An outstanding amateur with Hampshire League champions, Gosport Athletic, Stan Cribb had already gained Hampshire representative honors when he signed for Saints in November 1923. Some outstanding performances for the Reserves – in which

he demonstrated pace, skill, and determination – led the Echo to pick him out as a “very likely youngster”.

He made his debut, at outside-left, half-way through his first full season at The Dell and soon became a dependable penalty-taker. Yet it was only in the 1928-29 season that Stan managed more than a dozen games – 33, in which he weighed in with 13 goals – and, come to the end of the following season, he was sold to West Ham.

He never appeared in their first team, but in a season each with QPR and Cardiff, he totaled a further 55 League games, contributing a useful 23 goals. Whereupon, he returned home to play, and then coach, locally.  In 1944, he helped in the formation of Gosport Borough and was their honorary manager until 1967. He later scouted for Southampton and was responsible for several “finds” in the Portsmouth area, including John Sharpe and Malcolm Waldron. Away from football, he was involved in the boat building and shipwright industry.