Early days Cribb was born in
Gosport, Hampshire and attended Grove Road School. He won County representative honours at sixteen before joining
Gosport Athletic, helping them to win the
Hampshire League in 1924. This brought Cribb to the notice of
Southampton, who he joined in September 1924.
Southampton Cribb made his debut for Southampton on 24 January 1925, in a
Second Division match against
Crystal Palace, replacing
Jimmy Carr on the left-wing. Carr returned after four matches, although Cribb made a further two appearances in April. Although he established a reputation as a quick outside-left, his first-team appearances were rather occasional, making only 28 appearances in his first four seasons at
The Dell with firstly Jimmy Carr and then
Billy Murphy being preferred on the left. In early March 1928, Cribb finally took over the No. 11 shirt from Murphy, retaining his place for the remainder of the season. On 24 March 1928 (
Easter Monday), the "Saints" played
West Bromwich Albion at The Dell. Albion's goalkeeper,
George Ashmore was injured and was replaced in goal by a defender and was switched to the wing. In the second half, with the scores level at 2–2, Ashmore was back helping out in defence. Forgetting that he was now an outfield player, Ashmore caught the ball in the penalty area – Cribb duly scored from the penalty spot to give Saints the victory.
Later career In the summer of 1930,
First Division club
West Ham United paid £500 for Cribb's services as cover for
Jimmy Ruffell, but he never made the first-team before moving across London to join
Queens Park Rangers the following summer. He scored 13 goals in 28 appearances for Rangers, before a further move to
Cardiff City in July 1932. After 11 goals from 29 appearances for the
Ninian Park club, he retired in the summer of 1933. ==Coaching career==