John Spencer (Scottish footballer)
 |
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Spencer | ||
| Date of birth | 11 September 1970 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1992 | Rangers | 13 | (2) |
| 1988–1989 | → Morton (loan) | 4 | (1) |
| 1989–1990 | → Lai Sun (loan) | 24 | (20) |
| 1992–1997 | Chelsea | 103 | (36) |
| 1996–1997 | → Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 25 | (17) |
| 1997–1998 | Queens Park Rangers | 23 | (5) |
| 1998–1999 | → Everton (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Everton | 3 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | → Motherwell (loan) | 21 | (7) |
| 1999–2000 | Motherwell | 33 | (11) |
| 2001–2004 | Colorado Rapids | 88 | (37) |
| Total | 343 | (136) | |
| National team | |||
| 1994–1997 | Scotland | 14 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2006–2010 | Houston Dynamo (assistant) | ||
| 2011–2012 | Portland Timbers | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
|||
John Spencer (born 11 September 1970) is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach.
As a player, he was a forward from 1988 until 2004, notably in the Premier League for Chelsea and Everton and the Scottish Premier League for Rangers and Motherwell. He also played in his native country for Morton, in Hong Kong for Lai Sun and back in England in the Football League with Queens Park Rangers. He finished his career in the United States with a three-year spell with the Colorado Rapids. He also earned 14 caps for Scotland. Since retiring in 2004, Spencer has remained in America, and was assistant coach of Houston Dynamo before becoming head coach of the Portland Timbers in 2011 until being relieved of his coaching position on 9 July 2012.
Spencer started his career at Rangers, signing with the club in 1985. His signing, even as a 12-year-old schoolboy who had yet to play a competitive senior match proved problematic; Spencer was Catholic and the club had a strong Protestant culture. His decision to sign for Rangers meant that he was regularly threatened and challenged to fights at the Catholic school he attended, St Ninian's High School in Giffnock, while Celtic-supporting members of his family would walk by him in the street, and have never spoken to him since. He also encountered sectarianism within Rangers, as one player remarked to him that "you'll be fucking happy now that we've signed one of your kind" when it became known that Mo Johnston would sign for the club.
...
Wikipedia