Biography
Left half Stanley Denby joined the Tigers from Yorkshire League side Goole Town in April 1932, having previously played junior football for Goole Territorials and joined Goole Town in the early weeks of 1931. A part of the transfer fee was to grant Goole Town an end of season friendly match, which was played in May 1932. Denby made his first team debut six months later in October 1932 and quickly established himself as first choice left half as the Tigers roared to the Division Three North title at the end of his first season.
Occasionally used as a striker, Denby had a potent long range shot even from the half back line and scored his first City goal against Bradford City in September 1933. He was a first team fixture during the 1933/34 season as the Tigers consolidated their Division Two status, but a throat abcess meant he missed the first two months of the 1934/35 season. Restored briefly to the first eleven in November 1934, he regained his regular first team shirt in mid-January 1935 and kept his place until January 1936. Used sparingly for over a year, Stanley briefly returned to first team action in January 1937 before being placed on the open transfer list in April 1937. In five seasons Denby played in 130 games and won a Division Three North winners’ medal, a decent effort by any standard.
In July 1937 Denby moved to Southern League side Guildford City, who were managed by former Tigers’ manager Haydn Green – the man who had signed him for Hull City five years earlier. Denby played as both a forward and a half back and remained with the Surrey side during the early phase of World War Two, also playing for a Surrey FA XI in January 1940. When Guildford City suspended their team in May 1941 Denby went on to play occasional wartime league matches for Aldershot but by September 1945 he was reported ill with “war work strain” and benefited from a collection during a match between Guildford City and Reading. Stanley returned to playing for Guildford City in December 1945 and played for over three more years, mainly in the Reserves, before eventually ending his association with the club in June 1949. Soon after he moved to the Scunthorpe area and by March 1951 was playing local football for Lysaghts.
In later life Denby remained in Scunthorpe where he died in December 1995.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 19 June 1912, Goole
Hull City First Game: 1 October 1932, Southport H (Division Three North), 20 years, 104 days old
Hull City Final Game: 1 May 1937, Darlington H (Division Three North), 24 years, 316 days old
Clubs
Goole Territorials, Goole Town (1931-1932), Hull City (1932-1937), Guildford City (1937-1949)
Hull City Record
Career: 130 apps, 3 goals
Stanley Denby| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1932/33 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1933/34 | 39 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1934/35 | 21 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1935/36 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1936/37 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |