William John "Jack" Crayston (9 October 1910 – December 1992) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 player and manager.

Playing career

Born in Grange-over-Sands

Grange-over-Sands

Grange-over-Sands is a town and civil parish by the sea – with a wide tidal range, hence the "sands" name – in Cumbria, England. Historically, Grange-over-Sands was part of the County of Lancashire until 1974, when Cumbria was created under Local Government re-organisation which absorbed the area...

, Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

, Crayston played for local school sides and Ulverston Town before moving to Third Division North

Football League Third Division North

The Third Division North of The Football League was a tier in the English association football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran parallel to Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to one or the other according to geographical position...

 Barrow

Barrow A.F.C.

Barrow A.F.C. are an English football club founded in 1901 based in the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. Following promotion at the end of the 2007–08 season, they currently play in the Conference National. The club spent over fifty years in the Football League between 1921 and 1972, and have...

 in 1928. He spent two seasons there before moving to Second Division

Football League Second Division

From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 Bradford (Park Avenue)

Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C.

Bradford Association Football Club, previously also known as Bradford and since its reformation in the 1970s now referred to as Bradford Park Avenue, is a football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England...

, where he developed into a strong and aerially powerful right-half.

Despite breaking both his wrist

Wrist

In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as 1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand;...

 and leg

Human leg

The human leg is the entire lower extremity or limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh and even the hip or gluteal region; however, the precise definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower limb extending from the knee to the ankle.Legs are used for standing,...

 in 1933-34

1933-34 in English football

The 1933–34 season was the 59th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

, Crayston was signed by First Division

Football League First Division

The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 champions Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 in 1934 as a replacement for Charlie Jones. He scored on his competitive debut in an 8-1 thrashing of Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

 on 1 September 1934 and became a regular in the Arsenal side straight away, largely pushing Frank Hill

Frank Hill

Frank Robert Hill was a Scottish football player and manager.-Forfar and Aberdeen:Hill was born in Forfar and started his career at Forfar Athletic, joining the club in 1924. He moved to Aberdeen in 1928 and played over 100 Scottish First Division matches...

 out of the right-half spot. With Arsenal he won the League Championship in 1934-35

1934-35 in English football

The 1934–35 season was the 60th season of competitive football in England.-Events:Arsenal become only the second team to win the League three consecutive times.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

 and 1937-38

1937-38 in English football

The 1937–38 season was the 63rd season of competitive football in England.-Overview:This season is notable as the reigning champions Manchester City became the only team to have won the League title one season then been relegated the next.-Honours:...

, and the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 in 1935-36

1935-36 in English football

The 1935–36 season was the 61st season of competitive football in England.-Events:Sunderland AFC won the league, and in doing so they remain the last team to win the English League while wearing striped jerseys...

.

During this time, Crayston also became an England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 international; he made his debut in a 3-1 win against Germany

Germany national football team

The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 on 4 December 1935, and in all won eight caps for his country between 1935 and 1937, scoring one goal. His final cap came in a 5-4 win against Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia national football team

The Czechoslovakia national football team was the national association football team of Czechoslovakia from 1922 to 1993. At the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the team was participating in UEFA qualifying Group 4 for the 1994 World Cup; it completed this campaign under the name...

 on 1 December 1937.

Coaching and management career

Like many of his contemporaries, the Second World War robbed Crayston of what should have been the peak of his career; he joined the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 whilst still playing irregular wartime football. However, a serious knee injury in a wartime match against West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

 in 1943 forced Crayston to retire from playing. He played 207 matches in total (168 league matches), scoring 17 goals (16 league goals).

After his premature retirement and demobbing from the RAF, Crayston moved into coaching, and in June 1947 he became assistant to new Arsenal manager Tom Whittaker

Tom Whittaker (footballer)

Thomas James "Tom" Whittaker MBE was an English football player, trainer and manager, chiefly associated with Arsenal Football Club...

. After Whittaker's death in 1956, Crayston became caretaker manager on 24 October 1956 and permanent manager on 21 December 1956. However, his stewardship of the team was brief and unsuccessful; unable to bring any new players in, the team started to decline. In 1957-58

1957-58 in English football

The 1957–58 season was the 78th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:In this season, Sunderland was relegated for the first time in their history.This was the last season in which Division 3 was split, North and South...

 Arsenal slipped to 12th in the League (their worst position for 38 years) and faced a humiliating FA Cup defeat at the hands of Third Division South

Football League Third Division South

The Football League Third Division South was a level of English professional football which ran in parallel to Third Division North from 1921 to 1958....

 Northampton Town

Northampton Town F.C.

Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

. Disillusioned, in May 1958 he resigned as Arsenal manager, and took up the reins at Doncaster Rovers

Doncaster Rovers F.C.

Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...

a couple of months later, holding the post until his retirement from the game in 1961. He died in 1992, at the age of 82.
Uncle Of Stuart Tallon (Arsenal Supporter) Stuart is father of Robert Tallon (For some reason supports derby) and Grandad of Ashley Tallon.