Stuart Spruce

Stuart Spruce
Personal information
Full name Stuart Arthur Spruce[1]
Born (1971-01-03) 3 January 1971
Playing information
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 15 st 2 lb (96 kg)
Position Fullback

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1989–96 Widnes ? 61 7 0 258
1996–01 Bradford Bulls 86 46 0 0 184
2002–03 Widnes Vikings 54 22 0 0 88
Total 129 7 0 530
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1992–00 England 3 1 0 0 4
1993–96 Great Britain 6 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3][4]

Stuart Arthur Spruce (born 3 January 1971) is an English rugby league footballer of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He played as a fullback for Widnes Vikings, and Bradford Bulls, and represented England, and Great Britain at international level.[2]

Playing career

Widnes

Stuart Spruce made his début for Widnes during the 1989-90 season, under coach Doug Laughton. When regular fullback Alan Tait quit for Leeds, Spruce became the permanent fullback.

Bradford Bulls

Spruce played for Bradford Bulls at fullback in the 1999 Super League Grand Final which was lost to St. Helens. He became known as a good defensive player and an excellent offense. James Lowes, who played with him throughout his time with Bradford, paid this tribute: "Stuart has been one of the best fullbacks of his generation. He is a great talker on the field and a devastating runner."

He played for Bradford until the week before the 2001 Rugby League Challenge Cup Final, when he announced his retirement due to injury.

Return to Widnes

Spruce came out of retirement to play for Widnes during their inaugural Super League season in 2002. He made a total of 54 appearances before retiring permanently at the end of the 2003 Super League season.

International honours

Spruce won caps for England while at Widnes in 1992 against Wales and while at Bradford Bulls in 2000 against Russia (sub) and Fiji,[3] and won caps for Great Britain while at Widnes in 1993 against France, and while at Bradford Bulls in 1996 against Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and New Zealand (3 matches).[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. 1 2 "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.


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