Matt Sparrow

Scunthorpe United

Born in Wembley, London, Sparrow spent 11 years of his professional career at Scunthorpe United, playing in the bottom three tiers of league football for them. He formally signed for the club as a 16-year-old and played in the FA Youth Alliance final for Scunthorpe at the old Wembley stadium against West Bromwich Albion. After spending several months in prison in 2001, he became a regular in the Scunthorpe first team. He was part of the team that won promotion to the Championship after finishing the 2006–07 season as champions. In August 2007, he was offered a new three-year contract with the club. Sparrow scored twice in the 2008–09 League One Play-off Final at Wembley Stadium against Millwall, helping them to a 3–2 victory and promotion to the Championship.

Testimonial year

Sparrow made his 300th appearance for Scunthorpe in April 2009, and subsequently played in a testimonial match which took take place on 1 May. Former Scunthorpe striker Billy Sharp and veteran midfielder Peter Beagrie returned for the match. Also involved were Jack Cork, Alex Calvo Garcia, Jamie McCombe, Jamie Forrester, John Eyre, Lee Ridley, Paul Wilson, Steve Housham, Andy Butler, Mark Jackson, Martin Carruthers, Steve Torpey, Lee Hodges, Paul Harsley, Wayne Graves, Lee Turnbull, Tony Daws, Andy Crosby, Ian Baraclough, Cleveland Taylor, Chris Hope, Kevin Sharp, Kevin Pressman, Paul Musselwhite, Justin Walker, Ross Hyslop, Brian Quailey, Sam Beagrie, Des Comerford…

As of 1 April 2014.

He attended the John Leggott College in Scunthorpe between 1998 and 2000, studying Leisure and Tourism.

Scunthorpe United

Football League One: 2006–07; play-offs: 2009 Football League Trophy runner-up: 2008–09 Brighton & Hove Albion

Football League One: 2010–11