Adrian Stoop (27 March 1883 – 27 November 1957)
Scrum.com was an

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rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player of

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descent. He played 182 times for Harlequins between 1901 and 1939, and won 15 caps for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was president of the Harlequins 1920–1949. The club's ground,

The Stoop Twickenham Stoop Stadium (informally referred to as The Stoop) is a sports stadium located in south-west London, England. The stadium is home to Harlequins rugby union team, who play in the Gallagher Premiership. The stadium has a capacity ...

, is named in his memory. Stoop Quins vs Wigan

His association with Harlequins lasted from his debut against Oxford University in November 1901 until 1950 when he ended his 30-year stint as president of the club. He played his last game in Quins colours in 1939, at the age of 56. He made 182 appearances in total, captained the side 143 times and scored 86 tries, being club captain for 8 consecutive seasons from 1906/07 to 1913/14. Stoop was born on 27 March 1883 in Cromwell Road, London. His father was Dutch and his mother was half Scottish/half Irish. He went to

Dover College , motto_translation = I cannot refuse the task , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , headmaster = Simon Fisher , r_head_label = , r_head ...

in 1896 and on to

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

in 1898, where he played for the school team, and then to Oxford University, where he was captain of the rugby team in 1904. It was whilst he was still at Rugby school that he was asked to join Harlequins. He had also been approached by Blackheath, who at the time were a bigger name than Quins, but he decided to accept the offer from Quins. In 1905, Stoop made his debut for England against Scotland and it was also against Scotland that he earned the last of his 15 caps in 1912. During this time he captained the national side twice, including the first ever international played at Twickenham in 1910. Had it not been for a broken collarbone in 1907 he would have added to his international appearances. Stoop is widely credited with revolutionising back play. Previously, the two half backs were designated as "left and right", but Stoop incorporated ideas already being used in Wales and New Zealand to introduce the concept of the Scrum Half and Outside Half. He used these ideas to great success for both Harlequins and England. As well as being club captain from 1906–1914, Stoop was secretary from 1905–14 and from 1920-38 as well as president from 1920–1950. He was also president of the RFU in 1932 and was a member of the selection committee. In addition to Quins and England he also represented Oxford University, Surrey and The Barbarians. He was keen beekeeper and ornithologist. He died on 27 November 1957, aged 74. He is buried at

Hartley Wintney Hartley Wintney is a large village and civil parish in the Hart (district), Hart district of Hampshire, England. It lies about northwest of Fleet, Hampshire, Fleet and east of Basingstoke. The parish includes the smaller contiguous village of ...

, Hampshire, where he had lived for many years.

References

* ''Immortal Harlequin: The Story of Adrian Stoop'' by Ian Cooper (2004) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stoop, Adrian 1883 births 1957 deaths Rugby union players from Kensington English rugby union players England international rugby union players People educated at Dover College People educated at Rugby School Alumni of University College, Oxford Barbarian F.C. players Harlequin F.C. players Oxford University RFC players English people of Dutch descent Middlesex County RFU players Rugby union fly-halves