Wilf Crawford

Wilf Crawford

Birth name	Wilfrid Hornby Crawford
Date of birth	(1915-08-24)24 August 1915
Place of birth	Rochester, Kent, England
Date of death	6 June 1993(1993-06-06) (aged 77)
Place of death	Haddington, Scotland
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) United Services () – Royal Navy () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1938 Scotland Possibles () 1938 Scotland Probables () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1938-39 Scotland 5 (21)

Wilf Crawford (24 August 1915 – 6 June 1993) was a Scotland international rugby union player. He played as a flanker. He later was a noted horse-racing trainer.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Crawford played for the Portsmouth club United Services.

He also played for the Royal Navy.

Provincial career

He played for the Scotland Possibles side against the Scotland Probables side in the final trial match of the 1937-38 season to determine international selection. He impressed the selectors in the first half and then turned out for the Probables in the second half.

International career

Crawford was capped by Scotland 5 times. The caps came in 1938, when Scotland won the Triple Crown, and 1939.

Horse-racing career

After his rugby union career finished Crawford became a noted horse-racing trainer. He began training horses from his farm in Haddington mainly for personal friends.

He was interviewed by the Daily Mirror in 1966 on the effect of the Betting Tax on the horse-racing industry:

"I really think the situation is gloomy. It may mean smaller fields, leading to smaller prizes, fewer spectators, a breeding recession, fewer owners, and the closing of more courses."

Military career

Crawford was a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy.