John Spanos

Personal Details Date of Birth: 4 January, 1961 Place of Birth: Leeds, England Height: Position: Defence Club Summary Club Games Goals Ascot (juniors) Morley Windmills (juniors-1979) ? ? Sydney City (1980-1982) 84 8 Heidelberg United (1983) 30 0 Marconi (1984) 23 0 Blacktown City (1985) 5 0 Port Adelaide (1989-1993) ? ? Adelaide Cobras (1994) 7 0 Total International Summary Games Goals Australia 'A' (1980) 1 0 Australia 'B' (1980-1981) 2 0 Australia Under-20 (1979) ? ? Australia Schoolboys (1978) ? ?

Career Brief

Spanos represented Australia at youth and senior levels, won three regular season National Soccer League titles and played close to 150 game at the highest level of domestic football in this country. He captained the State at junior level before breaking into the first team ranks at Morley Windmills, where he collected the 'Best First Year Player' trophy at the age of 16. His career then rapidly took off, starting with Australian Schoolboys selection for the 1978 tour of Canada and the United States of America.

Spanos was a member of the Australian under-20 side that played New Zealand, Paraguay and Israel in late 1978/early 1979 qualifiers for the World Youth Championship. Another season of consistency at club level lead to State team honours against an Australian-Croatian XI, Spano scoring once in the 5-1 win, and a 4-4 draw with visiting Yugoslav club Skopje Vardar in the closing months of 1979.

The NSL was by this stage calling loud and clear. Having signed with Sydney City, Spanos' first outing was off the bench against Newcastle KB United in March 1980, and a week later he celebrated his first start by scoring in a 1-1 draw with Heidelberg United. At season's end Spanos collected the Under-21 Player of the Year award, had a league winners medal in his possession and had played in a NSL Grand Final, won by Heidelberg.

The Socceroos set off on a month-long on tour of Europe and Asia at the end 1980 with Spanos among their number. He donned the green and gold of Australia for the first time in a 'B' fixture with Yugoslav club Dinamo Zagreb in November. Less than a fortnight later he came off the bench in a 1-1 draw with Indonesia to gain his 'A' international debut. Spanos' final game for the national team was against Dinamo Zagreb in January 1981 when he scored off the bench.

Spanos was rarely out of the line-up when Sydney finished on top of the NSL table in both 1981 and 1982, the later accompanied by another Grand Final loss, this time to St George. 1983 was spent with Heidelberg United, debuting against APIA Leichhardt in March before going on to play every game of that season. Spanos was again on the move at seasons' end, this time joining Marconi Stallions for whom he featured regularly across the winter of 1984.

Spanos joined Blacktown City for the 1985 season and, after missing the majority of campaign, played his final game at NSL level in August against Wollongong City. He saw out his playing days in the South Australian State League, spending several seasons at Port Adelaide before a season with Adelaide Cobras.

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This page was last updated on the 1st June 2010.