Timothy Richard George Stimpson (born 10 September 1973 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

) is a former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

international full back (and occasional wing). During his career he played for

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed ...

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

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 home ...

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

Leeds Tykes Leeds Tykes (formerly Leeds RUFC, Leeds Carnegie and Yorkshire Carnegie) is an English rugby union club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the National League 2 North. The club was founded as Headingley FC, but renamed in 1991 when ...

and Nottingham,

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 ...

and the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

. His international career was a start-stop affair, however, he excelled at club level. In particular, during his five-year spell at Leicester Tigers between 1998 and 2003, as a goalkicker, he was an integral part of the dominant Leicester side that won the league four times in succession to add to back-to-back

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

, becoming the Premiership's top points scorer in the process (his points total has now been overtaken by both

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and French side Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scori ...

and

Andy Goode Andrew James Goode (born 3 April 1980) is an English sports pundit and former rugby union player. Goode had an 18-year professional career playing over 400 games and scoring over 4,000 points. He played professionally in England, France and S ...

Early life

Stimpson was educated at Silcoates School,

. In 1992, he went to the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

, where he studied

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

at Grey College, graduating in 1995.

Club career

Stimpson fell out with Newcastle's management and

Rob Andrew Christopher Robert Andrew (born 18 February 1963) is a former English rugby union player who as a fly-half played 71 Tests for England between 1985 and 1997. Since his retirement from playing he has held administration roles in both rugby and ...

during the 1997–98 season and only made four appearances for them as they won the Premiership. At the end of the season he signed for

. After the retirement of

Joel Stransky Joel Theodore Stransky (born 16 July 1967) is a South African former rugby union player. A fly-half, he is known for scoring all of South Africa's points, including the winning drop goal, against New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final ...

in 1999 he became Leicester Tigers' principal goalkicker. In the 2001 Heineken Cup Final against

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

he converted Leon Lloyd's last minute try from the right-hand touchline—the most difficult position to kick a conversion from for a right-footed kicker—to take the match from 32–30 to 34–30 to Leicester. This meant that to win the match, Stade would have had to score a try rather than the easier task of their fly-half Diego Dominguez, who kicked all of Stade's points, landing a goal. There were no further scores. A year later, in the 2002

semi-final against

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

. With only a few minutes remaining, the score was 10–12 to Llanelli, Stimpson having kicked a penalty and converted

Harry Ellis Harry Alistair Ellis (born 17 May 1982) is an English former rugby union footballer who played scrum half for Leicester Tigers, England and the British & Irish Lions. In July 2010, Ellis announced his retirement from the game as a result of ...

's try, Stephen Jones having kicked four penalties for the Scarlets. In windy conditions, Tigers were awarded a penalty at a scrum inside their own half, and Stimpson elected to go for goal from 60m out. The ball hit one of the posts and the crossbar, before going over to give the Tigers a 13–12 lead which they held onto to gain the victory. Tigers went on to win the final against Munster, Stimpson kicking a penalty and a conversion. In 2003 he was rumoured to be linked to French club

despite having time left on his contract at Leicester. Despite initial denials from Tigers' management, he did sign and moved to France after the 2003 World Cup, Tigers releasing him from his contract. However, he failed to play for

and in 2004 returned to England to play for

. While at Leeds he helped them win the Powergen Cup in 2005, however he was not in the squad for the final itself. He decided to retire from playing for Leeds Tykes to pursue a career in coaching in January 2006. In the summer of 2006 his services were used by Nottingham Rugby Club, where he presently holds a part-time coaching role. Stimpson won a record five consecutive Premiership titles with Newcastle Falcons and Leicester Tigers. The Leeds Tykes Coach, Phil Davies, commented "he will always be remembered as one of the most successful players ever in the professional era in this country".

International career

Stimpson went on the

1997 British Lions tour to South Africa The 1997 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was a series of matches played by the British & Irish Lions rugby union team in South Africa. This tour followed the Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand and preceded their 2001 British & Iris ...

and would have played in the tests as first choice full back were it not for the better goal-kicking of

Neil Jenkins Neil Jenkins, (born 8 July 1971) is a Welsh former rugby union player and current coach. He played fly half, fly-half, centre (rugby union), centre, or fullback (rugby union), full back for Pontypridd RFC, Pontypridd, Cardiff RFC, Cardiff, Ce ...

that was crucial to the Lions' series victory.

Early life

Club career

International career

References

External links