Stanley "Stan" Smith (22 February 1910 – 3 June 1978) was an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed in the 1940s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

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 ...

Rugby League XIII The Rugby League XIII was an invitation team run along the same lines as the Rugby Union Barbarians team. Particularly in the Second World War, when international fixtures were restricted to England V Wales. The Rugby League would play representat ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and at club level for

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

( Heritage No. 333) and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

as a , i.e. number 2 or 5, and coached at club level for Featherstone Rovers.

Background

Stanley Smith worked as a

foreman __NOTOC__ A foreman, forewoman or foreperson is a supervisor, often in a manual trade or industry. Foreman may specifically refer to: *Construction foreman, the worker or tradesman who is in charge of a construction crew * Jury foreman, a head j ...

at a stone quarry in

Tadcaster Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England, east of the Great North Road, north-east of Leeds, and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the ...

Playing career

Club career

Smith started his career at

before he was transferred to

during January 1930 for a record fee of £1,075, (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £307,200 in 2014). Smith played , i.e. number 5, in

' 2–8 defeat by

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

in the Championship Final during the 1937–38 season at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

on Saturday 30 April 1938. Smith retired from first class rugby in January 1940 having played for Leeds for 10 years. He had a long-standing plan to retire from rugby so that he and his wife Hilda could focus on running their pub the Butchers Arms on Williams Street in Wakefield but the outbreak of WWII saw him joining the Army at the age of 30. Stan served in the REME seeing service throughout the North African and Italian campaigns and returning home in late 1945.

International honours

Stan Smith won caps for

while at Leeds in 1931 against Wales, in 1932 against Wales (2 matches), in 1934 against Australia, and France, in 1935 against France, and won caps for

while at Wakefield Trinity in 1929 against Australia, while at Leeds in 1930 against Australia (2 matches), in 1932 against Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand (3 matches), and in 1933 against Australia (2 matches). List tackling Smith

Stan Smith played twice for an

against France. Playing at left-wing on both occasions, the first was at Wilderspool Stadium,

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

on 17 March 1934 when the English team won 32–16, this game was also the first international match played by the

France national rugby league team The France national rugby league team represent France in international rugby league matches. They are referred to as ''les Chanticleers'' or less commonly as ''les Tricolores''. The team is run under the auspices of the Fédération Française ...

. The second was at Headingley Rugby Stadium,

just over a year later, on 6 May 1935 when the English side won 25–18.

County honours

Stan Smith won cap(s) for

while at Wakefield Trinity.

County Cup Final appearances

Stanley Smith played , i.e. number 5, in

' 14–8 victory over

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in the 1937–38

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1937–38 season at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

on Saturday 30 October 1937. The record for the most tries in a

Final is 4- tries, and is jointly held by;

Stan Moorhouse Stanley Moorhouse (fourth ¼ – 23 April 1951) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s. He played at representative level for Great Britain and England, and at club level for Huddersfield a ...

, Alan Smith, and Stanley Smith.

Genealogical information

Stan had family links to several well known rugby players, notably in the Batten and Metcalfe families. Stan's mother Selena and Billy Batten's wife Annie were sisters so Billy was Stan's uncle by marriage and Billy's rugby playing sons, Billy (Jr), Eric and Bob, and his grandson Ray were Stan's cousins. Whilst a player at Trinity Stan became good friends with his teammate Jimmy Metcalfe the son of James Davis Metcalfe who played at full back for Trinity in the period 1897-1911. Jimmy (Jr) introduced Stan to his sister Hilda and the two were married in 1932. Jimmy's (Jr) son Donald Metcalfe, played for Trinity in the 1950s and was Stan's nephew by marriage.

Note

During the late 1950/60s there was a

footballer who played for Wakefield Trinity, and Bramley, who was also called Stanley "Stan" Smith. These Stanley "Stan" Smith's are clearly not the same person and they are not related.

References

External links

Billy Batten Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Stanley 1910 births 1978 deaths England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Featherstone Rovers coaches Great Britain national rugby league team players Leeds Rhinos players Place of birth missing Place of death missing Rugby league wingers Rugby League XIII players Wakefield Trinity players Yorkshire rugby league team players