Joseph Crozier (2 December 1914 – 27 July 1985) was a Scottish professional

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 ...

who made 200 appearances in the Football League for Brentford as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Crozier has been described as Brentford's best-ever goalkeeper and he is a member of the club's Hall of Fame. He represented

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in wartime international matches.

Playing career

Crozier began his career at

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

team

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...

and moved to Scottish League Second Division club East Fife in 1934. He made 100 appearances for the club and earned a £1,000 move to English First Division club Brentford in May 1937. Either side of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Crozier made 224 appearances for the Bees. As a testament to his longevity, Crozier made 114 of his 200 league appearances consecutively and as of August 2023, his 25 top-flight

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

is the club record. During the war, Crozier played as a guest at Hibernian and Airdrieonians. He departed Brentford in 1949 and ended his career with spells at

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

clubs

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

, Kidderminster Harriers and Ashford Town.

International career

Crozier won three unofficial caps for

in three wartime internationals versus

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1943 and 1944. He conceded 16 goals in three defeats. The final match at Hampden Park in April 1944 was witnessed by a wartime record 133,000 crowd.

Personal life

Crozier served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during the

. After retiring from football, he became

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Cory Lighterage and a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

Career statistics

Honours

* Brentford Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crozier, Joe 1914 births Footballers from Coatbridge Scottish men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players East Fife F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) wartime guest players Hibernian F.C. wartime guest players Chelmsford City F.C. players Southern Football League players Men's association football goalkeepers Scottish Football League players Scotland men's wartime international footballers 1985 deaths Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Strathclyde F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Kent Football League (1894–1959) players