Sam Hanna Bell Samuel Beckett John Hewitt Bernard (Barney) Hughes James Joseph Magennis VC Frances Elizabeth Clarke Stewart Parker William Carleton Rosamond Praegar

William Ernst Crawford (1891 - 1959):
Rugby player


Ernie Crawford was born in Belfast and was a rugby international full-back. He played for Malone, Lansdowne, Cardiff and the Barbarians. In 1920 he won the first of his thirty caps and he was captain of the side on fifteen occasions. He was an Irish selector and from 1957-1958 was President of the Irish Rugby Football Union. He was also a soccer player and played for Bohemians, the Dublin club, and Cliftonville in Belfast.
 
The authority on Irish rugby, Edmund van Esbeck, wrote of Crawford's debut for Ireland in the 1919-1920 season that his performance "was characterised by a splendid display in the art and craft of full-back play".


Born: 1891
Died: 1959
Kate Newmann
Bibliography:
Edmund van Esbeck: "The Story of Irish Rugby", Stanley Paul, 1986