Background
Stead was born in the Portsea area of Portsmouth, but joined south coast rivals Southampton as a teenager.
Stead was born in the Portsea area of Portsmouth, but joined south coast rivals Southampton as a teenager.
He was the third choice goalkeeper, but following an injury to George Clawley and with Tom Burrows already out for several months, he was called into the first-team for a Southern League match at Brentford on 30 December 1905, which was lost 2–1. The Field Artillery Cup match against Portsmouth on 13 January 1906 was the first Field Artillery Cup meeting between the two fierce rivals. Because of the large crowd expected, the local registrars in both towns postponed voting in the 1906 general election until the following week.
The match at The Dell was attended by a capacity crowd of 14,000 and the Portsmouth fans, together with their players, did their best to unsettle the inexperienced "keeper.
Stead, however, showed few signs of nerves and produced a "phlegmatic performance", restricting Portsmouth to a single goal from Dan Cunliffe, while the Saints scored five and eventually progressed to the last eight, where they lost 3–0 at Liverpool. Following the return of Clawley to full fitness, Stead realised that he was unlikely to obtain regular first-team football with the Saints, so he moved to Salisbury City, then playing in the Second Division of the Southern League.
Despite brief spells with Aberdeen and Clapton Orient, Stead remained with the Salisbury club until 1920. In 1920, Stead became a seaman on board the Cunard liner Mauretania.
He later joined the Union-Castle Lincolnshire, sailing on the Durban Castle.