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The younger brother of Rovers goalkeeper George Stiles, 15 years his junior. He was described in the Bromsgrove Messenger as being "on the big side"
Made his debut for the Rovers in the forward line, age 15, against Oldbury Town in the Birmingham & District Junior League in March 1902. He was brought into the team as an emergency substitute when the team were without a full team at the start of the match. It was not an auspicious start as he was described by "The Spectator", in his Bromsgrove Messenger column, as being "useless at outside right"
He continued to play in the reserve team (and also for the Bromsgrove Early Closers on a Thursday), but he did make the odd first team appearance, where he quite often scored.
In February 1905 whilst playing for the Reserves he was selected for a Bromsgrove League Representative team to play Aston Villa Reserves at Well Lane.
In December 1905 he was selected for a Birmingham Junior League representative side to play Aston Villa Reserves and also played in a trial for match for West Bromwich Albion against West Bromwich Athletic, and he was also approached by Worcester City to play for them - in fact he was eventually transferred to Worcester City in February 1906, although he must have had a change of heart as he continued to turn out for the Rovers.
He was top joint top goal scorer in the 1906/07 season, with 17 goals.
On Boxing Day 1908 he scored twice against Wednesbury Old Athletic in the Birmingham Combination. His 46th and 47th Rovers goals, making him the all time leading goal scorer for the Rovers. Passing the record previously held by Leonard Stallard. A month later he became the first man to reach the 50 goal barrier for the Rovers. He was again top scorer for the season with 14 goals from 23 games.
In the 1910/11 season his appearances became more sporadic and he was often playing in the reserves.
He was back in favour during the 1911/12 campaign, taking over the captaincy from long time captain H. Skinner. But his season came to a premature end following an injury sustained in a game against Redditch Town in December, and sadly it seemed that that was his career over.
However, he did make a comeback after a couple of years out of the game, returning to the ranks of the reserves in November 1913, and in his first game back scored 5 goals, in a Bromsgrove League match against Stoke Swifts. He also briefly returned to first team action playing in the last 2 games before football was suspended as a consequence of the First World War at the end of the 1914/15 season.
Stats:
1901/02: 1 appearance, 0 goals
1903/04: 2 appearances, 2 goals
1904/05: 2 appearances, 1 goal
1905/06: 21 appearances, 8 goals
1906/07: 22 appearances, 17 goals
1907/08: 27 appearances, 8 goals
1908/09: 23 appearances, 14 goals
1909/10: 23 appearances, 12 goals
1910/11: 15 appearances, 2 goals
1911/12: 15 appearances, 1 goal
1914/15: 2 appearances, 0 goals
Total: 153 appearances, 65 goals
Four goals in a game:
Vs Bournville Athletic, Birmingham Combination, 13 November 1909.
Hat-tricks:
Vs Redditch Town, Birmingham Junior Charity Shield, first round, 17 November 1906.
Vs Bournbrook, Birmingham Junior Cup, Third Round, 5 December 1908
Vs Stirchley United, Birmingham Combination, 4 December 1909.
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