Ron Stitfall

Born in Cardiff, Stitfall was a keen Cardiff City fan, often attending games at Ninian Park before going on to join the club in 1939, making his debut in a wartime friendly at the age of 14 against Swansea Town. He went on to feature in several friendlies for the club before serving in the army for four years during World War II. He eventually returned to play for Cardiff in 1947 and made his professional debut for the club in October 1947 when he started a match against Bradford City at left-back in place of Alf Sherwood who was away on international duty for Wales. The match finished 0-0 due to Stitfall making a last minute goal line clearance to save a point for the Bluebirds. In his first few years at Cardiff he played in numerous positions, including scoring five times during a spell wearing the number nine shirt as a striker during the 1949–50 season. Despite this, he scored just eight league goals during his entire league career. For over a decade he formed a formidable full back pairing with another Cardiff City great and Wales international in Alf Sherwood, who eventually left the club in 1955. In total Stitfall played as a professional for Cardiff for eighteen seasons before retiring. During his career at Cardiff he also played alongside his two brothers at the club. Albert Stitfall made a handful of appearances alongside Ron in the first team and Bob Stitfall played as a goalkeeper for the club and, although he never made a professional appearance for the club, he…