Born: 31 October 1906

Born in: Filey, Yorkshire

Died: 13 December 1977

Other clubs: Filey Town (1922-23), Scarborough Penguins, Scarborough Town, Filey Town (2 / 1929-31), Halifax Town (1931-32), Clapton Orient (1933-39); Watford, Brighton & Hove Albion (wartime guest)

Signed from: Halifax Town

Joined Liverpool: £1,200, 25.05.1932

Debut: 27 Aug 1932

Final appearance: 29 Apr 1933

Debut goal: 27 Aug 1932

Last goal: 03 Sep 1932

Contract until: 12.07.1933

League: Apps / Goals: 8 / 4

All Competitions: Apps / Goals: 8 / 4

Player Profile

Crawford made his name in his hometown Filey in North Yorkshire where he set a local league record by scoring 141 goals in 73 matches! Crawford was picked up by Liverpool after scoring 20 goals in 29 matches in Third Division North with Halifax Town, his first professional club, where former Liverpool favourite, Alex Raisbeck, was in charge. Crawford made an impressive start to the 1932/33 league campaign with Liverpool, scoring four goals in his first three matches but drawing a blank in the following four. Despite his promising goalscoring start Crawford's eighth appearance against WBA at Anfield on 29 April 1933 proved to be his last in a Liverpool shirt. Crawford played 211 games for Clapton Orient (changed name to Leyton Orient in 1946) in Third Division South and the FA Cup, scoring 73 goals. After World War II, he embarked on a managerial career that took him to Degerfors in Sweden, Bologna and Livorno in Italy, AEK Athens in Greece and Barnet in London.

Renowned football writer, Brian Glanville, remembered his good friend in the Times in 2003: "A Yorkshireman from Filey, when it was a fishing village rather than a holiday camp, Crawford was the quintessence of the prewar pro: lean, tough, resilient and undemanding, with a talent for coaching that would emerge after he had retired from playing. Characteristically, he discovered that he had played his last six years as a forward for Clapton Orient with an undiagnosed broken ankle."