Editing Gary Sprake (section)

==Club career==
Sprake represented Swansea Schoolboys and was noticed by [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]] soon after he left school and was playing for a local works team.<ref name=Golesworthy>{{cite book|title=Soccer Who's Who|author=Maurice Golesworth|publisher=The Sportsmans Book Club|year=1965}}</ref>

Sprake joined Leeds as an apprentice and made a last-minute debut in 1962 when the regular goalkeeper went down with a stomach complaint on the day of a game at [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]]. Over the next two seasons Sprake became a regular as Leeds won the [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] in 1964 and then challenged for the [[Football League]] championship title and [[FA Cup]] double the following year. Sprake only missed one game in both competitions that season, but Leeds ended with nothing. At Leeds, he was also known to be sick before each match but managed to play regularly and keep the starting goalkeeper position.

The first of Sprake's two major errors came in 1967 when Leeds played Liverpool in a League game at [[Anfield]]. Sprake was holding the ball and was set to throw it to left back [[Terry Cooper (footballer, born 1944)|Terry Cooper]], only to curtail his throw when he spotted Liverpool winger [[Ian Callaghan]] running towards the area he planned to throw the ball. Unfortunately for Sprake, the ball slipped out of his hands behind him and ended up in the net.<ref name=BBCinterview>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2006/03/09/sport_leeds_united_gary_sprake_feature.shtml |title=Gary Sprake speaks |publisher=BBC Leeds |date=9 March 2006 |access-date=9 December 2009}}</ref><ref name=nightmareref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.newswales.co.uk/index.php?section=Sport&F=1&id=8356 |title=Goalie Gary Sprake's nightmare game recalled in new biography |publisher=newswales.co.uk |date=14 February 2006 |access-date=2009-12-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421073106/http://www.newswales.co.uk/index.cfm?section=Sport&F=1&id=8356 |archive-date=21 April 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> At half-time, the Liverpool tannoy-announcer played "[[Careless Hands]]", a record by [[Des O'Connor]], apparently in reference to Sprake's mistake, and during the second half Liverpool supporters on the [[Spion Kop (stadiums)|Kop]] sang the song repeatedly to Sprake. Fans of rival clubs gave Sprake the nickname "Careless Hands" as a result.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2025420.ece |title=The 50 worst footballers |first=Alex |last=Murphy |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=4 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012163244/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article2025420.ece |archive-date=12 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/937531/first-xi:-own-goals?cc=5901 |title=Own goals |first=Robin |last=Hackett |website=ESPN FC |date=21 July 2011 |access-date=31 August 2015 |archive-date=26 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026121419/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story/_/id/937531/first-xi:-own-goals?cc=5901 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the same season Sprake kept a clean sheet as Leeds beat [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] in the [[Football League Cup|League Cup]] final. He was also in goals when Leeds won the [[Inter-Cities Fairs Cup|Fairs Cup]], the club's first European honour.<ref name=Indepinterview/> In 1969, Sprake was again a regular as Leeds won the League championship for the first time, with a new points record.

In the [[1970 FA Cup Final]], Leeds were playing [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] and took an early lead through [[Jack Charlton]]. Chelsea chased an equaliser, but when attacking midfield player [[Peter Houseman]] hit a left foot shot shortly before the break, it seemed tame and directionless enough for Sprake to save it safely. He dived full length to save it but it squirmed through his grasp and rolled into the net. At the time, the Wembley surface was in poor condition, with the stadium having hosted the [[Horse of the Year Show]] days earlier and having much of the grass turned into hard turf lumps as a result,<ref name=Indepinterview/> as well as the presence of a vast covering of sand.

In the second half, [[Mick Jones (footballer, born 1945)|Mick Jones]] put Leeds ahead with just six minutes to go, but Chelsea again equalised. Sprake suffered a knee injury and was replaced by [[David Harvey (footballer)|David Harvey]] in the replay, which Chelsea won 2–1.

Sprake was still the first-choice keeper for Leeds in the following two seasons, but was replaced by Harvey at the tail of both, including the 1972 FA Cup Final. Sprake watched from the sidelines as Leeds defeated Arsenal 1–0. In the same year, due to his need of first-team football, Sprake publicly criticised Revie for his treatment of him and so his relationship with his manager, teammates and the Leeds supporters soured. He only played once in the 1972–73 season, missed a second FA Cup Final and the [[1973 European Cup Winners' Cup final|Cup Winners' Cup final]] and left Leeds at the end of that season. He signed for [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]] for £100,000 (breaking the world record transfer fee for a goalkeeper in the process) to play first-team football and attempt to regain his place in the Welsh team.