Ronald Frederick Stitfall (14 December 1925 – 22 June 2008) was a Welsh professional

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 ...

and

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 ...

international. A one club man he played his entire career for his hometown club

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

Career

Born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, Stitfall was a keen Cardiff City fan, often attending games at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

before going on to join the club in 1939, making his debut in a wartime friendly at the age of 14 against Swansea Town. He went on to feature in several friendlies for the club before serving in the army for four years during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He eventually returned to play for Cardiff in 1947 and made his professional debut for the club in October 1947 when he started a match against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

at left-back in place of

Alf Sherwood Alfred Thomas Sherwood (13 November 1923 – 12 March 1990) was a Welsh international footballer. Between 1947 and 1957, he gained a total of 41 caps, the first on his 23rd birthday, against England in 1946. Known as the King of the sliding ta ...

who was away on international duty for Wales. The match finished 0-0 due to Stitfall making a last minute goal line clearance to save a point for the Bluebirds. In his first few years at Cardiff he played in numerous positions, including scoring five times during a spell wearing the number nine shirt as a striker during the 1949–50 season. Despite this, he scored just eight league goals during his entire league career. For over a decade he formed a formidable full back pairing with another Cardiff City great and Wales international in Alf Sherwood, who eventually left the club in 1955. In total Stitfall played as a professional for Cardiff for eighteen seasons before retiring. During his career at Cardiff he also played alongside his two brothers at the club. Albert Stitfall made a handful of appearances alongside Ron in the first team and Bob Stitfall played as a goalkeeper for the club and, although he never made a professional appearance for the club, he did play alongside his brothers for the reserve side. During his career Stitfall gained two caps for Wales, debuting in a 5–2 defeat against

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 ...

on 12 November 1952 and winning his second cap five years later against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in May 1957. After retiring he became a youth coach at Cardiff, including coaching

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...

who was in the youth system at the time, before joining the training staff at Newport County. He later went on to become kit manager for the Welsh national side.

Honors

;Cardiff City *

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

Winner: 2 :: 1955-56, 1958-59 *

Runner-up: 1 :: 1959-60

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stitfall, Ron 1925 births 2008 deaths Footballers from Cardiff Cardiff City F.C. players Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers English Football League players British Army personnel of World War II Men's association football defenders