Born in Romsey, Hampshire, Spackman started at Andover and spent his first three years as a professional with AFC Bournemouth before joining Chelsea for £35,000 in the summer of 1983.
He signed for Chelsea as part of manager John Neal's re-building of the side alongside the likes of Kerry Dixon, Pat Nevin and David Speedie.
During the 1986–87 season, several key players, including Spackman, fell out with manager John Hollins and he was sporadically left out of the starting line-up or played out of position.
Liverpool lost just twice in the league all season, claiming the title with ease and Spackman was in the side which beat Nottingham Forest 5–0.
Spackman was selected for the rest of the campaign, including the FA Cup Final, which Liverpool surprisingly lost to Wimbledon.
After Spackman left Barnsley, he began a new career in the media, becoming a pundit with Sky Sports before re-entering management with Millwall in 2006.
Spackman currently appears as a regular pundit on Singapore's Football Channel, alongside other former players such as John Burridge and Rob Lee.
Spackman has also featured for a number of seasons on LFCTV, the home TV channel for Liverpool FC, alongside former colleagues Gary Gillespie and Mark Wright.