ABSTRACT
Bert Sproston, an ‘elegant right back’1 who has also been described as ‘cool, a grand tackler and exceptionally quick to recover’,2 and as ‘a star of the late 1930s’,3 was unusual among the leading League players of the decade in that he managed to play for three major clubs, as well as achieving recognition by gaining international caps. As a full-back Sproston never received the kind of attention that star centre-forwards or speedy wingers could attract from the media, but he nonetheless provided high-quality defence for successful League teams and for his country. His ‘youthful speed and hardness made him one of the very best in his position just before the war, good enough to keep [George] Male [of Arsenal] out of the England team’.4 The Wolves and England player Stan Cullis described Sproston as ‘the fastest full-back with whom I ever played. His speed of recovery was fantastic . . . but his power of tackle was such that he didn’t need to recover very often.’5 Sproston is also an example of a leading player who went on to play a key role in professional football long after he had hung up his boots: he spent almost thirty years with Bolton Wanderers in a variety of training and related capacities.
