A combative wing-half/inside forward
John Robert Bruce Crawford 1938-2022
Bruce Crawford was born in Preston on 10 October 1938. He was the son of ex-Blackpool wing half Bobby Crawford, who played 58 games for the Seasiders in the early 1930s. It followed that he would take to football, which he did for junior teams as an inside forward and wing half.
He was a police cadet at Hutton, three miles south west of Preston, when he was offered a job on the Blackpool ground staff prior to the 1955/56 season. He played in the junior teams before making his Central League debut as a 17-year-old against Manchester City reserves on 11 February 1956 when Blackpool won 1-0. Unfortunately he suffered a leg injury near the end of the game and this turned out to be his one Central League game in the 1955/56 season.
Blackpool were pleased with his progress and he left the police force and decided on football as a career. Blackpool duly signed him as a professional on 2 May 1956. His weekly terms for the 1956/57 season were £7, summer, £8, winter, plus an extra £9 if and when he played in the first team and an extra £2 when he played in the reserve side.
He was a regular scorer for the Blackpool Youth team and he also scored a hat-trick for the ‘A’ team in a 4-3 win over Preston North End ‘A’ on 6 October 1956. He made his first Central League appearance of the 1956/57 season against Manchester United reserves on 13 October 1956 when Blackpool won 1-0. And he was in the Blackpool Youth team that defeated Leeds United 3-2 on 3 November 1956 and he ‘worried the [Leeds] team regularly’, scored one of the goals and he and left half Sammy Salt ‘gave performances which should improve their chances of promotion with the club’.
In addition to Youth team matches and junior games, he played two Central League games for the club in the 1956/57 season, scoring one goal in his second game, a 2-2 draw with Bury reserves on 6 April 1957.
His weekly terms for the 1957/58 season were originally set at £6, summer, £7 winter plus £1 extra if and when he played in the first team. But in June 1957 these were amended to £7, summer, £8, winter, plus £1 extra if and when in the first team and £2 extra when in the reserves. The revised terms were accepted.
His time at Blackpool was interrupted when he commenced his National Service on 1 October 1957 and his appearances were consequently restricted to when he was available from the armed forces. He did, however, start the season at inside right in the Central League side in a 2-2 draw with Leeds United reserves on 24 August 1957 and he moved to centre forward for the second game, a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United reserves on 26 August.
He was in town for two games at centre forward for the resrve side, a 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa reserves on 14 September and then a horrific 8-1 defeat by the Busby Babes reserve side on 16 September when Alex Dawson scored five, Bobby Charlton, Albert Scanlon and John Doherty scoring the other three.
Then, he was available for the back half of the season, returning on 4 January 1958 at centre forward against Everton reserves, who won 2-0. He had an extended run at centre forward and he scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 victory over Barnsley reserves on 15 February. He went on to play 20 Central League games, scoring 11 goals, in the 1957/58 season.
He was still on National Service when the 1958/59 season commenced and as a consequence his weekly wage was revised to the statutory £1 per week plus an extra £2 if and when he appeared in the first team. But due to his forces commitment he was unable to play for the club during the 1958/59 season. Nevertheless his weekly terms for the 1959/60 season were set at £12, summer and winter, plus £8 extra if and when he played in the first team and £2 extra when he played in the reserves.
He started the 1959/60 season at centre forward in the Central League side and he scored two goals in the first three games, the winner in a 1-0 victory over Huddersfield Town reserves on 24 August and one in a 5-4 defeat by Chesterfield reserves on 29 August. He alternated between inside right, centre forward and inside left before playing a couple of games in the half-back line.
After a run of five success Central League games in which he scored, he made his League debut at inside left in place of Dave Durie on 6 February 1960 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. The game was drawn 1-1 and he made a favourable impression and the after-match verdict was fulsome, ‘A future in League football awaits Bruce Crawford, too, if his debut was anything to go by. He had a particularly good first half, fitting into the scheme of things well and releasing some glorious cross-field passes.’ Another critic stated, ‘Nobody grafted harder than Crawford.’
He retained his place for three games but was then left out of the side and replaced by Johnny Green after a disastrous 6-0 defeat by Manchester United on 27 February 1960. They were his three League games for the 1959/60 season when he was the leading goalscorer for the Central League side with 20 goals in 35 games.
He went on Blackpool’s 1960 close season tour to Ghana, Rhodesia and Nyasaland when the Seasiders won seven and lost one of their eight games when the management ‘were encouraged by the play of the younger players’.
His success was reflected in his weekly terms for the 1960/61 season as they were £13, summer, £14, winter, plus £6 extra when appearing in the first team and £2 extra when appearing in the reserves.
Despite that success, he was at centre forward in the Central League side as the 1960/61 season began and he had scored six goals in eight games when he got the call to the League side against Everton on 14 September. Blackpool lost 1-0 and he immediately returned to the Central League side.
It was something of a surprise when his name came up in a proposed transfer deal in November 1960. Blackpool were interested in York City’s Colin Addison but York’s demand of £11,500 or £10,000 plus Bruce Crawford was deemed too high. Blackpool thought that a fee of £5,000 plus Crawford was sufficient so no deal took place.
He appeared at right half for the reserves until a move back to centre forward against Barnsley reserves, when he scored three goals in Blackpool’s 7-3 victory on 17 December 1960. And he earned a recall to the League side against West Ham United on 4 February 1960 when he scored one of the goals in a 3-0 victory and he scored again in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea in the following game. But one further game, a 1-0 defeat by Preston North End, saw him return to the reserve side.
On 18 January 1961 the maximum wage was abolished in English football and clubs began to look more closely at the size of their squads. As a consequence, he was placed on the transfer list on 10 March 1961 following the announcement of a new deal for players and he made a tentative decision to rejoin the police force. But he once more earned a recall to the League side for the final four games of the season, when he appeared at inside right. Again he scored in two successive games, a 1-1 draw with Manchester City and a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City to help the club avoid relegation.
It became known that Frank Hill, the former Blackpool captain and then the Notts County manager, had him watched against Birmingham City on 22 April with a view to signing him. Blackpool, therefore, took him off the transfer list and offered him revised terms of £20, all year round, plus £10 extra when in the first team for the 1961/62 season. He duly accepted and remained a Blackpool player.
In the 1960/61 season he had scored four goals in eight League games and was the Central League side’s leading goalscorer, scoring 22 goals in 29 games.
His conversion to a half back began in the first Central League game of the 1961/62 season when Barnsley reserves were defeated 5-0 on 19 August. But back at inside forward against Wolverhampton Wanderers reserves on 9 September he scored a hat-trick, including two penalties, as Blackpool won 3-2.
Then, having played for the reserves in a 1-0 defeat by Liverpool reserves on Saturday 16 September, he was drafted into the League side at inside right on Monday 18 September at Upton Park in a game against West Ham United that ended 2-2. He kept his place for the following game, a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa. But it was then back to reserve team football for a further few games.
And then, he was in demand again by other clubs when Blackpool were interested in signing Halifax Town’s centre forward Frank Large in October 1961. But Halifax wanted £10,000 plus Crawford and Blackpool’s interest immediately waned as they were not prepared to let him go. Not only that he was reintroduced into the League side at half back against Bolton Wanderers on 14 October when two South Africans, Des Horne and Brian Peterson, scored the goals that gave Blackpool a 2-1 victory. He kept his place for the remainder of the season.
Now a first team regular at right half, in November 1961 he commented, ‘You never know your luck in this game. I suppose every profession has its ups and downs but in football it’s like being on the Big Dipper!’ Having been converted to a half back he added philosophically, ‘I got a second chance which I appreciated, and I did my best to take it. Apparently the club seemed to think so, for in the last week or two they voluntarily increased my wages and that I appreciated too!’
He made great strides in the half-back line, so much so that he was a reserve for the England Under-23 side against Holland in December 1961.
Then when Blackpool played Tottenham Hotspur on 16 December 1961 the newspapers billed the clash as a ‘duel between a player who cost a £10 signing-on fee in 1956 and the highest priced player in the game’ as Crawford was up against the mercurial, goal-scoring Jimmy Greaves. Unfortunately for Blackpool, Greaves came out on top as his first goal, of three, was ‘an acrobatic continental-style mid-air kick that fairly rocketed into the net [and] was in the £100,000 class’ and the after-match comment was ‘Crawford must have thought he was chasing shadows trying to keep control of the elusive Greaves.’ Needless to say, Tottenham won the game 5-2.
He finally won an England Under-23 international cap against Scotland at Aberdeen on 28 February 1962 when he set up Jimmy Greaves for England’s first goal as England won 4-2. Blackpool manager Ronnie Suart went to watch the game and rated Crawford as the best wing half in the game over the whole 90 minutes. Interestingly he said, ‘Moore, West Ham United, had a very good first half but went out of it in the second half, whereas Crawford was strong and consistent all through.’ Inexplicably it was to be his only cap.
He played 32 League games, scoring two goals, seven League Cup ties, two FA Cup ties and 10 Central League games, scoring six goals, in the 1961/62 season. Incidentally one of those two League goals earned me 10 shillings (50p). We used to have a sweep on the Kop for the first goal scorer and against Wolves on 20 January 1962 I drew Bruce, who by then was at right half. I thought I had might have wasted my shilling but he scored the first goal in Blackpool’s 7-2 victory.
He secured a two-year deal through to the end of the 1963/64 season and his weekly terms were £25, summer and winter, plus £5 extra when appearing in the first team.
He missed only two games through a minor injury in the 1962/63 season, playing 40 League games, scoring four goals, three League Cup ties and one FA Cup tie.
When he was approaching his 100th League game for the first team he sustained a knee injury that kept him out of the side from 9 November 1963.
He did play two more League games in December 1963 and then he unluckily found himself third choice for the right half position as the spot was shared by John McPhee and Neil Turner. He was therefore put on the transfer list in February 1964 as Blackpool felt that he had not fulfilled a lot of the dazzling promise, which won him his England Under-23 cap. The club felt that it would be in the player’s best interests to move on but there were no immediate inquiries for him. When asked he posed the rhetorical question, ‘I’m third choice here at the moment, so I haven’t much future at Bloomfield Road, have I?’
There was plenty of interest in him and there were tentative inquiries received from Swansea Town, Brentford and Bolton Wanderers in mid-March 1964 but no deal was struck.
Bolton did agree a deal for him towards the end of March 1964 but it was dependent on them transferring Freddie Hill to Liverpool to give them the necessary cash. The latter deal fell through right at the last minute because of Hill’s high blood pressure and the Bolton/Blackpool deal for Crawford was cancelled as a consequence. Meanwhile he continued to serve Blackpool, playing 10 consecutive League games in September through to November 1963 and he finished the season with 13 League games, scoring one goal, two League Cup ties and 23 Central League games, scoring four goals.
His weekly terms for the 1964/65 and 1965/66 seasons were revised to £20, winter and summer, plus an extra £10 when appearing in the first team.
By then he was a reserve team regular but he returned to the League side at right half on 19 December 1964 in 4-1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday. It was his first game in the First Division since the previous April and was to be his last for Blackpool. He played one League game and 32 Central League games in the 1964/65 season.
He was placed on the transfer list in May 1965 for a modest fee. He was anxious to play first team football and Peterborough United watched him in the reserves at the start of the 1965/66 season. But no offer was made.
He had played four Central League games up to the time of his transfer in the 1965/66 season, his final game for Blackpool being a 4-0 defeat by Burnley reserves on 31 August 1965. He had played 98 League games, scoring 11 goals, three FA Cup ties and 12 League Cup ties for Blackpool. In the Central League he played 156 games and scored 64 goals. He had been an excellent, talented, hard-working and loyal servant for the club.
He was transferred to Tranmere Rovers for a fee of £3,500 on 2 September 1965. ‘The transfer was one of the quickest I can remember’, said Ronnie Suart as Crawford made his way to play inside right for his new club at Crewe. Tranmere manager Dave Russell had telephoned with his offer on the Friday afternoon and Suart said, ‘Terms were agreed within half an hour and Mr Russell was given permission to approach Crawford.’ The Tranmere manager said, ‘I have admired Crawford for a long time, ever since my Bury days. I’m playing him in the forward line because of injury problems, which involve a bit of a switch around. But he’ll be used as a wing half too.’ The fee was to be paid in two parts, £2,000 on 11 September 1965 and the balance of £1,500 on 7 January 1966.
He went on to play 24 League games and make two substitute appearances for Tranmere Rovers, scoring five goals. After his League career was over he a short spell with Fleetwood after being signed by manager Jimmy Kelly, his former Blackpool team-mate, playing 18 games and scoring three goals before leaving in January 1968.
In life after football he was a paint sprayer at a local garage.
He died in hospital on 20 June 2022.
Bruce Crawford was born in Preston on 10 October 1938. He was the son of ex-Blackpool wing half Bobby Crawford, who played 58 games for the Seasiders in the early 1930s. It followed that he would take to football, which he did for junior teams as an inside forward and wing half.
He was a police cadet at Hutton, three miles south west of Preston, when he was offered a job on the Blackpool ground staff prior to the 1955/56 season. He played in the junior teams before making his Central League debut as a 17-year-old against Manchester City reserves on 11 February 1956 when Blackpool won 1-0. Unfortunately he suffered a leg injury near the end of the game and this turned out to be his one Central League game in the 1955/56 season.
Blackpool were pleased with his progress and he left the police force and decided on football as a career. Blackpool duly signed him as a professional on 2 May 1956. His weekly terms for the 1956/57 season were £7, summer, £8, winter, plus an extra £9 if and when he played in the first team and an extra £2 when he played in the reserve side.
He was a regular scorer for the Blackpool Youth team and he also scored a hat-trick for the ‘A’ team in a 4-3 win over Preston North End ‘A’ on 6 October 1956. He made his first Central League appearance of the 1956/57 season against Manchester United reserves on 13 October 1956 when Blackpool won 1-0. And he was in the Blackpool Youth team that defeated Leeds United 3-2 on 3 November 1956 and he ‘worried the [Leeds] team regularly’, scored one of the goals and he and left half Sammy Salt ‘gave performances which should improve their chances of promotion with the club’.
In addition to Youth team matches and junior games, he played two Central League games for the club in the 1956/57 season, scoring one goal in his second game, a 2-2 draw with Bury reserves on 6 April 1957.
His weekly terms for the 1957/58 season were originally set at £6, summer, £7 winter plus £1 extra if and when he played in the first team. But in June 1957 these were amended to £7, summer, £8, winter, plus £1 extra if and when in the first team and £2 extra when in the reserves. The revised terms were accepted.
His time at Blackpool was interrupted when he commenced his National Service on 1 October 1957 and his appearances were consequently restricted to when he was available from the armed forces. He did, however, start the season at inside right in the Central League side in a 2-2 draw with Leeds United reserves on 24 August 1957 and he moved to centre forward for the second game, a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United reserves on 26 August.
He was in town for two games at centre forward for the resrve side, a 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa reserves on 14 September and then a horrific 8-1 defeat by the Busby Babes reserve side on 16 September when Alex Dawson scored five, Bobby Charlton, Albert Scanlon and John Doherty scoring the other three.
Then, he was available for the back half of the season, returning on 4 January 1958 at centre forward against Everton reserves, who won 2-0. He had an extended run at centre forward and he scored a hat-trick in a 6-0 victory over Barnsley reserves on 15 February. He went on to play 20 Central League games, scoring 11 goals, in the 1957/58 season.
He was still on National Service when the 1958/59 season commenced and as a consequence his weekly wage was revised to the statutory £1 per week plus an extra £2 if and when he appeared in the first team. But due to his forces commitment he was unable to play for the club during the 1958/59 season. Nevertheless his weekly terms for the 1959/60 season were set at £12, summer and winter, plus £8 extra if and when he played in the first team and £2 extra when he played in the reserves.
He started the 1959/60 season at centre forward in the Central League side and he scored two goals in the first three games, the winner in a 1-0 victory over Huddersfield Town reserves on 24 August and one in a 5-4 defeat by Chesterfield reserves on 29 August. He alternated between inside right, centre forward and inside left before playing a couple of games in the half-back line.
After a run of five success Central League games in which he scored, he made his League debut at inside left in place of Dave Durie on 6 February 1960 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. The game was drawn 1-1 and he made a favourable impression and the after-match verdict was fulsome, ‘A future in League football awaits Bruce Crawford, too, if his debut was anything to go by. He had a particularly good first half, fitting into the scheme of things well and releasing some glorious cross-field passes.’ Another critic stated, ‘Nobody grafted harder than Crawford.’
He retained his place for three games but was then left out of the side and replaced by Johnny Green after a disastrous 6-0 defeat by Manchester United on 27 February 1960. They were his three League games for the 1959/60 season when he was the leading goalscorer for the Central League side with 20 goals in 35 games.
He went on Blackpool’s 1960 close season tour to Ghana, Rhodesia and Nyasaland when the Seasiders won seven and lost one of their eight games when the management ‘were encouraged by the play of the younger players’.
His success was reflected in his weekly terms for the 1960/61 season as they were £13, summer, £14, winter, plus £6 extra when appearing in the first team and £2 extra when appearing in the reserves.
Despite that success, he was at centre forward in the Central League side as the 1960/61 season began and he had scored six goals in eight games when he got the call to the League side against Everton on 14 September. Blackpool lost 1-0 and he immediately returned to the Central League side.
It was something of a surprise when his name came up in a proposed transfer deal in November 1960. Blackpool were interested in York City’s Colin Addison but York’s demand of £11,500 or £10,000 plus Bruce Crawford was deemed too high. Blackpool thought that a fee of £5,000 plus Crawford was sufficient so no deal took place.
He appeared at right half for the reserves until a move back to centre forward against Barnsley reserves, when he scored three goals in Blackpool’s 7-3 victory on 17 December 1960. And he earned a recall to the League side against West Ham United on 4 February 1960 when he scored one of the goals in a 3-0 victory and he scored again in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea in the following game. But one further game, a 1-0 defeat by Preston North End, saw him return to the reserve side.
On 18 January 1961 the maximum wage was abolished in English football and clubs began to look more closely at the size of their squads. As a consequence, he was placed on the transfer list on 10 March 1961 following the announcement of a new deal for players and he made a tentative decision to rejoin the police force. But he once more earned a recall to the League side for the final four games of the season, when he appeared at inside right. Again he scored in two successive games, a 1-1 draw with Manchester City and a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City to help the club avoid relegation.
It became known that Frank Hill, the former Blackpool captain and then the Notts County manager, had him watched against Birmingham City on 22 April with a view to signing him. Blackpool, therefore, took him off the transfer list and offered him revised terms of £20, all year round, plus £10 extra when in the first team for the 1961/62 season. He duly accepted and remained a Blackpool player.
In the 1960/61 season he had scored four goals in eight League games and was the Central League side’s leading goalscorer, scoring 22 goals in 29 games.
His conversion to a half back began in the first Central League game of the 1961/62 season when Barnsley reserves were defeated 5-0 on 19 August. But back at inside forward against Wolverhampton Wanderers reserves on 9 September he scored a hat-trick, including two penalties, as Blackpool won 3-2.
Then, having played for the reserves in a 1-0 defeat by Liverpool reserves on Saturday 16 September, he was drafted into the League side at inside right on Monday 18 September at Upton Park in a game against West Ham United that ended 2-2. He kept his place for the following game, a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa. But it was then back to reserve team football for a further few games.
And then, he was in demand again by other clubs when Blackpool were interested in signing Halifax Town’s centre forward Frank Large in October 1961. But Halifax wanted £10,000 plus Crawford and Blackpool’s interest immediately waned as they were not prepared to let him go. Not only that he was reintroduced into the League side at half back against Bolton Wanderers on 14 October when two South Africans, Des Horne and Brian Peterson, scored the goals that gave Blackpool a 2-1 victory. He kept his place for the remainder of the season.
Now a first team regular at right half, in November 1961 he commented, ‘You never know your luck in this game. I suppose every profession has its ups and downs but in football it’s like being on the Big Dipper!’ Having been converted to a half back he added philosophically, ‘I got a second chance which I appreciated, and I did my best to take it. Apparently the club seemed to think so, for in the last week or two they voluntarily increased my wages and that I appreciated too!’
He made great strides in the half-back line, so much so that he was a reserve for the England Under-23 side against Holland in December 1961.
Then when Blackpool played Tottenham Hotspur on 16 December 1961 the newspapers billed the clash as a ‘duel between a player who cost a £10 signing-on fee in 1956 and the highest priced player in the game’ as Crawford was up against the mercurial, goal-scoring Jimmy Greaves. Unfortunately for Blackpool, Greaves came out on top as his first goal, of three, was ‘an acrobatic continental-style mid-air kick that fairly rocketed into the net [and] was in the £100,000 class’ and the after-match comment was ‘Crawford must have thought he was chasing shadows trying to keep control of the elusive Greaves.’ Needless to say, Tottenham won the game 5-2.
He finally won an England Under-23 international cap against Scotland at Aberdeen on 28 February 1962 when he set up Jimmy Greaves for England’s first goal as England won 4-2. Blackpool manager Ronnie Suart went to watch the game and rated Crawford as the best wing half in the game over the whole 90 minutes. Interestingly he said, ‘Moore, West Ham United, had a very good first half but went out of it in the second half, whereas Crawford was strong and consistent all through.’ Inexplicably it was to be his only cap.
He played 32 League games, scoring two goals, seven League Cup ties, two FA Cup ties and 10 Central League games, scoring six goals, in the 1961/62 season. Incidentally one of those two League goals earned me 10 shillings (50p). We used to have a sweep on the Kop for the first goal scorer and against Wolves on 20 January 1962 I drew Bruce, who by then was at right half. I thought I had might have wasted my shilling but he scored the first goal in Blackpool’s 7-2 victory.
He secured a two-year deal through to the end of the 1963/64 season and his weekly terms were £25, summer and winter, plus £5 extra when appearing in the first team.
He missed only two games through a minor injury in the 1962/63 season, playing 40 League games, scoring four goals, three League Cup ties and one FA Cup tie.
When he was approaching his 100th League game for the first team he sustained a knee injury that kept him out of the side from 9 November 1963.
He did play two more League games in December 1963 and then he unluckily found himself third choice for the right half position as the spot was shared by John McPhee and Neil Turner. He was therefore put on the transfer list in February 1964 as Blackpool felt that he had not fulfilled a lot of the dazzling promise, which won him his England Under-23 cap. The club felt that it would be in the player’s best interests to move on but there were no immediate inquiries for him. When asked he posed the rhetorical question, ‘I’m third choice here at the moment, so I haven’t much future at Bloomfield Road, have I?’
There was plenty of interest in him and there were tentative inquiries received from Swansea Town, Brentford and Bolton Wanderers in mid-March 1964 but no deal was struck.
Bolton did agree a deal for him towards the end of March 1964 but it was dependent on them transferring Freddie Hill to Liverpool to give them the necessary cash. The latter deal fell through right at the last minute because of Hill’s high blood pressure and the Bolton/Blackpool deal for Crawford was cancelled as a consequence. Meanwhile he continued to serve Blackpool, playing 10 consecutive League games in September through to November 1963 and he finished the season with 13 League games, scoring one goal, two League Cup ties and 23 Central League games, scoring four goals.
His weekly terms for the 1964/65 and 1965/66 seasons were revised to £20, winter and summer, plus an extra £10 when appearing in the first team.
By then he was a reserve team regular but he returned to the League side at right half on 19 December 1964 in 4-1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday. It was his first game in the First Division since the previous April and was to be his last for Blackpool. He played one League game and 32 Central League games in the 1964/65 season.
He was placed on the transfer list in May 1965 for a modest fee. He was anxious to play first team football and Peterborough United watched him in the reserves at the start of the 1965/66 season. But no offer was made.
He had played four Central League games up to the time of his transfer in the 1965/66 season, his final game for Blackpool being a 4-0 defeat by Burnley reserves on 31 August 1965. He had played 98 League games, scoring 11 goals, three FA Cup ties and 12 League Cup ties for Blackpool. In the Central League he played 156 games and scored 64 goals. He had been an excellent, talented, hard-working and loyal servant for the club.
He was transferred to Tranmere Rovers for a fee of £3,500 on 2 September 1965. ‘The transfer was one of the quickest I can remember’, said Ronnie Suart as Crawford made his way to play inside right for his new club at Crewe. Tranmere manager Dave Russell had telephoned with his offer on the Friday afternoon and Suart said, ‘Terms were agreed within half an hour and Mr Russell was given permission to approach Crawford.’ The Tranmere manager said, ‘I have admired Crawford for a long time, ever since my Bury days. I’m playing him in the forward line because of injury problems, which involve a bit of a switch around. But he’ll be used as a wing half too.’ The fee was to be paid in two parts, £2,000 on 11 September 1965 and the balance of £1,500 on 7 January 1966.
He went on to play 24 League games and make two substitute appearances for Tranmere Rovers, scoring five goals. After his League career was over he a short spell with Fleetwood after being signed by manager Jimmy Kelly, his former Blackpool team-mate, playing 18 games and scoring three goals before leaving in January 1968.
In life after football he was a paint sprayer at a local garage.
He died in hospital on 20 June 2022.
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