Olphert Martin Stanfield (26 February 1869 – 13 March 1952) 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 lea ...

who played for

Distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...

and

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 ...

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 Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

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 F ...

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 teammates 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 Bramall ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

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

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

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 (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

. 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 Association football, 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 F.C., Cliftonville. The stadium holds 6,224, but ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

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

Fred Spiksley Frederick Spiksley (25 January 1870 – 28 July 1948) was an English association football, footballer and coach, who played as a forward for Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday and England national football team, England. He also play ...

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.

Death

Stanfield died on 13 March 1952 at

Belfast City Hospital The Belfast City Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities. Its distinctive orange tower block dominates the Belfast skyline being the th ...

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

References

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 NIFL Premiership players