6'0"  12st.7lb.
b. Clitheroe 15 February 1895
d. Clitheroe 4 December 1965
 

Debut  25 February 1914 (19 y 10d) Final Game 20 September 1919 (24y 217d)
CAREER: Stonyhurst College;Clitheroe Amateurs;Blackburn Rovers Apr'13 (am) Mar'14 (pro);Rochdale Jun'20 (free)[58-2];Accrington Stanley Feb'24-May'25[8].
 

FL        12 apps
Penalty record  F 1 Sv 1
Minutes per goal  83  Clean sheet %  42
First conceded 111m
Most goals  one game   3
 

A clerk in one of the cotton mills owned by the Rovers' chairman, Crabtree joined the Rovers at an opportune time. He was quickly selected for the England amateur international team and then deputised  for the final games in which the Rovers clinched the championship in 1914. One of the first footballers to volunteer for the Great War he enlisted with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and won the Military Cross in 1917 following an engagement at St Julian where his unit came under heavy fire. Injuries and the arrival of Ronnie Sewell lost him the chance to gain a regular place after the war but he made many appearances for Rochdale. In one game the club had no inside left, so Crabtree volunteered to play and scored twice. A fine league cricketer he also became a Lancashire Combination referee, until ill health caused him to retire in 1937. His father was a brewer, originally from Burnley. His first direct contact with the Rovers came in August 1909, when at the age of 14 he scored an undefeated half century against the Rovers' cricket team.