William Ernest Crawford (17 November 1891 – 12 January 1959) was an

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

rugby union international during the 1920s. He was also a noted soccer player and was included in the

squad for the 1924 Olympic Football Tournament.

Club career

While living in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Crawford played rugby union for

Malone Malone () is an Irish surname. From the Irish "''Mael Eóin''", the name means a servant or a disciple of Saint John. People * Gilla Críst Ua Máel Eóin (died 1127), historian and Abbot of Clonmacnoise, Ó Maoil Eoin * Adrian Malone (1937 ...

and soccer for

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

. After moving to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, he maintained his interest in both codes. He was club captain at Lansdowne for the 1921–22 and 1922–23 seasons, taking over from Noel Purcell. At the same time he also played soccer for

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

. Due to his rugby union commitments and the presence of fellow full backs, Jack McCarthy and Bertie Kerr, Crawford was never a first choice in the Bohemians senior team, but he did play regularly for their second team in the Leinster Senior League. During the 1926–27 and 1927–28 seasons Crawford would also assist

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play t ...

on a number of occasions, especially when they visited Dublin.

International career

Rugby union

Between

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

and

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

, Crawford made 30 appearances for

. He made his debut on 14 February 1920 against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium (, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium on ...

. The majority of his appearances were in the

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament contes ...

but in

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

he also played against a touring

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. During his international rugby career he scored six conversions and two penalties. He also captained Ireland on fifteen occasions between

and 1927. One of the highlights of his career came on 13 February

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

when he captained Ireland to a 19–15 win over England – their first win over England for fifteen years. He played his final game for Ireland against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

on 12 March 1927. His Ireland teammates included William Roche and Noel Purcell.

Soccer

In 1924, after playing in a trial game, Crawford was one of six

players selected in a squad to represent

at the 1924 Olympic Football Tournament. The other five were Jack McCarthy, Bertie Kerr, Johnny Murray,

Christy Robinson Christopher "Christy" Robinson (1902 – 21 February 1954) was an Irish soccer player during the 1920s and 1930s. Robinson was a skilful inside forward during this era in the League of Ireland and was part of the All-Conquering Bohemians team of ...

and John Thomas. However, when the final squad was reduced to sixteen, Crawford found himself dropped. He accompanied the team to the tournament as a spectator but did not participate as a player. He later also played for UCD.

Later years

Crawford later served as a selector for the

team that won the Grand Slam in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, and was president of the

Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) () is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where a ...

for the 1957–58 season. He also served as president of Skerries Rugby Club. In 1932 he stood as an Independent candidate in the Irish general election and received 3,194 first preference votes but failed to be elected in the Dublin County constituency.https://www.electionsireland.org/result.cfm?election=1932&cons=88

References

External links

Newulsterbiography.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Ernie Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ireland national rugby union team captains Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic association footballers for Ireland Lansdowne Football Club players League of Ireland players Bohemian F.C. players Cliftonville F.C. players Athlone Town A.F.C. players Malone RFC players 1891 births 1959 deaths Barbarian F.C. players Leinster Senior League (association football) players Men's association football defenders Rugby union players from Belfast Rugby union fullbacks Ulster Rugby players