Gavin Crawford (24 January 1869 – 2 March 1955) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a winger or

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Crawford had spells at clubs Woolwich Arsenal,

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

Playing career

Crawford started playing for Glasgow side Fairfield Rangers, with whom he won the

Scottish Junior Cup The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2022–23 edition, 108 teams compete ...

. Onward he moved to join in 1890

of the

Midland Counties League The Midland Football League was a semi-professional football league in England. It acted as a feeder league to the Football League for many years before merging with the Yorkshire League in 1982 to form the Northern Counties East League. Histor ...

. He stayed at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

for just over half of a season, playing in eight competitive fixtures altogether. After leaving the Blades, Crawford moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to join Woolwich Arsenal, becoming the first professional player for the side. Crawford at first played for Arsenal in the role of a right-winger only to alter his position to be a

. He at once became a regular as the club joined the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in 1893. Crawford scored on his League debut for Arsenal in a

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

match against

Walsall Town Swifts Walsall Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Walsall, West Midlands, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club's nickname, "The Saddlers", reflects ...

on 11 September 1893. He was continually present for Arsenal, becoming club captain after the death of Joe Powell in 1896. However, injury wrecked his 1897–98 season, and he lost his regular place within the side. All in all, he played 211 times for Woolwich Arsenal in pre-league, league and cup games, scoring 18 goals altogether. Crawford was one of the longest-surviving members of Arsenal's first professional side, along with

Bill Julian John William Julian (10 July 1867 – 14 March 1957) was an English football player and coach. Career Born in Boston, Lincolnshire, he first played for his local side Boston Excelsior, then Boston. He impressed in a home match for Boston Town ...

and Jack McBean. The three stalwarts were reunited at an Arsenal game against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on 20 March 1948. After leaving the Manor Ground Crawford moved on to

in 1898. He later had a stint with

where together with Adam Haywood, Alex McConnell and William White he formed a quartet of ex Gunners. After retiring from football, he became head groundsman at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

, a role that he held until 1947.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Gavin 1869 births 1955 deaths Footballers from East Ayrshire Scottish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Sheffield United F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Midland Football League players People from Galston, East Ayrshire