Jimmy Crabtree

Jimmy Crabtree was born on December 23, 1871 in Burnley, England. He grew up in the Habergham Eaves neighborhood where he first joined the Royal Swifts team before finally joining the Burnley reserve team in 1889. He then made his debut with the first team, playing a few games for his first club.

He then went on to play for 2 other clubs before returning to Burnley. For his return, he was placed as a left-half in his team's midfield. A year later, in 1893, he could have lost his life. Indeed, when he was walking in the street, he came across 2 men fighting, interposing himself between the two men to put an end to the fight, he was stabbed in the chest. Immediately operated on, he came out alive.

With an impressively fast recovery, he made his return to the field and shortly after became an English international, during a match in March 1894 against Ireland, a 2-2 draw at the end of the match which took place at Cliftonville in Belfast.

Gradually, he was considered one of the best players in the world, a midfielder incredibly good at recovering the ball, notably thanks to impressive tackles and a precision in the quality of his passes out of the norm for his time.

In May 1895, Jimmy Crabtree was recruited by Aston Villa for a huge sum at the time: £200. With Crabtree in their midfield, Aston Villa would become by far the best club in England, winning 3 English Championships in 1896, 1897 and 1900 as well as an FA Cup in 1897.

During his time at Aston Villa, Crabtree continued to progress and would play 11 more matches with the English national team, bringing his total caps to 14 matches, an impressive figure for the time.

Playing both in midfield and in defence, he was a versatile and complete player, useful defensively and offensively. In the 1897 FA Cup final, he scored the third and winning goal in the match that ended 3-2 against Everton.

A star of his team, Crabtree became a living legend of his sport. And in February 1899, he would enter even more into the history of his country, being the first English player to have a penalty in an international match against Ireland. He rushed... and missed his penalty... Failing to find the target.

Alongside Howard Spencer, he would write one of the most beautiful periods in the history of his club. But in January 1904, he decided to leave Aston Villa after 9 years at the club, he then joined Plymouth Argyle. The adventure will be short-lived, the player gets injured after only 1 month at the club, a terrible injury that ends his career. He was then 33 years old.

Falling into alcoholism after the end of his career, he has several health problems and dies in 1908, at the age of 36, from his alcohol addiction problem.

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