Career
Born in Bethnal Green, Sparrow began his career at Arsenal, from where he spent loan spells at Wimbledon, Millwall and Gillingham. After spending three seasons with Crystal Palace, Sparrow dropped down to non-league football with Enfield. After retiring as a player, Sparrow worked as a coach for Brentford and Crystal Palace.
On 26 February 2012, Sparrow was appointed as the manager of China League Two side Shenzhen Main Sports, the same day the club was founded.
He left China after club boss Sammy Yu resigned in July 2012.