Stuart Potter (born 11 November 1967 in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

) is a retired

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 ...

centre who played for

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

and . Potter won both the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

and

cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

with Leicester.

Career

Potter started his career with a four-year spell with

from 1988–92, twice being named the club's player of the season. Nottingham were relegated after the 1991–92 Courage League season and so Potter moved south to

. Potter made his Leicester Tigers debut on 1 September 1992 at

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 ...

. His next match was against an England XV, playing Leicester to mark 100 years of rugby at Welford Road. Potter's form saw him named in the Midland's side which lost 32-9 to on their 1992 tour. Potter played in all five rounds as Leicester won the 1992-93 Pilkington Cup, Potter scored in the quarter-final win over

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

and a fine try against Harlequins in the final. Potter was called up to the 1993 England rugby union tour of Canada and played in the first international against but caps were not awarded by England on this tour. Potter was also called up to the 1994 tour to South Africa as an injury replacement for Jerry Guscott but again did not feature in a capped international. In the 1993–94 season Leicester finished runners up to

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in both the league & cup; Potter played in 16 of the 18 league games and in all five cup games, scoring in the semi-final win over

Orrell Orrell may refer to: *Orrell, Greater Manchester, a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan **Orrell (ward), an electoral ward of the Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council *Orrell, Merseyside, an urban area east of Bootle, in the Metropolitan Bo ...

. Potter was a crucial part of Leicester's 1995 league title win, again featuring in 16 league games. Potter featured in a losing cup final in 1996 (again to Bath); in the 1996–97 season Potter formed a good partnership with

Will Greenwood William John Heaton Greenwood, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning team and the 1997 British & Irish Lions. H ...

and was part of the Leicester side which made the

1997 Heineken Cup Final The 1997 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 1996–97 Heineken Cup, the second season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 25 January 1997 at the Arms Park in Cardiff. The match was contested by Brive of ...

against

CA Brive Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin, also referred to as CA Brive, Brive () or CAB, is a French professional rugby union club based in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in the Corrèze department. They compete in the first-tier Top 14 competition. Briv ...

, losing 28-9, before winning another domestic cup beating Sale 9-3 to win the 1996-97 Pilkington Cup. His sole England cap came as a 2-minute blood replacement during the 76-0 hammering by Australia on the 1998 "Tour to Hell", however this hides the fact that he was an England A stalwart, gaining 15 caps, his international ambitions being limited because he shared a position with captain

Will Carling William David Charles Carling (born 12 December 1965) is an English former rugby union player. He was England's youngest captain, aged 22, and won 72 caps from 1988 to 1996, captaining England 59 times. Under his captaincy, England won Five ...

, as well as players such as Jerry Guscott and

Phil de Glanville Philip Ranulph de Glanville (born 1 October 1968 in Loughborough) is a former English rugby union player who played at centre for Bath and England. Rugby career de Glanville played for Durham University while an Economics and Politics stude ...

. He had also been called into the England squad for the 1998 Six Nations championship but was injured. Potter played in 11 games as Leicester won the 1999 Premiership but towards the end of the season fell out of favour behind

Craig Joiner Craig Joiner (born 21 April 1974) is a Scottish retired rugby union player who won 25 caps playing on the wing for the Scottish rugby union side between 1994 and 2000. Early life Craig Joiner born on 21 April 1974 in Glasgow, Scotland. He was ...

. He featured only 5 times in the 1999–2000 league season where Leicester retained their title. His final match for the club was against Harlequins on 29 December 1999. Now retired from playing he now is living in Lichfield with his family.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Stuart 1967 births Living people English rugby union players England international rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Lichfield Nottingham R.F.C. players