Ronald Staniforth (13 April 1924 – 5 October 1988) was an English

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 ...

, described as a tall, cultured full-back. His attacking excursions down the right wing sometimes caused concern to his team's supporters but probably more to his opponents. After service in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

during

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 opposing ...

he became a milkman and played in local league football, signing professional for

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

at the relatively late age of 22. When the Stockport manager

Andy Beattie Andrew Beattie (11 August 1913 – 20 September 1983) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He was the first manager of the Scottish national team. Playing career Beattie was born in Kintore, Aberdeenshire and was emplo ...

moved to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

in the 1952 close season, Staniforth followed. Huddersfield had just been relegated. Staniforth, together with all the remainder of the defence, played in every game in the following season in which Huddersfield finished in second place and so were promoted back to the First Division. In their first season back, Huddersfield maintained their momentum and were challenging for the championship. This led to Staniforth playing three times for England 'B' and then gaining eight

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 ...

caps, all in 1954, including three in the final stages of the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. He was also in the England side which notoriously lost 7–1 to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

although this did not lead to his losing his place. In 1955 Huddersfield were becoming concerned about the ageing profile of their team and Staniforth was dropped after being given the run-around by Bobby Mitchell in a quarter-final of the F.A. Cup. In July 1955 he moved to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

, along with

Roy Shiner Roy Albert James Shiner (15 November 1924 in Ryde, Isle of Wight – 1988) was a professional footballer who played as a forward for Ryde Sports, Cheltenham Town, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday & Hull City. He later went on to manage c ...

, in an exchange deal which brought Tony Conwell and Jackie Marriott to Huddersfield (they were respectively eight and four years younger). At the age of 31, however, Staniforth's career was far from over. It must have seemed like déjà vu. Like his arrival at Huddersfield, Wednesday had just been relegated from the First Division and were promoted in his first season. Also he teamed up again with former Huddersfield defender

Don McEvoy Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

. He went on to make 102 appearances for Wednesday over four seasons, during which they were promoted twice and relegated once. In October 1959 he moved to Barrow as player-manager, later to be joined by McEvoy as a player. He retired from playing after 38 games and resigned as manager in 1964. Later he had two spells on the coaching staff at Hillsborough. He died in Barrow on 5 October 1988, aged 64.

References

*Huddersfield Town: A Complete Record 1910–1990, Terry Frost, Breedon Books 1990 *Huddersfield Town, 75 Years On. G.S. Binns, Huddersfield Town AFC, 1984 *99 Years and Counting - Huddersfield Town Centenary History by A.Hodgson, G.&I. Thomas and J.Ward, Huddersfield Town AFC, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Staniforth, Ron 1924 births 1988 deaths English footballers England international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players Stockport County F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. managers People from Newton Heath English Football League players Association football fullbacks English football managers Royal Navy personnel of World War II