Ted Croker
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2007) |
Edgar Alfred Croker CBE (13 February 1924 – 25 December 1992) was an English football player and administrator. He was Secretary of the Football Association from 1973 to 1989.
Life and career
[edit]Born in Kingston-upon-Thames in 1924, Croker joined the RAF as a pilot in 1942. He sustained injuries in a crash which hampered his later football career. In the late 1940s and 1950s he played as a defender for Charlton Athletic, Dartford, Headington United (later Oxford United)[1] and Kidderminster Harriers.
He lived in Cheltenham in the 1950s, where he founded the heavy machinery company Liner-Croker Ltd. The company, specializing in earth-moving equipment, grew successfully throughout the 1960s. He sold the company in 1973. The Football Association, anxious to improve the commercial aspects of football, appointed him secretary in 1973 to succeed the retiring Denis Follows. The position was effectively that of chief executive, overseeing the day-to-day running of the FA. In 1974,[2] he proposed the current format for the Charity Shield, with the match to be played between the champions of the top division of the Football League (now the Premier League), and FA Cup winners (or first and second in the League if one team wins both) at Wembley Stadium, as an introduction to each new football season.[3] Much of his time at the FA was dogged by problems. The Heysel Stadium Disaster and the demise of the Home International Championship both occurred during his period of leadership.
His autobiography, The First Voice You Will Hear Is..., was published on 7 September 1987.
In 1987, Croker became president of Cheltenham Town, a post that he occupied until his death.† He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1989 Birthday Honours.[4]
Towards the end of his career Croker suffered from ill-health. He retired from the Football Association in February 1989, to be succeeded by Graham Kelly, who assumed the role of chief executive, rather than secretary. Croker died at the age of 68 on Christmas Day in 1992.
His grandson, Eric Dier, is a professional footballer, currently playing as a defender for Bayern Munich. His brother, Peter Croker, was also a professional footballer, playing for Charlton Athletic in the 1947 FA Cup Final.[5]
His name is often used as a form of cockney rhyming slang for a joker.
References
[edit]- The First Voice You Will Hear Is..., by Ted Croker, Collins 1987, ISBN 0-00-218086-3
- †Cheltenham Town programme versus Worcester City, January 1993
Internet
[edit]- ^ "Statistics for Ted Croker". Rage Online. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ Main reference: CrokerFamily.co.uk website.
- ^ Charity Shield format, Croker's idea: TheFA.com website.
- ^ United Kingdom list: "No. 51772". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 1989. p. 7.
- ^ "Eric Dier to Tottenham? Spurs closing in on £4m deal for Sporting". Independent.co.uk. August 2014. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022.
External links
[edit]- "Ted Croker". Barry Hugman's Footballers.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1924 births
- 1992 deaths
- Military personnel from Surrey
- English men's footballers
- Footballers from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
- People from Kingston upon Thames
- Men's association football defenders
- Charlton Athletic F.C. players
- Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players
- Oxford United F.C. players
- Cheltenham Town F.C.
- Association football executives
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- English aviators
- Royal Air Force officers
- Royal Air Force pilots of World War II
- English Football League players
- 20th-century English sportsmen