Biography
Fred Stringer took over the manager’s role at Hull City in early October 1914 when previous manager Harry Chapman tendered his resignation due to ill health, although in truth Chapman had been absent for several months while convalescing in Dorset and the club’s directors, of which Stringer was one, were selecting the team in the early weeks of the 1914/15 season. Stringer was also president of the East Riding County Football Association, clearly he was a prominent figure in the Hull footballing scene. He led the club to the end of the 1914/15 season, at which time the Football League was suspended due to the outbreak of World War One – Stringer remained with the club for two more seasons of wartime matches, which were not classified as senior fixtures, while also serving the local military by organising food supplies and transport. In July 1916 he resigned from his post to join the war effort, taking a second lieutenant role with the Army’s Royal Defence Corps – a regiment focused on protecting important locations on the British mainland and guarding prisoners of war.
Frederick George “Fred” Stringer was born in Sheffield but by the time he was six years old he had moved to the Sculcoates district of East Hull where his father worked as clerk for a coal merchant. By 1891 Fred was working as an apprentice drysalter (a dealer of food products) and went on to become a wholesale grocer and food importer, as well as a prominent figure in the emerging association football movement within Kingston Upon Hull. He was involved with several clubs – St Paul’s, Kingston Amateurs, Albany and Dairycoates Loco – that preceded the formation of Hull City AFC in 1904, clubs that were served by several men that went on to play for the Tigers. He combined his day job as a grocer with football administration, rising to become president of the East Riding FA and Hull City board member, a post he relinquished when he became manager of the Tigers in October 1914. He was also a regular Football League linesman and occasional referee during the 1900s and as board director of Hull City he led a post-season tour of Sweden in May 1909
After the War Stringer resumed his chairmanship of the ERCFA, a role he maintained until his death. He also returned to his grocery business, living a comfortable life in Cottingham and Hull. In his later days he lived in The Avenues area of West Hull, where he died in January 1940.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 28 July 1875, Sheffield, England
Date/Place of Death: 17 January 1940, Hull, England; 64 years, 173 days old
Appointed by Hull City: 7 October 1914; 39 years, 70 days old
Left Hull City: 7 July 1916; 40 years, 345 days old
Tenure: 640 days
Clubs Managed
Hull City (1914-1916)
Hull City Record
Playing Record: Played 37, Won 19, Drawn 6, Lost 12, Goals For 69, Goals Against 53
Achievements: 7th in Division Two, 1914/15 season