Lothar Spranger
East German footballer
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Lothar Spranger is a German former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of birth | Leipzig, Weimar Republic | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1953–1957 | Lokomotive Leipzig | ||
| 1960–1961 | Kreuzlingen | ||
| 1962–1963 | Toronto Olympia | ||
| 1963–1965 | Germania | ||
| 1966 | Montebello | ||
| 1967 | Los Angeles Toros | 14 | (0) |
| 1968–1978 | Montebello Armenians | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career
Spranger played in the DDR-Oberliga in the 1950s with 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig for five seasons.[1] In 1957, he received a short-term travel visa to West Germany and as result defected.[1] In 1960, he played abroad in Switzerland with FC Kreuzlingen and played with the organization for two seasons.[1][2] In 1961, he continued his career this time in North America where he played in Canada's National Soccer League with Toronto Olympia for the 1962 season.[3][4] He would re-sign with Toronto for the 1963 season.[5]
For the remainder of the 1963 season, he played in the Greater Los Angeles Soccer League with Germania.[6] He furthered his soccer career in Southern California by playing with Germania for an additional two seasons.[7][8] In 1966, he played in the Continental Soccer League with Montebello.[9] The following season he signed with Los Angeles Toros of the National Professional Soccer League.[10] He originally was signed as a backup keeper for Blagoje Vidinić but became the starting goalkeeper after Vidinic sustained an injury for the majority of the season.[11] He would make 14 appearances for Los Angeles.[12]
In 1968, he returned to the Greater Los Angeles League to play with Montebello Armenians and was named to the All-Star team.[13] Spranger featured in the 1969 National Challenge Cup final but Montebello was defeated by reigning champions Greek American AA.[14] He was named once more to the All-Star team for the 1970 season.[15] He played his final season in the Greater Los Angeles Soccer League with Montebello in 1978.[16]