stan, the son of centre-half and goalkeeper harry earle, played for west ham schools as a youth. he featured for england schoolboys in 1912, and captained essex. he gained england amateur caps against ireland in 1922–23, and against ireland and france in 1923–24. earle featured for the fa xi against the army in both seasons, and also represented the isthmian league. he represented the amateurs in the 1923 charity shield.