Derek Spence

Name: Derek William Spence
Born: 18 January 1952, Belfast
Height: 5.10 ft
Weight: 11.03 st
Position: Forward

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 29 Full Caps/3 Goals (1975-1982).
Club Honours: (with Bury) Football League Division Four 4th Place 1973/74 (promoted); (with Southend) Football League Division Four Champion 1980/81 (promoted).

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	FL Cup	Other
Crusaders	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Oldham Ath.	70/1-72/3	Sep-70	-	5(1)/0	-	-	-
Bury	72/3-76/7	Feb-73	£2,250	140(0)/44	10(0)/4	13(0)/ 7	-
Blackpool	76/7	Oct-76	£40,000	24(3)/2	2(0)/1	-	-
Olympiakos	77/8	c/s-77	-	21(0)/6	/1	-	-
Blackpool	78/9-79/0	Aug-78	£27,000	58(0)/18	4(0)/0	7(0)/ 2	3(1)/1
Southend U.	79/0-81/2	Dec-79	Exch	100(4)/32	2(0)/0	4(0)/ 1	3(0)/0
Sp..Rotterdam	tbc	-	-	/0	-	-	-
See Bee	-	-	-	(Hong Kong)
Rangers	-	-	-	(Hong Kong)
Bury	83/4	Aug-83	-	9(4)/ 1	1(0)/0	3(0)/ 0	-
Oldham Dew	-	-	-	(North-West Counties League)
TOTALS	-	£-		336(12)/97	19(0)/5	27(0)/10	6(1)/1

Biography:

A steady scorer throughout his League career, Derek Spence was capable of some sublime goals.Spence's inclusion in the Northern Ireland squad by Dave Clements while playing in the comparative obscurity of the Third Division with Bury was described by Malcolm Brodie as a "masterstroke" and his play as "effervescent, effective, and unquestionably the most promising striker to wear the green jersey in many years" - that was before he had even scored an international goal. Sadly, he never really brought the goals of his domestic game to the higher stage, but he will be long-remembered for his equalising goal against the Dutch in 1976.

During his time at Olympiakos, Spence's name was absent from several Northern Ireland squads - the reason? The Irish FA sent telegrams notifying him of his inclusion in the squad to AEK Athens! His international career was brought to an end with the bitter disappointment of exclusion from the squad for the 1982 World Cup Finals despite earlier hints from Billy Bingham to the contrary.

More to follow.


Northern Ireland Cap Details:
16-04-1975 Yugoslavia.. H W 1-0 ECQ
17-05-1975 England..... H D 0-0 BC
20-05-1975 Scotland.... A L 0-3 BC
23-05-1975 Wales....... H W 1-0 BC
03-09-1975 Sweden...... H L 1-2 ECQ
24-03-1976 Israel...... A D 1-1 FR
08-05-1976 Scotland.... H L 0-3 BC. sub
11-05-1976 England..... A L 0-4 BC
14-05-1976 Wales....... A L 0-1 BC
13-10-1976 Netherlands. A D 2-2 WCQ sub 1 Goal
27-04-1977 West Germany A L 0-5 FR. sub
28-05-1977 England..... H L 1-2 BC. sub
01-06-1977 Scotland.... A L 0-2 BC. sub
03-06-1977 Wales....... H D 1-1 BC. sub
11-06-1977 Iceland..... A L 0-1 WCQ sub
20-09-1978 Rep. Ireland A D 0-0 ECQ
25-10-1978 Denmark..... H W 2-1 ECQ sub 1 Goal
07-02-1979 England..... A L 0-4 ECQ sub
02-05-1979 Bulgaria.... H W 2-0 ECQ sub
19-05-1979 England..... H L 0-2 BC. sub
22-05-1979 Scotland.... A L 0-1 BC
25-05-1979 Wales....... H D 1-1 BC..... 1 Goal
06-06-1979 Denmark..... A L 0-4 ECQ
21-11-1979 Rep. Ireland H W 1-0 ECQ
26-03-1980 Israel...... A D 0-0 WCQ sub
11-06-1980 Australia... A W 2-1 FR. sub
25-03-1981 Scotland.... A D 1-1 WCQ sub
03-06-1981 Sweden...... A L 0-1 WCQ sub
24-03-1982 France...... A L 0-4 FR. sub

Summary: 13(16)/3. Won 6, Drew 8, Lost 15.

(sources AFS, Times On-Line, Rothmans Yearbook 1975-76)