Cribb Stan Image 1 West Ham United 1930

Description

Gosport, Hampshire born outside left Stan Cribb began his football career with Gosport Athletic, helping them to win the Hampshire League in 1924, from where he joined Second Division club Southampton that September, making his Football League debut against Crystal Palace in January 1925. On the fringes for his first four seasons at The Dell, making only occasional appearances for The Saints, he broke into the first team on a regular basis in March 1928.

On 24th March 1928 (Easter Monday), The Saints played West Bromwich Albion at The Dell. Albion’s goalkeeper, George Ashmore was injured and was replaced in goal by a defender and was switched to the wing. In the second half, with the scores level at 2-2, Ashmore was back helping out in defence. Forgetting that he was now an outfield player, Ashmore caught the ball in the penalty area. Cribb duly scored from the penalty spot to give Saints the victory, and the next season he scored 13 goals as Southampton finished fourth in the Second Division in 1928-29, their highest League placing until then.

But he lost his place in September 1929 to new signing Johnny Arnold and despite a run of 7 matches in March and April 1930, he left Southampton having scored 22 goals in 75 appearances, being signed by First Division club West Ham United for £500 in the summer of 1930 as cover for Jimmy Ruffell, but he never made the first team at Upton Park before moving across London to join Queens Park Rangers the following summer.

His single season at Loftus Road proved the most prolific of his career, scoring 18 goals in 32 appearances including a run in November 1932 of three braces against Luton Town, Cardiff City and Northampton Town, and an FA Cup hat-trick in a win over non league Barnet, finishing the season as the club’s second top goalscorer to George Goddard. However in the 1932 close season he moved on to Cardiff City where he scored 11 times in 29 appearances for The Bluebirds before returning to Gosport Athletic in the summer of 1933, where he played until his eventual retirement.

He then coached with Haslar Sports F.C. before helping to found Gosport Borough. In their first season, 1944-45, the football section of the Club won the Portsmouth and District League Division One; the line-up at that time included Jimmy Scoular and Peter Harris who both went on to become full internationals. Cribb continued to manage the club until 1967. Following his retirement, he retained his connections with football, scouting for Southampton and rarely missing a match at Privett Park.