A strong and technically competent central defender, he helped Port Vale to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1982–83 and 1985–86, and was twice named on the PFA Team of the Year.
Forced to retire in February 1989 due to a knee injury, he attempted a comeback with Birmingham City and later represented Stafford Rangers and Northwich Victoria.
[1] With the "Valiants" relegated into the Fourth Division, Sproson found first-team chances easier to come by at Vale Park as he played 25 games in the 1978–79 season under the stewardship of Dennis Butler.
[1] The 1982–83 season proved highly successful for Sproson; he was a regular in the first-team, claiming four goals in 45 games, and was included in the PFA select Fourth Division side as Vale were promoted in third place.
[1] In the 1985–86 season, Sproson was appointed as club captain, and missed just two games as Port Vale were again promoted out of the Fourth Division; he was again selected in the PFA Team of the Year.
[1] He missed just four of Vale's 56 games in the 1987–88 season, and claimed the winning goal in the FA Cup giant-killing of First Division side Tottenham Hotspur after getting the better of goalkeeper Tony Parks and centre-back Neil Ruddock in a goalmouth scramble that resulted; Sproson later claimed he also made the best tackle of his career in the game when he lunged in front of Clive Allen to block a Mitchell Thomas cross.
[1] His testimonial match was held against rivals Stoke City on 21 March 1988, Vale drew the game 1–1, and Sproson collected £12,000 of the takings.
In August 1989 he joined Dave Mackay's Birmingham City, who were obliged to pay Port Vale a "fee" of £50,000 in lieu of insurance money.
[1] He played 12 Third Division and four League Cup games for the "Blues" in the 1989–90 season, but a re-occurrence of his knee injury meant he was unable to perform at the required fitness levels, and he retired again in September 1990.
[22] He has also acted as agent for Adam Crookes and Joe Worrall, as well as numerous players at Nottingham Forest due to his friendship with academy manager Gary Brazil.