Sparks, who had played in his school's football XI between 1872 and 1874, and was part of the team defeated 5–0 by eventual finalists
Royal Engineers in the
FA Cup first round in October. Between 1876 and 1878 he played for
Upton Park before joining
Hertfordshire Rangers. His first
England appearance came against
Scotland on 5 April 1879. The match was played at the
Kennington Oval and had originally been scheduled for 1 April but was postponed because of heavy snowfall. At half time, England were 4–1 down to the Scots.
Charlie Bambridge scored early in the second half and his teammates had levelled the score by the 75th minute. With less than ten minutes remaining, the Scots scored what they thought was the winning goal but the
referee disallowed it as
offside. The English forwards then raced upfield with Bambridge scoring the winning goal, thus enabling England to claim their first victory over the Scots since 1873 in what was described as "the most exciting England and Scotland game to date". Sparks then joined
Clapham Rovers, helping them to reach the
final of the
1880 FA Cup. In the final against
Oxford University Sparks was involved in the winning goal; with the prospect of extra time imminent, Sparks "made a clever run down the wing, crossed to the waiting
Clopton Lloyd-Jones who had the simple task of slotting the ball between the Oxford goalposts to secure a one-goal lead." This was last appearance in an FA Cup Final for both teams. In the month before the Cup Final, Sparks had made his last two international appearances. On 13 March he again played in the match against Scotland, this time played at
Hampden Park,
Glasgow. The match ended in a 5–4 victory for the Scots (the most goals England have ever scored in a game and lost). Sparks scored England's third goal, with two of England's goals coming from
Charlie Bambridge, whereas Scotland's scorers included a
hat-trick from
George Ker. His Clapham teammate,
Norman Bailey also played in this match, at
half back. Sparks' final England appearance came away to
Wales on 15 March, when he was appointed
team captain. Six players made their England debut in this match which England won 3–2 with two goals scored by Sparks.
Tom Brindle, who also scored, had to leave the game in the second half due to injury, and England played on with ten men. Sparks later represented Essex and London, and was a member of
the Football Association Committee from 1878 to 1880. ==Life outside sport==