Tim Stimpson
Encyclopedia
Timothy Richard George Stimpson (born 10 September 1973 in Liverpool
) is a former rugby union
international full back (and occasional wing). During his career he played for Wakefield
, West Hartlepool
, Newcastle Falcons
, Leicester Tigers
, Perpignan
, Leeds Tykes
and Nottingham, England
and the British Lions
. His international career was a start-stop affair, however he excelled at club level. In particular, during his five year spell at Leicester Tigers between 1998–2003, as a goalkicker, he was an integral part of the dominant Leicester side that won the league four times in succession to add to back-to-back Heineken Cup
, becoming the Premierships top points scorer in the process (his points total has now been overtaken by both Jonny Wilkinson
and Andy Goode
).
, Wakefield. In 1992, he went to the University of Durham, where he studied anthropology
at Grey College
, graduating in 1995.
He went on the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa
and would have played in the tests as first choice full back were it not for the better goal-kicking of Neil Jenkins
that would be crucial to the Lions' series victory.
He fell out with Newcastle's management and Rob Andrew
, during the 1997–98 season and did not make many appearances for them, signing at the end of the year for Leicester Tigers
. After the retirement of Joel Stransky
he became Leicester Tigers' principal goalkicker.
In the 2001 Heineken Cup Final
against Stade Français he converted Leon Lloyd
's last minute try from the right-hand touchline—the most difficult position to kick a conversion from for a right-footed kicker—to take the match from 32-30 to 34-30 to Leicester. This meant that to win the match, Stade would have had to score a try rather than the easier task of their fly-half Diego Dominguez
, who kicked all of Stade's points, landing a goal. There were no further scores.
A year later, in the 2002 Heineken Cup
semi-final against Llanelli
. With only a few minutes remaining, the score was 10-12 to Llanelli, Stimpson having kicked a penalty and converted Harry Ellis
' try, Stephen Jones
having kicked four penalties for the Scarlets. In windy conditions, Tigers were awarded a penalty at a scrum inside their own half, and Stimpson elected to go for goal from 60m out. The ball hit one of the posts and the crossbar, before going over to give the Tigers a 13-12 lead which they held onto to gain the victory. Tigers went on to win the final against Munster, Stimpson kicking a penalty and a conversion.
In 2003 he was rumoured to be linked to French club Perpignan
despite having time left on his contract at Leicester. Despite initial denials from Tigers' management, he did sign and moved to France after the 2003 World Cup, Tigers releasing him from his contract. However, he failed to play for Perpignan
and in 2004 returned to England to play for Leeds Tykes
. He decided to retire from playing for Leeds Tykes to pursue a career in coaching in January 2006. In the summer of 2006 his services were used by Nottingham Rugby Club, where he presently holds a part time coaching role.
Stimpson won a record five consecutive Premiership titles with Newcastle Falcons and Leicester Tigers.
The Leeds Tykes Coach, Phil Davies
, commented "he will always be remembered as one of the most successful players ever in the professional era in this country".
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
) is a former rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
international full back (and occasional wing). During his career he played for Wakefield
Wakefield RFC
Wakefield RFC was an English rugby union club, founded in 1901, and which dropped out of the English leagues in 2004 as a result of the effects of professionalism...
, West Hartlepool
West Hartlepool R.F.C.
West Hartlepool Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club who play in the National League 3 North league after gaining promotion by winning the 2010 / 2011 North 1 East league.-History:...
, Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle Falcons
The Newcastle Falcons is an English rugby union team currently playing in the Aviva Premiership. The club was established in 1877 and played under the name of Gosforth Football Club until 1990. The name was then changed to Newcastle Gosforth and the club began to play at Kingston Park stadium in...
, Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...
, Perpignan
USA Perpignan
Union Sportive des Arlequins Perpignanais or Unió eSportiva Arlequins de Perpinyà , generally abbreviated as USAP in both languages, is a French rugby union club that plays in the city of Perpignan in Pyrénées-Orientales. The club currently competes in the Top 14, the top level of the French...
, Leeds Tykes
Leeds Tykes
Leeds Carnegie is an English rugby union club, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, currently playing in the RFU Championship. In recent years, they have bounced between the Premiership and the second-level National Division One, now known as the RFU Championship; they were either promoted or relegated...
and Nottingham, England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...
and the British Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
. His international career was a start-stop affair, however he excelled at club level. In particular, during his five year spell at Leicester Tigers between 1998–2003, as a goalkicker, he was an integral part of the dominant Leicester side that won the league four times in succession to add to back-to-back Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
, becoming the Premierships top points scorer in the process (his points total has now been overtaken by both Jonny Wilkinson
Jonny Wilkinson
Jonathan Peter "Jonny" Wilkinson OBE is an English rugby union player and member of the England national team. Wilkinson rose to acclaim from 2001 to 2003, before and during the 2003 Rugby World Cup and was acknowledged as one of the world’s best rugby players...
and Andy Goode
Andy Goode
Andrew James Goode is a rugby union footballer who plays fly-half for Worcester and England.-Career:...
).
Biography
Stimpson was educated at Silcoates SchoolSilcoates School
Silcoates School is a public school in Wakefield, England. It was founded in 1820 as the Northern Congregational School at Silcoates House, for the board and education of the sons of non-conformist clergy; it was located close to Ossett and Horbury, which both had unusually large nonconformist...
, Wakefield. In 1992, he went to the University of Durham, where he studied anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
at Grey College
Grey College, Durham
Grey College is a college of the University of Durham in England. Although it was originally planned that the college was to be named Oliver Cromwell College, this proved too controversial and it was instead named after Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, who was Prime Minister at the time of the...
, graduating in 1995.
He went on the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa
1997 British Lions tour to South Africa
The 1997 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa was a series of matches played by the British and Irish Lions rugby union team in South Africa.This tour followed the Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand and preceded their 2001 tour to Australia....
and would have played in the tests as first choice full back were it not for the better goal-kicking of Neil Jenkins
Neil Jenkins
Neil Jenkins MBE is a former rugby union football player and current coach. He played fly-half, centre, or full back for Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors, Wales and the British and Irish Lions. Jenkins is Wales' highest ever points-scorer and is the third highest on the List of leading Rugby...
that would be crucial to the Lions' series victory.
He fell out with Newcastle's management and Rob Andrew
Rob Andrew
Christopher Robert "Rob" Andrew MBE , nicknamed "Squeaky", is a former English rugby union footballer and currently Director of Operations at the RFU. He was formerly the Director of Rugby of Newcastle Falcons. As a player, Andrew was assured in his kicking and defensive skills off both feet...
, during the 1997–98 season and did not make many appearances for them, signing at the end of the year for Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...
. After the retirement of Joel Stransky
Joel Stransky
Joel Theodore Stransky is a former South African rugby union rugby player, most notable for scoring all of South Africa's points, including the famous dramatic winning drop goal, against New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. He played as a fly-half.-Early life:Stransky was born in...
he became Leicester Tigers' principal goalkicker.
In the 2001 Heineken Cup Final
2001 Heineken Cup Final
The 2001 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2000–01 Heineken Cup, the sixth season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 19 May 2001 at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The match was contested by Stade Français of France and Leicester Tigers of England...
against Stade Français he converted Leon Lloyd
Leon Lloyd
Leon David Lloyd is a retired English rugby union footballer who played wing or outside centre for Leicester Tigers between 1997 and 2007, spending his final 2007/8 season at Gloucester....
's last minute try from the right-hand touchline—the most difficult position to kick a conversion from for a right-footed kicker—to take the match from 32-30 to 34-30 to Leicester. This meant that to win the match, Stade would have had to score a try rather than the easier task of their fly-half Diego Dominguez
Diego Dominguez
Diego Dominguez is a former Argentine rugby union fly-half who played for Argentina and Italy, winning 74 caps for the latter....
, who kicked all of Stade's points, landing a goal. There were no further scores.
A year later, in the 2002 Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
semi-final against Llanelli
Llanelli RFC
Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded in 1875 and its senior team is one of the leading club sides in Wales. The club began the 2008-09 season at their historic home ground of Stradey Park in Llanelli, but moved in November 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent...
. With only a few minutes remaining, the score was 10-12 to Llanelli, Stimpson having kicked a penalty and converted Harry Ellis
Harry Ellis
Harry Alistair Ellis is a retired English rugby union footballer who played scrum half for Leicester Tigers, England and the British & Irish Lions....
' try, Stephen Jones
Stephen Jones (rugby player)
Stephen Michael Jones is a Welsh international rugby union player who plays primarily at fly-half for Wales, the British and Irish Lions and Scarlets....
having kicked four penalties for the Scarlets. In windy conditions, Tigers were awarded a penalty at a scrum inside their own half, and Stimpson elected to go for goal from 60m out. The ball hit one of the posts and the crossbar, before going over to give the Tigers a 13-12 lead which they held onto to gain the victory. Tigers went on to win the final against Munster, Stimpson kicking a penalty and a conversion.
In 2003 he was rumoured to be linked to French club Perpignan
USA Perpignan
Union Sportive des Arlequins Perpignanais or Unió eSportiva Arlequins de Perpinyà , generally abbreviated as USAP in both languages, is a French rugby union club that plays in the city of Perpignan in Pyrénées-Orientales. The club currently competes in the Top 14, the top level of the French...
despite having time left on his contract at Leicester. Despite initial denials from Tigers' management, he did sign and moved to France after the 2003 World Cup, Tigers releasing him from his contract. However, he failed to play for Perpignan
USA Perpignan
Union Sportive des Arlequins Perpignanais or Unió eSportiva Arlequins de Perpinyà , generally abbreviated as USAP in both languages, is a French rugby union club that plays in the city of Perpignan in Pyrénées-Orientales. The club currently competes in the Top 14, the top level of the French...
and in 2004 returned to England to play for Leeds Tykes
Leeds Tykes
Leeds Carnegie is an English rugby union club, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, currently playing in the RFU Championship. In recent years, they have bounced between the Premiership and the second-level National Division One, now known as the RFU Championship; they were either promoted or relegated...
. He decided to retire from playing for Leeds Tykes to pursue a career in coaching in January 2006. In the summer of 2006 his services were used by Nottingham Rugby Club, where he presently holds a part time coaching role.
Stimpson won a record five consecutive Premiership titles with Newcastle Falcons and Leicester Tigers.
The Leeds Tykes Coach, Phil Davies
Phil Davies
Phil Davies is a Welsh former rugby union footballer of the 1980s and 90s.-Rugby career:Davies played his club rugby for Llanelli and enjoyed a distinguished 46 cap career for Wales between 1985 and 1995...
, commented "he will always be remembered as one of the most successful players ever in the professional era in this country".
External links
- "Bootiful" Tim Stimpson: A Profile, rugbynetwork.net
- Leeds profile, leedscarnegie.co.uk
- Leicester tigers profile, tigers.co.uk
- Statistics, statistics.scrum.com
- rugby-heroes profile, sporting-heroes.net
- BBC News - Leicester break Llanelli hearts, bbc.co.uk