caption fullname youthclubs clubs death_date caps goals birth_place managerclubs height totalcaps position manageryears birth_date totalgoals image article_title name
roy sproson statue outside vale park roy sproson trent vale stoke city trent vale 24 january 1997 760 30 burslem , stoke-on-trent , england port vale 6 ft 0 in m 2 on 760 left-half/left-back/centre-half 1974 -- 1977 23 september 1930 30 roy sproson statue.jpg roy sproson
 roy sproson
roy sproson

roy sproson -lrb- 23 september 1930 -- 24 january 1997 -rrb- was an english footballer and football manager for port vale .
a one-club man , he holds the all-time appearance record for vale , making 837 starts -lrb- and 5 substitute appearances -rrb- for vale between 1950 and 1972 .
this includes a run of 128 consecutive appearances between april 1954 and march 1957 .
he is also fourteenth on the all time football league appearance list .
sproson is a port vale legend , sticking with the club from its highest peaks in the early 1950s until the troughs of the last 1960s near the bottom of the football league .
he served under eight managers before taking the reins himself between 1974 and 1977 .
a relic of a bygone era when it was common for players to only play for a few clubs throughout their entire careers , his record for the club is unlikely ever to be equalled or bettered .
he finished with around 350 more appearances for the club than his closest rival , and teammate of fifteen years , harry poole .
