Fred Stansfield (12 December 1917 – 30 March 2014) was a Welsh international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

Career

Stansfield, a centre-half, had been playing for Grange Athletic when he joined

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in 1942 as a part-time professional. He was immediately appointed captain and was a regular in the war-time regional side but, due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he did not play a league match until 1946, making his debut on the opening day of the season in a 2–1 defeat by

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. His form during the following season saw him called up for the

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

squad, winning his first cap against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in October 1948. It turned out to be the only time he would play for his country as he suffered a broken ankle three months later in a league match against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. His recovery meant he missed several months and on his return found his place in the Cardiff side taken by

Stan Montgomery Stanley William Montgomery (7 July 1920 – 5 October 2000) was an English professional footballer and first-class cricketer. He was the son-in-law of 1927 FA Cup winner Jimmy Nelson, who also played over 200 times for Cardiff City. Football ...

, who manager

Cyril Spiers Cyril Henry Spiers (4 April 1902 – 21 May 1967) was an English association football Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who played for Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wandere ...

had signed from

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

, and he left to join Newport County. He spent one season playing for the club making 21 appearances before being appointed manager at

Somerton Park Somerton Park was a football, greyhound racing and speedway stadium in Newport, South Wales. Football In April 1912 Newport County had been accepted to play in the Southern League for the 1912–13 season. Shortly afterwards, the site ...

in 1950. After three years in charge at Newport he was appointed manager of Southern League team Bedford Town between March 1954 and March 1955. After leaving football he owned a newsagents in Whitchurch, Cardiff until his retirement. As of 2010 he was, along with Tommy Forse, one of the two oldest surviving Cardiff City players."Legend Fred Our Honoured Guest"
''Cardiff City News'', 22 November 2010 Stansfield died 30 March 2014, aged 96."Former County player and boss Fred Stansfield dies"
''South Wales Argus'' (Newport), 1 April 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stansfield, Fred 1917 births 2014 deaths Welsh footballers Footballers from Cardiff Welsh football managers Wales international footballers Cardiff City F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players English Football League players Newport County A.F.C. managers Bedford Town F.C. managers Association football defenders