Henry Stapley (29 April 1883 – 29 April 1937) was an English amateur

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 lea ...

who played for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

. Internationally, he played for the England amateur team and competed for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

, where he scored six goals.

Club career

Stapley played for Manor Park Albion,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

and Norwich CEYMS before joining

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, where he played for the reserve and amateur teams. He then played for Woodford Town, where he was made

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, before signing for

, then of the Southern League, on 28 September 1905. He continued to play for Woodford Town after signing. Stapley made his West Ham debut against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

on 23 December 1905 and scored the only goal of the game. He spent three seasons at Upton Park and was the Irons' top scorer in all three, even though his job as a schoolteacher prevented him from traveling to certain midweek away games. In total, he scored 41 goals in 75 appearances. He joined

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

in 1908 and continued his scoring record, ending as the club's top-scorer for seven consecutive seasons. He played 188 League games for Glossop, scoring 93 goals.

International career

Stapley made 14 appearances for the England amateur team, netting 28 goals, thus averaging two goals a game. Only

Vivian Woodward Vivian John Woodward (3 June 1879 – 31 January 1954) was an English footballer who enjoyed the peak of his career from the turn of the 20th century to the outbreak of the First World War. He played for Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. Inter ...

has scored more goals for the amateur side than him with 44. Stapley's tally includes a 5-goal haul against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 1907, a 4-goal haul against the same opponents in 1908, and three

hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

(2) and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

for a total of five trebles. Again, only Woodward has scored more hat-tricks for the amateur side than him, with six. Stapley scored a further six goals in unofficial matches, which came in the form of two hat-tricks against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

to help his side with 6–1 and 5–1 wins, thus bringing his goal tally to 34 goals and his hat-trick tally to a record-breaking seven, since Woodward never scored one in an unofficial match. In 1908, he was a member of the English amateur team that represented

at the

, winning the gold medal in the football tournament. He scored two goals in the first-round match, a 12–1 drubbing of Sweden, and scored all four in the semi-final against the Netherlands. He also appeared in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, helping his side with a 2—0 win. With these 6 goals, he is the second 'Highest British goal scorer within the Olympics' only behind

Harold Walden Harold Adrian Walden (10 October 1887 – 2 December 1955) was an English amateur footballer who played for several clubs, Halifax Town, Bradford City and Arsenal. Walden also played for Great Britain's football team, with which he won go ...

who scored 9 in the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

Outside football

Stapley tutored the sons of Glossop chairman

Samuel Hill-Wood Sir Samuel Hill Hill-Wood, 1st Baronet (21 March 1872 – 4 January 1949) was a British businessman, Conservative politician, cricketer and football club chairman. Early life Wood was born in Glossop, Derbyshire, the son of Samuel Wood, a cot ...

in football and cricket and saw three of his students attain

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

in cricket at Oxford and Cambridge. He was later private secretary to Hill-Wood after his election as Member of Parliament for High Peak. His brother, William Stapley, also played League football for Glossop.

International goals

:''England Amateurs score listed first, score column indicates score after each Stapley goal.''

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stapley, Harry 1883 births 1937 deaths People from Southborough, Kent Footballers from Kent English men's footballers England men's amateur international footballers English Olympic competitors Footballers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Men's association football forwards Bromley F.C. players Reading F.C. players Woodford Town F.C. (1937) players West Ham United F.C. players Glossop North End A.F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players English civil servants