Milk Cup in 2003. Originally a striker, Spector was lined up in defense due to injuries for a game the scout had attended to scout other players. Impressed by Spector's defending, the scout alerted the club. Spector joined United in summer 2003. He won the club's Young Player of the Year award for the 2003–04 season. He made his first appearance for the first team in the FA Community Shield match against Arsenal in August 2004. In December, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson announced that Spector would be loaned out to fellow Premier League side Blackburn Rovers for the remainder of the season. However, Ferguson was soon forced to postpone the deal due to an injury crisis in the United defense. The injury crisis continued and Spector was not able to make his loan move before the transfer window closed on January 31, 2005. Before the start of the 2005–06 season, Spector went on a season-long loan to another Premiership club, Charlton Athletic, to obtain more first-team experience. He finished the season with 16 starts and eight substitute appearances. West Ham United Spector was signed by manager Alan Pardew for West Ham United in a deal initially worth £500,000 in June 2006, ending his association with Manchester United after eight appearances. He made his debut for the club in the first round defeat of the UEFA Cup against Palermo in Sicily on September 28, going on to make twenty-eight appearances in all competitions in the 2006–07 season. Spector had initially been brought as backup to the West Ham defense, but he had an extended run of games due to injury problems and his ability to play anywhere in the back four with equal ease. On November 10, 2007, it was believed that Spector had scored his first professional goal, in the 5–0 away win at Derby County. However, this was later credited as an own goal by Derby's fellow American international Eddie Lewis. He missed most of the 2008–09 season due to injuries, but following the departure of Lucas Neill, Spector played in 27 of a possible 38 games in the 2009–10 season. Many of his appearances that year came at left-back, despite being a right footed player. When Gianfranco Zola left, new manager Avram Grant began deploying Spector in the midfield. He scored his first goals for West Ham and first in English soccer, scoring twice in a 4–0