Gavin Crawford (footballer)

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Gavin Crawford
Personal information
Full name Gavin Crawford
Date of birth 1867
Place of birth    Kilmarnock, Scotland
Date of death    March 1955
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
18??-90
1890-91
1891-98
1898-??
18??-??		 Fairfield Rangers
Sheffield United
Woolwich Arsenal
Millwall
Queens Park Rangers

122 (14)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Gavin Crawford (1867 – March 1955) was a Scottish footballer.

Born in Kilmarnock, Crawford started playing for local junior sides before joining Sheffield United (then of the Midland League) in 1890 from Glasgow side Fairfield Rangers. After a single season with the Blades, Crawford moved to London to join Woolwich Arsenal, becoming the first professional player for the side.[1] He immediately became a regular, and remained so as the club joined the Football League in 1893; Crawford scored on his League debut, in a Second Division match against Walsall Town Swifts on September 11, 1893.

Crawford started out at Arsenal as a right-winger, but later on in his career moved into midfield as a right-half. He remained a near ever-present in Arsenal's first four seasons, becoming club captain after the death of Joe Powell in 1896. However, injury wrecked his 1897-98 season, and he lost his place in the side. He moved on to Millwall in 1898 and later had a spell with Queens Park Rangers. In all, he played 138 times for Woolwich Arsenal in league and cup, scoring 18 goals, and an additional 83 games in Arsenal's pre-league days. After retiring from football, he became a groundsman and eventually became head groundsman at Charlton Athletic, until the late 1940s.

Crawford was one of the longest-surviving members of Arsenal's first professional side, along with Bill Julian and Jack McBean. The three were reunited at an Arsenal game against Chelsea on March 20, 1948 (by which time Arsenal were one of the leading sides in English football), an event recorded in the The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal.[2]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ ASSC Club History. Arsenal Scotland Supporters Club. Retrieved on August 20, 2006.
  2. ^ Soar, Phil & Tyler, Martin (2005). The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal. Hamlyn, 27. ISBN 0-600-61344-5. 

[edit] References

  • Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.) (1995). Arsenal Who's Who. Independent UK Sports. ISBN 1-899429-03-4.