Olphert Martin Stanfield (26 February 1869,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

– 13 March 1952) also referred to as Olphie Stanfield or Ollie Stanfield was an Irish

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 ...

who played for

Distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

during the 1880s and 1890s. Stanfield was a complete forward, capable of scoring with either foot and his head. He was also comfortable playing as centre-forward, inside-left or inside-right. He was the most capped international footballer during the 19th century, Ireland’s record goalscorer during the 19th century and remains the most capped Distillery player of all time.

Club career

Stanfield joined

in 1886 from Genoa FC and by the end of the decade had scored over 90 goals. During the 1889–89 season he scored hat-tricks in four consecutive games and helped Distillery win an

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Foo ...

double. During the 1890s Stanfield became a Distillery legend, making 147 competitive appearances and scoring at least 105 goals. He scored at least seven hat-tricks during the 1890s and scored the winner in the 1894 Irish Cup final. He also scored the winner in a play-off for Irish League title in 1896, helping Distillery win a treble. By the time he retired, Stanfield had played 181 competitive games for Distillery, scoring 178 goals. He also played in a further 115 friendlies, scoring a further 62 goals. During his career at Distillery, his team mates included fellow Irish internationals Billy Crone and Jack Reynolds.

International career

Stanfield made his international debut for

on 5 February 1887, aged 17 years and 344 days, in a 7–0 defeat to

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 ...

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. Stanfield scored his first goal for Ireland in 4–1 against

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 ...

on 19 February 1887. This was also Ireland’s first ever win. On 7 February 1891, Stanfield scored four goals in a 7–2 win over

and as a result became the first Irish player to finish as top scorer in a

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

. During the 1894 championship, Stanfield scored three goals in successive internationals. The highlight of the three came on 3 March 1894 at the

Solitude Ground Solitude is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the oldest football stadium in Ireland, and the home ground of Ireland's oldest football club, Cliftonville. The stadium holds 6,224, but is currently restricted to 2,530 under s ...

, when after thirteen attempts Ireland finally avoided defeat to England. Against an England team that included

Fred Spiksley Fred Spiksley (25 January 1870 – 28 July 1948) was an English footballer and coach, who played as a forward for Sheffield Wednesday and England. He also played for Gainsborough Trinity, Glossop North End, Leeds City, Watford. After retirin ...

and Jack Reynolds, who had since switched allegiances, Stanfield’s goal inspired Ireland to come back from 2–0 down to gain a 2–2 draw.

Honours

;

* Irish Champions: 1895–96 *

winners: 1888–89, 1893–94, 1895–96 *

runners Up: 1887–88 *

winners: 1888–89, 1892–93, 1895–96, 1896–97

External links

Distillery fansiteStanfield bio at IFFHS Most Capped International during the 1800s
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanfield, Olphert 1869 births 1952 deaths Irish association footballers (before 1923) Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Lisburn Distillery F.C. players Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Irish League representative players Men's association football forwards