Stanley Crowther (3 September 1935 – 28 May 2014) was an English

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 in

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 ...

for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

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 ...

and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

during the 1950s and early 1960s. He won three

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for the England under-23 team, though he was never selected at senior level.

Life and career

Crowther was born in

Bilston Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. A

wing half 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 ...

, he signed for

from

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 de ...

club Bilston Town for a fee of £750 in 1955. He was part of the Villa team that beat

2–1 to win the 1957 FA Cup Final. Less than a year later, in February 1958, Crowther was hastily signed by United for £18,000 in the wake of the Munich air disaster. The transfer was completed around an hour before their match against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

in the FA Cup was due to kick off. Having already played for Villa in the competition that year, Crowther would normally have been

cup-tied In association football, a player who has appeared for a football club during a knockout cup but subsequently transfers to another club is ineligible to play for the new club in the remainder of that season's cup competition. Such a player is said ...

, but United's squad had been ravaged by Munich and were therefore given special dispensation by

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

to field him. United won the match 3–0, and Crowther and United went on to reach a second consecutive final, though they lost 2–0 to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. His time at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

was short-lived, however, and in December that year he joined

for £10,000; coincidentally, his debut for the Pensioners was against United. Crowther stayed with the west London side for two seasons, making 58 appearances in all competitions, before having brief spells with

, where his contract was terminated apparently because of the player's refusal to appear for the club's third team, and non-league sides

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

and Rugby Town. Crowther announced his retirement at the age of 27, citing his disillusionment with the game. He died on 28 May 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowther, Stan 1935 births 2014 deaths People from Bilston Footballers from Staffordshire English footballers England under-23 international footballers Association football midfielders Aston Villa F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Rugby Town F.C. (1945) players Hednesford Town F.C. players English Football League players Bilston Town F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players FA Cup Final players