Harry Stapley

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Harry Stapley
Stapley with Great Britain at the 1908 Olympics
Personal information
Full name Henry Stapley
Date of birth (1883-04-29)29 April 1883
Place of birth Southborough, Kent, England
Date of death 29 April 1937(1937-04-29) (aged 54)
Place of death Glossop, England
Height 5 ft 9+1⁄2 in (1.77 m)[1]
Position(s) Centre-forward, inside-right
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Manor Park Albion
Bromley
Norwich CEYMS
Reading 0 (0)
Woodford Town
1905–1908 West Ham United 71 (39)
1908–1914 Glossop 188 (93)
International career
1907–1909 England Amateur 11 (22)
1908 Great Britain 3 (6)
Medal record
Representing  Great Britain
Men's football
Gold medal – first place 1908 London Team competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Henry Stapley[a] (29 April 1883 – 29 April 1937) was an English amateur footballer who played for West Ham United and Glossop. Internationally, he played for the England amateur team and competed for Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics, where he scored 6 goals.[2]

Club career[edit]

Stapley played for Manor Park Albion, Bromley and Norwich CEYMS before joining Reading, where he played for the reserve and amateur teams. He then played for Woodford Town, where he was made captain,[3] before signing for West Ham United, then of the Southern League,[4] on 28 September 1905. He continued to play for Woodford Town after his signing.[5]

Stapley made his West Ham debut against Portsmouth on 23 December 1905 and scored the only goal of the game. He spent three seasons at Upton Park and was the Irons' top scorer in all three, even though his job as a schoolteacher prevented him from traveling to certain midweek away games.[4] In total, he scored 41 goals in 75 appearances.[6]

He joined Second Division club Glossop in 1908 and continued his scoring record, ending as the club's top-scorer for seven consecutive seasons.[4] He played 188 League games for Glossop, scoring 93 goals.[7]

International career[edit]

Stapley made 14 appearances for the England amateur team, netting 28 goals, thus averaging two goals a game.[8] Only Vivian Woodward has scored more goals for the amateur side than him with 44. Stapley's tally includes a 5-goal haul against the Netherlands in 1907, a 4-goal haul against the same opponents in 1908 and three hat-tricks against Belgium(2) and Sweden for a total of five trebles. Again, only Woodward has scored more hat-tricks for the amateur side than him with six.[9] Stapley scored a further 6 goals in unofficial matches, which came in the form of two hat-tricks against Ireland to help his side with 6–1 and 5–1 wins, thus bringing his goal tally to 34 goals and his hat-trick tally to a record-breaking seven, since Woodward never scored one in an unofficial match.[9]

In 1908, he was a member of the English amateur team that represented Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal in the football tournament. He scored two goals in the first-round match, a 12–1 drubbing of Sweden, and scored all four in the semi-final against the Netherlands. He also appeared in the final against Denmark, helping his side with a 2-0 win.[3][10] With these 6 goals, he is the second 'Highest British goal scorer within the Olympics' only behind Harold Walden who scored 9 in the 1912 Summer Olympics.[9]

Outside football[edit]

Stapley tutored the sons of Glossop chairman Samuel Hill-Wood in football and cricket and saw three of his students attain blues in cricket at Oxford and Cambridge. He was later private secretary to Hill-Wood after his election as Member of Parliament for High Peak.[4]

His brother, William Stapley, also played League football for Glossop.[4]

International goals[edit]

England Amateurs score listed first, score column indicates score after each Stapley goal.
List of international goals scored by Harry Stapley[9]
No. Cap Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref
1 1 21 December 1907 Feethams, Darlington, England  Netherlands
2–0
 12–2 Friendly
[11]
2
3–0
3
6–1
4
7–1
5
8–1
6 2 18 April 1908 Sukkelweg, Bruxelles, Belgium  Belgium
2–0
 8–2
[12]
7
3–0
8
8–2
9 3 20 April 1908 Viktoria field, Berlin-Mariendorf, Germany  Germany
1–0
 5–1
[13]
10
4–1
11 4 20 October 1908 White City, London, England  Sweden
?
 12–1 1908 Summer Olympics First round
[14]
12
?
13 5 22 October 1908  Netherlands
1–0
 4–0 1908 Summer Olympics Semi finals
[15]
14
2–0
15
3–0
16
4–0
17 6 12 April 1909 Oud Rosenburg, Amsterdam, Netherlands  Netherlands
4–0
 7–0 Friendly
[16]
18 7 17 April 1909 White Hart Lane, London, England  Belgium
?
 11–2
[17]
19
?
20
?
21 8 20 May 1909 Landhof, Basel, Switzerland   Switzerland
?
 9–0
[18]
22 9 22 May 1909 Stade de FGSPF, Gentilly, France  France
?
 5–1
[19]
23
?
24 10 6 November 1909 Anlaby Road, Hull, England  Sweden
2–0
 7–0
[20]
25
4–0
26
5–0
27 11 11 December 1909 Stamford Bridge, Fullham, England  Netherlands
1-0
 9–1
[21]
28
8-1

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Recorded as Harold S. Stapley in some sources

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The coming of the big ball: the Second Division: Fulham". Athletic News. Manchester. 18 August 1913. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  2. ^ "Harry Stapley". Olympedia. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Harry Stapley". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media. pp. 192–193. ISBN 1-903135-50-8.
  5. ^ "Harry Stapley". englandfootballonline.com. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Harry Stapley". westhamstats.info. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  7. ^ Joyce, Michael (2012) [2002]. Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 275. ISBN 978-1-905891-61-0.
  8. ^ "Harold S Stapley". 11v11.com. Association of Football Statisticians. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d "England Matches - The Amateurs 1906-1939". englandfootballonline.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  10. ^ The Fourth Olympiad - London 1908 - Official Report (PDF). British Olympic Association. May 1909. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  11. ^ "England v Netherlands, 21 December 1907". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Belgium v England, 18 April 1908". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Germany v England, 20 April 1908". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Great Britain v Sweden, 20 October 1908". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Great Britain - Netherlands, 20 May 1909". FIFA. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  16. ^ "Netherlands v England, 12 April 1909". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  17. ^ "England v Belgium, 17 April 1909". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  18. ^ "Switzerland v England, 20 May 1909". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  19. ^ "France v England, 22 May 1909". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  20. ^ "England Amateurs v Sweden 7-0 (International: November 6, 1909)". playupliverpool.com. 6 November 1909. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  21. ^ "England v Netherlands, 11 December 1909". www.11v11.com. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
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