# Sammy Crooks

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sammy_Crooks
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sammy_Crooks.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Crooks
> Source revision: 1297919643
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

English footballer (1908–1981)

This article contains images which have been upscaled using AI. This will have introduced speculative and possibly inaccurate details. Such images should be replaced with their original versions. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (June 2025)

Sammy Crooks Crooks around 1929 Personal information Full name Samuel Dickinson Crooks Date of birth (1908-01-16)16 January 1908 Place of birth Bearpark, County Durham, England Date of death 3 February 1981(1981-02-03) (aged 73) Place of death Belper, England Position Outside right Youth career Bearpark Colliery Brandon Juniors Tow Law Town Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1926–1927 Durham City 16 (4) 1927–1946 Derby County 408 (101) Total 424 (105) International career 1930–1936 England 27 (7) Managerial career 1949–1950 Retford Town 1950–1954 Shrewsbury Town 1954–1957 Gresley Rovers 1957 Burton Albion 1958–1959 Gresley Rovers 1959–1960 Heanor Town * Club domestic league appearances and goals

**Samuel Dickinson Crooks** (16 January 1908 – 3 February 1981) was an English [footballer](/source/Association_football) who played as [outside forward](/source/Outside_forward) or outside right for [Derby County](/source/Derby_County_F.C.) 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](/source/England_national_football_team).

## Early life

Crooks was born at [Bearpark](/source/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](/source/Tow_Law_Town_F.C.) in his spare time until problems with rheumatism forced him to abandon his career underground. When his health was restored he joined [Durham City](/source/Durham_City_F.C.) in June 1926 and made 16 appearances for them in the [Third Division (North)](/source/Third_Division_(North)).

## Playing career

### Club career

By April 1927, Crooks had been spotted by [George Jobey](/source/George_Jobey)[1] and was signed for [Derby County](/source/Derby_County_F.C.) for a fee of £300, making his debut for The Rams in a 2–1 win over [Leicester City](/source/Leicester_City_F.C.) 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 [1930](/source/1929%E2%80%9330_in_English_football) and [1936](/source/1935%E2%80%9336_in_English_football).

In 1935, [Arsenal](/source/Arsenal_F.C.) attempted to sign Crooks and [Tom Cooper](/source/Tom_Cooper_(footballer)) in exchange for [Alex James](/source/Alex_James_(footballer)), 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](/source/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](/source/FA_Cup) win of [1946](/source/1946_FA_Cup_final) due to a knee injury sustained in an earlier round against [Aston Villa](/source/Aston_Villa_F.C.), 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.[1]

In total, he made 448 appearances for Derby, scoring 110 goals.[1]

### International career

His first appearance for England was in a 5–2 victory against [Scotland](/source/Scotland_national_football_team) on 5 April 1930.[1][2] He then became a regular fixture in the England side with 15 consecutive appearances, making 27[1] total appearances and scoring 7 goals, including two in a 7–1 defeat of [Spain](/source/Spain_national_football_team) on 9 December 1931.[3] His final England appearance came in a 6–2 victory over [Hungary](/source/Hungary_national_football_team) on 2 December 1936,[3] playing alongside Derby County colleagues [Raich Carter](/source/Raich_Carter) and [Eric Keen](/source/Eric_Keen).[4]

## Managerial career

In December 1949, Crooks accepted his first managerial position at [Retford Town](/source/Retford_Town_F.C.), 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.[5] During his tenure at Retford, he occasionally played for the team, including a match in April when he featured as a winger against [Ilkeston](/source/Ilkeston_F.C.).[6] 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.[7]

In May 1950 he became manager of [Shrewsbury Town](/source/Shrewsbury_Town_F.C.), who had been elected to the [Football League Division Three North](/source/Football_League_Division_Three_North) for the [1950–51 season](/source/1950%E2%80%9351_Football_League). He remained with the Shropshire side until 1954,[8] leaving due to his wife wishing to return to Derby and also due to his own business interests.[1]

In 1954 he moved to [Gresley Rovers](/source/Gresley_Rovers_F.C.) turning out occasionally as a player, making his début on Boxing Day 1954 in the Birmingham & District League at [Burton Albion](/source/Burton_Albion_F.C.).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] There followed a spell as manager with [Burton Albion](/source/Burton_Albion_F.C.) from June 1957[9] until his sacking just six months later in November following a loss of confidence from the club's directors.[10] He then returned to manage Gresley Rovers before becoming manager at [Heanor Town](/source/Heanor_Town_F.C.). During this time he opened a sport clothing store in [Derby](/source/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](/source/Durham_City_F.C.) 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

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition Club Season League FA Cup Total Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Durham City 1926–27 Third Division North 16 4 Derby County[1] 1927–28 First Division 34 10 3 0 37 10 1928–29 First Division 29 6 2 0 31 6 1929–30 First Division 34 10 3 0 37 10 1930–31 First Division 37 15 1 0 38 15 1931–32 First Division 37 11 3 0 40 11 1932–33 First Division 28 5 6 2 34 7 1933–34 First Division 37 7 4 1 41 8 1934–35 First Division 36 10 3 2 39 12 1935–36 First Division 29 4 4 1 33 5 1936–37 First Division 34 9 1 0 35 9 1937–38 First Division 37 7 1 0 38 7 1938–39 First Division 33 7 1 0 34 7 1945–46 — 5 3 5 3 1946–47 First Division 3 0 — 3 0 Total 408 101 37 9 445 110 Career total 424 105

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-et_12feb1975_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-et_12feb1975_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-et_12feb1975_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-et_12feb1975_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-et_12feb1975_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-et_12feb1975_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-et_12feb1975_1-6) ["Super Sammy: Pit lorry to Rams' legend"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-telegraph/161722449/). *Evening Telegraph*. Derby. 12 February 1975. p. 26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [England v Scotland 1930 line-ups at englandstats.com](http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=170)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-engst_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-engst_3-1) ["Sammy Crooks"](https://www.englandstats.com/player.php?pid=551). *Englandstats.com*. Retrieved 31 October 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [England v Hungary 1936 – lineups at englandstats.com](http://www.englandstats.com/matchreport.php?mid=207)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Sammy Crooks to manage Retford Town"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-post/162081768/). *Evening Post*. 21 December 1949. p. 3.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Crooks to play for Retford"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/football-post/162082004/). *Football Post*. 8 April 1950. p. 8.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Sammy Crooks to leave Retford"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/nottingham-evening-news/162081907/). *Nottingham Evening News*. 4 May 1950. p. 6.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** *[Sammy Crooks management career statistics](https://www.soccerbase.com/managers/manager.sd?manager_id=1127) at [Soccerbase](/source/Racing_Post#Soccerbase)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Sammy Crooks appointed manager"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/burton-observer-and-chronicle/161635507/). *Burton Observer*. 2 May 1957. p. 6.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Burton Town sack Sammy Crooks"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/hull-daily-mail/161635556/). *Hull Daily Mail*. 13 November 1957. p. 8.

- Mortimer, Gerald (2004): *The Who's Who of Derby County*. Breedon Books Publishing, Derby. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-85983-409-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-85983-409-4)

- Mortimer, Gerald (2006): *Derby County – The Complete Record*. Breedon Books Publishing, Derby. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-85983-517-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-85983-517-1)

- Official matchday programme: Burton Albion v Gresley Rovers 26/12/54.

## External links

- [Profile at www.Englandfc.com](https://web.archive.org/web/20070927233244/http://www.englandfc.com/Profiles/php/PlayerProfileByName.php?id=282)

v t e Shrewsbury Town F.C. – managers Adams (1905–12) Weston (1912–34) Roscamp (1934–35) Ramsay (1935–36) Bousted (1936–40) Knighton (1945) Chapman (1949–50) Crooks (1950–54) W. Rowley (1955–57) Potts (1957–58) Spuhler (1958) A. Rowley (1958–68) Gregg (1968–72) Evans (1972–74) Durban (1974–78) Barker (1978) Turner (1978–84) Bates (1984–87) Brownc (1987) McNeill (1987–90) Hartford (1990–91) Bond (1991–93) Davies (1993–97) King (1997–99) Batesc (1999) Ratcliffe (1999–2003) Atkinsc (2003) Quinn (2003–04) Batesc (2004) Peters (2004–08) McMahonc (2008) Simpson (2008–10) Turner (2010–14) Jackson (2014) Mellon (2014–16) Coynec (2016) Hurst (2016–18) Askey (2018) Coynec (2018) Ricketts (2018–20) Cotterill (2020–23) Taylor (2023–24) Hurst (2024) Parrishc (2024) Ainsworth (2024–25) Appleton (2025–26) Cowan (2026–) (c) = caretaker manager

v t e Burton Albion F.C. – managers McPhail (1950–51) Wrigglesworth (1951–52) Sneddon (1952–53) Weston (1953–1957) Crooks (1957) Stamps (1957–59) Townsend (1959–62) Taylor (1962–65) Tait (1965–70) Norman (1970–73) Gutteridge (1973–74) Bodle (1974–76) Walker (1976–78) Storey-Moore (1978–81) Warnock (1981–86) Fidler (1986–88) Halom (1988) Hope (1988) Wright (1988–89) Blair (1989–90) Uptonc (1990) Powell (1990–91) Fidler (1991–92) Kenning (1992–94) Barton (1994–98) Clough (1998–2009) McFarland (2009) Peschisolido (2009–12) Rowett (2012–14) Hasselbaink (2014–15) Clough (2015–20) Buxton (2020) Hasselbaink (2021–22) Maamria (2022–23) Millsc (2023–24) Paterson (2024) Robinson (2024) Hounsellc (2024) Bowyer (2024–) (c) = caretaker manager

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sammy Crooks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Crooks) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Crooks?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.