Adam Stansfield

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Adam Stansfield
Personal information
Full name Adam Stansfield[1]
Date of birth 10 September 1978(1978-09-10)[1]
Place of birth Tiverton, England
Date of death 10 August 2010(2010-08-10) (aged 31)
Place of death England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Playing position Striker
Youth career
Cullompton Rangers
Elmore
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2001–2004 Yeovil Town 56 (14)
2004–2006 Hereford United 62 (25)
2006–2010 Exeter City 142 (37)
Total 260 (76)
National team
2002–2003 England Semi-Pro 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Adam Stansfield (10 September 1978 – 10 August 2010) was an English footballer who played as a striker. He played for Cullompton Rangers, Elmore, Yeovil Town, Hereford United and Exeter City.

Contents

[edit] Career

Born in Tiverton, Devon, Stansfield's senior career began with local non-League side Cullompton Rangers under former Exeter City forward Ray Pratt. He later moved to Elmore, where his prolific goalscoring first attracted the interest of Exeter City. He was strongly linked with a move to St James Park in the late 1990s, and had a trial with the club, but a move did not materialise, and he returned to Elmore.

He also caught the attention of Torquay United, whose then manager Wes Saunders offered him a 2-week trial in the 2000 close season. He played in the friendly against Portsmouth on 18 July, and against Millbrook on 24 July, but was released at the end of his trial. He returned to Elmore, continuing to work as a circuit board inspector, and continued to score regularly for them. In October 2001, Stansfield played for Elmore against Yeovil Town Reserves and impressed watching Yeovil manager Gary Johnson so much that he signed a professional contract with Yeovil the following month[3] and soon after made his conference debut for Yeovil in a 3–0 defeat away to Southport.

His first season at Huish Park was a success, finishing as the top scorer with 15 goals, 3 of which came in the club's victorious FA Trophy run. He scored in the final of that competition at Villa Park,[4] and was so overcome with excitement that he swore on live TV in a post-match interview.

He suffered a broken leg[5] just 17 minutes into the first game of the following season, causing him to miss the entire season and watch from the sidelines as Yeovil won the Conference championship and promotion to the Football League. He recovered to feature in the club's first ever Football League campaign, making his league debut on 16 August 2003 coming on as late substitute for Kirk Jackson in a 3–0 win at home to Carlisle United, but was largely used as a squad player, with most of his appearances coming from the bench.

In June 2004, he left, joining Conference side Hereford United.[6] His first season at Hereford was hugely successful, with 20 goals scored, but the season ended in disappointment as the club lost against Stevenage Borough in the playoff semi-finals. The next season was less successful for Stansfield, who did not get on the scoresheet until December, by which time he had lost his first-team place, which he was unable to recover. The season ended in promotion to the Football League for Hereford, via the playoffs, and Stansfield actually started the final against Halifax Town.

In June 2006, he decided to remain in the Conference, joining Exeter City.[7] He scored nine league goals in his first season at Exeter, including two on the final day to secure the club's qualification for the playoffs.

[edit] Personal life

Stansfield had a sister, Andrea Hayes (née Stansfield). However, whenever a goal by Stansfield came through on the Sky Sports Saturday afternoon television programme Soccer Saturday, presenter Jeff Stelling usually joked that "His sister Lisa will be happy", referring to the singer Lisa Stansfield.

He was married to Marie, having three children together.

[edit] Illness and death

Stansfield suffered from persistent abdominal pain in the early part of 2010, and was admitted to hospital for tests at the end of March. On 8 April 2010, it was announced that Stansfield had been diagnosed with a form of colorectal cancer,[8] and he underwent surgery to remove part of his colon. The operation was considered a success[9] and Stansfield joined the Exeter squad for the first day of pre-season training in July, but his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died on 10 August 2010. As a mark of respect Dagenham & Redbridge FC postponed the game Exeter were due to play against them. His funeral service was held on Wednesday 25 August.[10] The club also announced the shirt number 9 would be retired for nine seasons.[11]

[edit] Career statistics

Club performance
Club Division Season League FA Cup FA Trophy Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Yeovil Town Football Conference 2001–02 23 8 0 0 8 8 0 0 31 16
Football Conference 2002–03 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Third Division 2003–04 32 6 2 0 0 0 2 0 36 6
Hereford United Conference National 2004–05 39 19 3 1 4 1 7 1 53 22
Conference National 2005–06 23 6 1 0 3 2 5 1 32 9
Exeter City Conference National 2006–07 38 9 1 0 1 0 3 1 43 10
Conference National 2007–08 40 11 2 0 2 0 3 0 47 11
League Two 2008–09 37 10 1 0 0 0 2 0 40 10
League One 2009–10 27 7 2 1 0 0 1 0 30 8
League One 2010–11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career totals 260 76 12 2 18 11 23 3 313 92

[edit] Honours

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Hugman, Barry J. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 583. ISBN 1-85291-665-6. 
  2. ^ "Player Profiles". Exeter City F.C.. http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10436~23883,00.html. Retrieved 12 August 2010. 
  3. ^ "New striker for Glovers". Non-League Daily. 9 November 2001. http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?newsmode=FULL&nid=1238. Retrieved 4 January 2009. 
  4. ^ "It's Yeovil's trophy". Non-League Daily. 2 May 2002. http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?newsmode=FULL&nid=4066. Retrieved 4 January 2009. 
  5. ^ "Some good news on Stansfield's broken leg". Non-League Daily. 19 August 2002. http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?newsmode=FULL&nid=5506. Retrieved 4 January 2009. 
  6. ^ "Bulls sign Stansfield". BBC Sport. 14 June 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hereford_united/3806767.stm. Retrieved 4 January 2009. 
  7. ^ "Exeter snap up Hereford striker". BBC Sport. 12 June 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hereford_united/5071106.stm. Retrieved 4 January 2009. 
  8. ^ "Exeter City striker Adam Stansfield has bowel cancer". BBC Sport. 8 April 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/exeter_city/8598659.stm. Retrieved 8 April 2010. 
  9. ^ "Stansfield surgery a success". Sky Sports. 20 April 2010. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11719_6105337,00.html. Retrieved 12 August 2010. 
  10. ^ "Adam Stansfield". Exeter City F.C.. 10 August 2010. http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10436~2117958,00.html. Retrieved 10 August 2010. 
  11. ^ "Club Retires Number 9 Shirt". exetercityfc.co.uk. 20 August 2010. http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/page/OfficialWord/0,,10436~2129402,00.html. Retrieved 22 August 2010. 

[edit] External links

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