Researching Stan Williams

Williams, a half back, started his career at North Adelaide in 1910 and played with them until 1919. He joined St Kilda in 1920 and the following year, also Charlie Ricketts retired mid-season, was appointed club captain. It would be his only season as captain of St Kilda. He returned to North Adelaide in 1926 but was comeback was brief.

In 1939, following the death of Adelaide Oval curator Albert Wright, Williams was appointed as his replacement. He had been previously working as a greenkeeper at a bowling club, which was attached to the oval. Due to ill health, Williams retired in 1953.

Born in Blaby, Leicestershire in June 1917, Williams started grasstrack racing at the age of seventeen, pushing his bike the eighteen miles from Leicester to Nottingham to take part in his first race. His first speedway experience was from practice sessions at the Leicester Super stadium, later practising at Dagenham. He was signed by Sheffield in 1938, suffering mechanical problems in his first season that saw him close to giving up, but he developed greatly the following year, working under Bluey Wilkinson, including beating Lionel Van Praag in a race at Harringay and reaching the semi-final of the World Championship.

After serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, he returned to Sheffield as team captain in 1946, leading the team to a second-place finish in the Northern League. A broken ankle in 1946 and a broken wrist in 1947 limited his racing, and he spent much of his time tutoring his younger brother Len, who broke into the Sheffield team in 1947.

Williams stayed with Sheffield until the end of the 1949 season, moving on to Coventry Bees at the start of 1950. He spent four seasons with Coventry before retiring in 1953. He later returned to Coventry as team manager. In the 1960s he managed Newport Wasps.

Williams was born in Putnam, Texas, and lived in Cisco, Texas. His father, Roy Lee Williams, was a farmer in Cisco. After attending Cisco High School, Williams enrolled at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He played college football at the end position for the Baylor Bears football team from 1949 to 1951. He caught 65 passes for 1,029 yards and 11 touchdowns in his career at Baylor. He was selected by the Football Writers Association of America as a first-team offensive player on its 1951 College Football All-America Teams.

Williams was drafted by the Dallas Texans in the eighth round (86th overall pick) of the 1952 NFL Draft and played for the Texans as an end and defensive back during the 1952 NFL season. In 12 NFL games, he caught nine passes for 123 yards and intercepted five additional passes for 84 yards. He also recovered five fumbles for 42 yards and a touchdown. Williams later moved north to play for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. Williams played five seasons in Regina tallying 124 receptions for 2.055 yards and 11 touchdowns, as well as making 15 interceptions. He was added to Saskatchewan's Plaza of Honor in 1966.

Williams was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.