Dickie Stobbart

Who was Dickie Stobbart?

Richard Paul "Dickie" Stobbart was a Canadian national soccer team player and is considered to be one of the finest half backs in the history of Canadian soccer. He starred for Canada on its 1924 tour of Australia, appearing in all six internationals.

Stobbart was born in Bedlington, Northumberland, England. In 1921 he was a member of the Ladysmith team that lost the national final to Toronto Scottish. However in 1922 he joined the Nanaimo Wanderers and in 1923 he scored the winning goal from a penalty kick against Montreal C.P.R. to win the National Championship. In 1925 Nanaimo reached the finals but lost to Toronto Ulster United.

In 1928 he joined the Westminster Royals and again reached the finals in the National Championship beating Montreal C.P.R. in a three game series, scoring one of the Royals six goals in the deciding game. In 1931 he helped the Royals reached the finals again this time beating the Toronto Scottish in a two game series.

When he retired as a player he was named as one of the Players of the Half Century in the 1950 Canadian Press poll. He became the assistant coach of the Vancouver St. Andrews in 1947 when they won the Canadian title. He died in Vancouver on November 9, 1952.