1962–63, and also played in the 1964 League Cup final. He spent 1965 to December 1967 at Oldham Athletic, before he was sold to Port Vale for a £2,000 fee. He left the "Valiants" in December 1968 to become a full-time coach.
He coached at various clubs across the world, as well as the national teams of Rhodesia and Syria, but was given his first chance as a manager in England at Oxford United in July 1979. He was not overly successful, and was sacked in December 1980. He returned to Stoke City as manager in December 1983, but was sacked in April 1985 after leading the club to the bottom of the First Division.
Born in Wolverhampton, Asprey joined Stoke City on amateur terms in May 1953. He made his first team debut in the 1953–54 season under the management of Frank Taylor after turning professional at the age of 17. He played a further three Second Division games in 1955–56, before making nine appearances in 1956–57, and then breaking into the first team with 28 appearances in 1957–58. He scored his first senior goal on 9 September 1957, in a 5–3 home defeat to Bristol Rovers. He made 44 appearances in the 1958–59 campaign, scoring six goals, including one in a 4–3 win over Liverpool at Anfield. During the campaign he played at five different positions: right-back, right-half, centre-half, inside-right and inside-left. He played 38 times in 1959–60, before new manager Tony Waddington began to play him in an attacking role in 1960–61. During the campaign he scored seven goals in 40 games, scoring twice in a 9–0 thrashing of Plymouth Argyle, and hitting a hat-trick past Charlton Athletic in a 5–3 home win on 16 January 1961. He made 47 appearances in 1961–62, scoring four goals.
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