We were saddened to hear of the recent death of Joe Spence, the former Chesterfield halfback. Born in Salford in 1925, Joe was the son of another Joe Spence, who was a player of great repute with Manchester United and England. Joe senior signed for Chesterfield in 1935 and joined the club's coaching staff in 1938, so his son was no stranger to the Saltergate backroom staff, who kept a keen eye on his progress through a schools' football career that included recognition with England Schoolboys.
Joe returned from army service in the Far East and tried out for Manchester United. He featured in their "A" team and Matt Busby was on the point of inviting him to turn professional when Chesterfield manager Bob Brocklebank got wind of this, and besieged Joe's house until he signed for the Spireites, in January 1947. A centre-half in the classic English mould, Joe's ground work was fine, but he excelled in the air, and he took a cultured approach to the game that was instilled in him by his father.
Joe progressed quickly from the "A" team to the reserves, and battled it out with Dave Blakey for the centre-half spot for the second string in 1948-9. Still, he was in a pretty long queue behind the likes of Ken Booker, Blakey and Bill Leivers. Like a number of his contemporaries he didn't really get on with a new manager in Bob Marshall, and he was made available in May, 1949, at a fee of £750. Richard Duckworth, who had coached Joe at Saltergate before becoming manager of York, offered him a contract but was unable to afford the fee. These were the days before "Bosman," when players were commodities, tied to clubs even if the clubs didn't show much interest in them; Joe petitioned the authorities to be given a 'free' and went to play for Buxton in the meantime.
His freedom (and it must have felt like that!) was granted after a year (by a committee that ironically included Ernest Shentall, Chesterfield's Chairman) and he duly made his move to York. He had taken a job while at Buxton, though, and was loath to give it up to turn fully pro. Despite this, he enjoyed four excellent seasons with the Minstermen, making 112 Football League appearances before moving into non-League football with Burton Albion.
Away from football, Joe worked as a bank clerk and a computer programmer with TI (Chesterfield.) He was participant in many sports and a regular face at Saltergate. Although Joe didn't make the first team here he looked back on his Chesterfield time with great fondness and enjoyed recounting tales from his time at Saltergate with his friends on the Pop Side. Ever willing to "put something back," Joe was a particular help to me when compiling player biographies for "Lucky Whites & Spireites."
We send our sincerest condolences to Joe's family and friends at this difficult time.
Stuart Basson
