{{Short description|English footballer (1908–1981)}} {{Use British English|date=September 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}} {{upscaled images|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Sammy Crooks | image = Sammy Crooks c1929.jpg | caption = Crooks around 1929 | full_name = Samuel Dickinson Crooks | birth_date = {{birth date|1908|01|16|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Bearpark]], County Durham, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1981|02|3|1908|01|16|df=y}} | death_place = [[Belper]], England | position = [[Outside right]] | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Bearpark Colliery | youthyears2 = | youthclubs2 = Brandon Juniors | youthyears3 = | youthclubs3 = [[Tow Law Town F.C.|Tow Law Town]] | years1 = 1926–1927 | clubs1 = [[Durham City A.F.C.|Durham City]] | caps1 = 16 | goals1 = 4 | years2 = 1927–1946 | clubs2 = [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] | caps2 = 408 | goals2 = 101 | totalcaps = 424 | totalgoals = 105 | nationalyears1 = 1930–1936 | nationalteam1 = [[England national football team|England]] | nationalcaps1 = 27 | nationalgoals1 = 7 | manageryears1 = 1949–1950 | managerclubs1 = [[Retford Town F.C.|Retford Town]] | manageryears2 = 1950–1954 | managerclubs2 = [[Shrewsbury Town F.C.|Shrewsbury Town]] | manageryears3 = 1954–1957 | managerclubs3 = [[Gresley Rovers F.C.|Gresley Rovers]] | manageryears4 = 1957 | managerclubs4 = [[Burton Albion F.C.|Burton Albion]] | manageryears5 = 1958–1959 | managerclubs5 = [[Gresley Rovers F.C.|Gresley Rovers]] | manageryears6 = 1959–1960 | managerclubs6 = [[Heanor Town F.C.|Heanor Town]] }} '''Samuel Dickinson Crooks''' (16 January 1908 – 3 February 1981) was an English [[association football|footballer]] who played as [[outside forward]] or outside right for [[Derby County F.C.|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 national football team|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 F.C.|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 F.C.|Durham City]] in June 1926 and made 16 appearances for them in the [[Third Division (North)]].
==Playing career== ===Club career=== By April 1927, Crooks had been spotted by [[George Jobey]]<ref name="et_12feb1975"/> and was signed for [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] for a fee of £300, making his debut for The Rams in a 2–1 win over [[Leicester City F.C.|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 [[1929–30 in English football|1930]] and [[1935–36 in English football|1936]].
In 1935, [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] attempted to sign Crooks and [[Tom Cooper (footballer)|Tom Cooper]] in exchange for [[Alex James (footballer)|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 FA Cup final|1946]] due to a knee injury sustained in an earlier round against [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]], having scored in all of the earlier rounds. Despite featuring in the practice match prior to the game, he was not considered fit enough to play in the final. Crooks believed that he was just a week away from being fit enough to have been able to feature, despite the possibility he may not have been risked in any scenario.<ref name="et_12feb1975"/>
In total, he made 448 appearances for Derby, scoring 110 goals.<ref name="et_12feb1975"/>
===International career=== His first appearance for England was in a 5–2 victory against [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] on 5 April 1930.<ref name="et_12feb1975"/><ref>[http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=170 England v Scotland 1930 line-ups at englandstats.com]</ref> He then became a regular fixture in the England side with 15 consecutive appearances, making 27<ref name="et_12feb1975"/> total appearances and scoring 7 goals, including two in a 7–1 defeat of [[Spain national football team|Spain]] on 9 December 1931.<ref name=engst>{{Englandstats|ref=y|access-date=31 October 2012}}</ref> His final England appearance came in a 6–2 victory over [[Hungary national football team|Hungary]] on 2 December 1936,<ref name=engst/> playing alongside Derby County colleagues [[Raich Carter]] and [[Eric Keen]].<ref>[http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=207 England v Hungary 1936 – lineups at englandstats.com]</ref>
==Managerial career== In December 1949, Crooks accepted his first managerial position at [[Retford Town F.C.|Retford Town]], several months after resigning as Derby County's chief scout. Following that resignation, Crooks had expressed that if he was unable to secure a managerial position in England, he would pursue opportunities in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-post/162081768/ |newspaper=Evening Post |title=Sammy Crooks to manage Retford Town |page=3 |date=21 December 1949}}</ref> During his tenure at Retford, he occasionally played for the team, including a match in April when he featured as a winger against [[Ilkeston F.C.|Ilkeston]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/football-post/162082004/ |newspaper=Football Post |title=Crooks to play for Retford |page=8 |date=8 April 1950}}</ref> Crooks left the club at the expiration of his contract in May 1950, having led them to win the Yorkshire League, with just one loss in 23 games.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/nottingham-evening-news/162081907/ |newspaper=Nottingham Evening News |title=Sammy Crooks to leave Retford |page=6 |date=4 May 1950}}</ref>
In May 1950 he became manager of [[Shrewsbury Town F.C.|Shrewsbury Town]], who had been elected to the [[Football League Division Three North]] for the [[1950–51 Football League|1950–51 season]]. He remained with the Shropshire side until 1954,<ref>*{{soccerbase (manager)|id=1127|name=Sammy Crooks}}</ref> leaving due to his wife wishing to return to Derby and also due to his own business interests.<ref name="et_12feb1975"/>
In 1954 he moved to [[Gresley Rovers F.C.|Gresley Rovers]] turning out occasionally as a player, making his début on Boxing Day 1954 in the Birmingham & District League at [[Burton Albion F.C.|Burton Albion]].{{cn|date=December 2024}} There followed a spell as manager with [[Burton Albion F.C.|Burton Albion]] from June 1957<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/burton-observer-and-chronicle/161635507/ |newspaper=Burton Observer |title=Sammy Crooks appointed manager |page=6 |date=2 May 1957}}</ref> until his sacking just six months later in November following a loss of confidence from the club's directors.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hull-daily-mail/161635556/ |newspaper=Hull Daily Mail |title=Burton Town sack Sammy Crooks |page=8 |date=13 November 1957}}</ref> He then returned to manage Gresley Rovers before becoming manager at [[Heanor Town F.C.|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 F.C.|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. Similarly, Belper Leisure Centre, situated in the town where he died, renamed the bar to 'The Sammy Crooks Suite'.
==Career statistics== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition |- !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|[[FA Cup]] !colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals |- |[[Durham City A.F.C.|Durham City]] |[[1926–27 Durham City A.F.C. season|1926–27]] |[[Football League Third Division North|Third Division North]] |16||4|| || || || |- |rowspan="15"|[[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]]<ref name="et_12feb1975">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-telegraph/161722449/ |newspaper=Evening Telegraph |location=Derby |title=Super Sammy: Pit lorry to Rams' legend |page=26 |date=12 February 1975}}</ref> |[[1927–28 Derby County F.C. season|1927–28]] |[[Football League First Division|First Division]] |34||10||3||0||37||10 |- |[[1928–29 Derby County F.C. season|1928–29]] |First Division |29||6||2||0||31||6 |- |[[1929–39 Derby County F.C. season|1929–30]] |First Division |34||10||3||0||37||10 |- |[[1930–31 Derby County F.C. season|1930–31]] |First Division |37||15||1||0||38||15 |- |[[1931–32 Derby County F.C. season|1931–32]] |First Division |37||11||3||0||40||11 |- |[[1932–33 Derby County F.C. season|1932–33]] |First Division |28||5||6||2||34||7 |- |[[1933–34 Derby County F.C. season|1933–34]] |First Division |37||7||4||1||41||8 |- |[[1934–35 Derby County F.C. season|1934–35]] |First Division |36||10||3||2||39||12 |- |[[1935–36 Derby County F.C. season|1935–36]] |First Division |29||4||4||1||33||5 |- |[[1936–37 Derby County F.C. season|1936–37]] |First Division |34||9||1||0||35||9 |- |[[1937–38 Derby County F.C. season|1937–38]] |First Division |37||7||1||0||38||7 |- |[[1938–39 Derby County F.C. season|1938–39]] |First Division |33||7||1||0||34||7 |- |[[1945–46 Derby County F.C. season|1945–46]] |colspan="3"|—||5||3||5||3 |- |[[1946–47 Derby County F.C. season|1946–47]] |First Division |3||0||colspan="2"|—||3||0 |- !colspan="2"|Total !408!!101!!37!!9!!445!!110 |- !colspan="3"|Career total !424!!105!! !! !! !! |}
==References== {{reflist}} * 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.
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927233244/http://www.englandfc.com/Profiles/php/PlayerProfileByName.php?id=282 Profile at www.Englandfc.com]
{{Shrewsbury Town F.C. managers}} {{Burton Albion F.C. managers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crooks, Sammy}} [[Category:1908 births]] [[Category:1981 deaths]] [[Category:Footballers from County Durham]] [[Category:English men's footballers]] [[Category:Men's association football wingers]] [[Category:England men's international footballers]] [[Category:Tow Law Town F.C. players]] [[Category:Durham City A.F.C. players]] [[Category:Derby County F.C. players]] [[Category:English Football League players]] [[Category:English Football League representative players]] [[Category:English football managers]] [[Category:Retford Town F.C. managers]] [[Category:Shrewsbury Town F.C. managers]] [[Category:Gresley Rovers F.C. managers]] [[Category:Burton Albion F.C. managers]] [[Category:Heanor Town F.C. managers]] [[Category:People from Bearpark]] [[Category:20th-century English sportsmen]]