Stan Humphreys

Stan Humphreys joined the Bolton Lads Club at the age of 15, receiving training under 1908 Olympic gymnast Edmund Aspinall. He soon won the Bolton Lads Junior championship and then the Senior championship at the age of 18. In 1921, he was chosen as a member of the Bolton Lads team that competed for and eventually won the Stockton Shield. Humphreys entered his first English Individual Championship in 1923, finishing 6th and winning a spot on the Great Britain gymnastics delegation to the 1924 Paris Olympics. Chosen again for the Olympic team in 1928, he sustained an early injury and was unable to take part in all events.

Most of Humphreys’ career, however, was to be overshadowed by Arthur Whitford’s domination men’s gymnastics in Britain, winning the national championship every year from 1928 to 1936. Although Humphreys won many Northern Counties titles, he had to be content with finishing runner-up to Whitford in the nationals in five consecutive years, 1930-34. Humphreys, however, had the consolation of being a member of the Bolton Lads team that won the national team title in 1933-34 and 1936. He also served as secretary of the Manchester & District Amateur Gymnastics Association in 1936. Humphreys later married, had a daughter, then moved to Isle of Man where he remained until his death in 1984.