| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Edward Sparrow[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1962-06-24)24 June 1962[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Bethnal Green,[1] England | ||
| Date of death | 6 December 2019(2019-12-06) (aged 57)[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Full back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1977–1982 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1982–1984 | Arsenal | 2 | (0) |
| 1982 | →Wimbledon (loan) | 17 | (1) |
| 1983 | →Millwall (loan) | 5 | (2) |
| 1984 | →Gillingham (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 1984–1987 | Crystal Palace | 63 | (2) |
| 19??–1990 | Enfield | ||
| 1990–1992 | Crawley Town | ||
| Total | 92 | (6) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1991–1992 | Crawley Town (player-manager) | ||
| 1996 | Crawley Town (caretaker) | ||
| 2012 | Shenzhen Main Sports | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Brian Edward Sparrow (24 June 1962 – 6 December 2019) was an English professionalfootballer who played as afull back.
Born inBethnal Green, Sparrow began his career atArsenal,[3] from where he spent loan spells atWimbledon,Millwall andGillingham.[4] After spending three seasons withCrystal Palace,[4] Sparrow dropped down tonon-league football withEnfield and thenCrawley Town, where he wasplayer-manager from 1991 to 1992,[5]
After retiring as a player, Sparrow worked as reserve-team manager ofWimbledon, made a brief return to Crawley ascaretaker manager,[5] and coached atBrentford and Crystal Palace.[6] On 26 February 2012, Sparrow was appointed as themanager ofChina League Two sideShenzhen Main Sports, the same day the club was founded.[7][8] He left China after club bossSammy Yu resigned in July 2012.[9]
He died on 6 December 2019, at the age of 57.[10]