Charlie Crowe (1924-2010)

Posted on February 28th, 2010 | 16 Comments |

Toon cup winner, the stuff of legends...
Toon cup winner, the stuff of legends...
Some sad news over the weekend, that former Newcastle United player Charlie Crowe has passed away at the age of 85. Charlie made 216 appearances and scored 13 goals for The Toon but unfortunately had been suffering from Alzheimers disease and passed away on Saturday evening.

An FA Cup winners medal, earned with Newcastle United way back in 1951 will undoubtedly be the highlight of the local lads career and he leaves Vic Keeble as the only surviving member of our FA Cup winning team and ultimately our last domestic success.

Charlie was predominantly a defender and signed for Newcastle back in 1944 but was unable to play competitively as the football leagues were suspended due to the war. It wasn’t until January 1946 that Crowe was handed his debut in a match against Barnsley, although he only featured a handful of times up between then and the 1950/51 season, helping Newcastle finish 4th in the first division and win the FA Cup.

Charlie took over as club captain from a certain Joe Harvey but unfortunately was unable to add to his medal haul as he sat out the 1952 final and missed the 1955 final against Manchester City through injury. He moved onto Mansfield Town during the 56/57 season although that didn’t last long and he retired shortly afterwards. He then tried his hand at management in Egypt but was forced to return due to the Suez crisis.

Charlie leaves behind a legacy called the ‘Charlie Crowe Appeal’ that sees ongoing funding for an MRI scanner at the Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre to aid research into Alzheimer’s disease. This appeal was backed by Sir Bobby Robson, Alan Shearer and Kevin Whately amongst others. Current manager Chris Hughton had this to say:

“It’s always a very sad time when one of your legendary player’s die and today is no different. Charlie was a terrific player in his day, well respected by his peers and it’s fitting that his memory will live on through the fantastic work his friends and family are involved with through the Charlie Crowe scanner appeal.”

Charlie lived with his wife Ruth in Wallsend but subsequently moved to Hunter Hall care home before passing away in North Tyneside General Hospital on Saturday evening. It’s never nice to hear about one of your own passing away and I’m sure all our thoughts are with Charlie’s family and friends at this tragic time.

Rest easy Charlie Crowe, gone but never forgotten!

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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16 Responses

  2. Indeed, one of the few remaining links to former domestic glory gone but never forgotten.

    Let’s hope the new breed start writing their own history that we and former legends can be proud of.

    Rest easy Mr Crowe.

  3. Yeah great left half (that`s Ronnie Simpson with him in the picture,also a great goalie) he, Charlie, Frank Brennan and Joe Harvey were the 3 line of a 2-3-5 lineup used by every side at the time, with Ted Robledo replacing Harvey at times.
    Dont recall him taking over the captaincy, but we signed Jimmy Scoular who replaced Harvey as right half, not long after the first cup win, if my memory`s right.
    Great days !

  4. See the guys in the crowd directly behind Simpson, those at the very back that appear higher than the rest.
    Used to be where i stood in the day, atop a 12″X12″ wooden rail fence, there was no crowd segregation then and plenty banter with away fans, with no thought of any unpleasantness.
    Different era different attitudes, about the same attendances, but it was rough on a cold wet day, with only an excuse for tea or bovril, as long as it was hot, sometimes one could1nt tell the difference, hey whadda ya want for a thruppeny bit.

  5. Way before my time but none the less a part of the great history of this club, god bless mr Crowe, my thoughts are with your family and friends. Gone but not forgotten.

  7. Hey guys, whilst this is a very sad day for Charlie’s fans and family of course, I think many would have forgotten that Newcastle’s own Sinatra, namely Johnny Heenan, was in fact the nominated substitute for both the early 50’s cup finals.

    However, as I understand it, unless a change was required by the day before in those days, then the substitute became a non-playing tam member.

    A bit of trivia for the experts to check!

    Gary

  10. do you think bobby shinton will be remembered in the same way as charlie when he sadly passes away?
    No offence bobby if you happen to see this but you were one of our worst players we ve ever had.
    7 goals in one season and ended up our top scorer. God those were bleak days. I had visions of us ending up that way before the season got under way. Im just so happy no other clubs took the players off our hands cos ashley would have sold them and bobby might have got a phone call from ashley!

  11. aye aye radgies!
    Pure mint game on saturday like! Did yi’s see is wi ashley and dekka owl heed in the stands? Ha ha! You couldn’t cos a was hoyed oot for smokin and drinkin a pint in me seat! ! Woo hoo hoo hoo! Total doylems the bizzies like!
    Owl heed was laughin his heed off like! Cush bloke dekka like!
    He was callin the bizzie , tit heed and then when the bizzie turned roond to see who said it, he did a full 180 degree heed turn! Pure radge packet!
    It took 20 riot coppers to hoy is oot like and one of them said at the end, ‘HOO TROY THATS THE HARDEST FIGHT IVE HAD, EVER! ‘
    canny compliment that like!
    Anyways, a just went doon the strawberry and quaffed 30 pints before the end of the game!
    Pure banging heed the day still like cos a was on the toot til 5am this morning listening to me rave tunes like! Full pelt! Me big mick, owl heed and me mother given it big licks!
    Anyways, got to gan cos a kna the riot coppers will be lookin for is like! Ive just seen a police spokesman on the news! He says they ve done loads of dawn raids for guns or summit but they have got a bit of spare time and they are ganna come roond troys for a bit of riot training!
    Am ganna see the chief bizzie aboot gettin paid like!
    Anyways, laters gaters!