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Sammy Crooks

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Sammy Crooks
Personal information
Full name Samuel Dickinson Crooks
Date of birth (1908-01-16)16 January 1908
Place of birth Bearpark, County Durham, England
Date of death 3 February 1981(1981-02-03) (aged 73)
Place of death Belper, England
Position(s) Outside-right
Youth career
Bearpark Colliery
Brandon Juniors
Tow Law Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1926–1927 Durham City 16 (4)
1927–1946 Derby County 408 (105)
International career
1930–1936 England 26 (7)
Managerial career
1949–1950 Retford Town
1950–1954 Shrewsbury Town
1954–1957 Gresley Rovers
1957 Burton Albion
1958–1959 Gresley Rovers
1959–1960 Heanor Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Samuel Dickinson "Sammy" Crooks (16 January 1908 – 3 February 1981) was an English footballer who played as outside forward or outside-right for Derby County in the mid-war era. He was one of the best-known footballers of the 1920s and 1930s and was capped 26 times by England.

Early life

Crooks was born at Bearpark, County Durham, one of a family of 17 children. After leaving school, he worked in the coal-mines and played for the colliery team and then for Tow Law Town in his spare time until problems with rheumatism forced him to abandon his career underground. When his health was restored he joined Durham City in June 1926 and made 16 appearances for them in the Third Division (North).

Derby County and England

By April 1927, he had been spotted by George Jobey and was signed for Derby County for a fee of £300, making his debut for The Rams in a 2–1 win over Leicester City on 10 September 1927. Between 1927 and 1946 he played 445 games for the Rams, scoring 111 goals. During this period, County were twice runners-up in the Football League, in 1930 and 1936.

His first appearance for England was in a 5–2 victory against Scotland on 5 April 1930.[1] He then became a regular fixture in the England side, making 26 appearances and scoring 7 goals, including two in a 7–1 defeat of Spain on 9 December 1931.[2] His final England appearance came in a 6–2 victory over Hungary on 2 December 1936,[2] (playing alongside Derby County colleagues Raich Carter and Eric Keen).[3]

In 1935, Arsenal attempted to sign Crooks and Tom Cooper in exchange for Alex James, but the deal fell through as Arsenal required a cash payment as well which Derby were not prepared to meet.

Crook's playing career was interrupted by World War II, but he made a handful of league appearances in the 1946–47 season before retiring. He was unlucky to miss Derby's FA Cup win of 1946 due to a knee injury, having scored in all of the earlier rounds.

Management

In December 1949, Crooks moved into management with Retford Town.

In May 1950 he became manager of Shrewsbury Town, who had been elected to the Football League Division Three North for the 1950–51 season. He remained with the Shropshire side until 1954.[4]

In 1954 he moved to Gresley Rovers turning out occasionally as a player, making his début on Boxing Day 1954 in the Birmingham & District League at Burton Albion. There followed spells as manager with Burton Albion and Heanor Town. During this time he opened a sport clothing store in Derby.

After finishing in local team management he became Derby County's Chief Scout (until 1967) and also served for 14 years as Secretary of the Association Football Players Union.

His career has been marked by Durham City naming the upper lounge at New Ferens Park, 'The Sammy Crooks Lounge', which is home to some of the memorabilia from his playing career.

References

  1. ^ England v Scotland 1930 line-ups at englandstats.com
  2. ^ a b "Samuel Dickinson Crooks". England International Database 1872–2012. englandstats.com. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  3. ^ England v Hungary 1936 – lineups at englandstats.com
  4. ^ *Sammy Crooks management career statistics at Soccerbase
  • Mortimer, Gerald (2004): The Who's Who of Derby County. Breedon Books Publishing, Derby. ISBN 1-85983-409-4
  • Mortimer, Gerald (2006): Derby County – The Complete Record. Breedon Books Publishing, Derby. ISBN 1-85983-517-1
  • Official matchday programme: Burton Albion v Gresley Rovers 26/12/54.
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