Charlie Crowe

Charles Alfred Crowe (30 October 1924 – 27 February 2010) was an English footballer who played as a defender. He spent the majority of his career at his hometown club Newcastle United. He also spent a season at Mansfield at the end of his career.

Career Crowe was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1924. In his teenage years he appeared for the local football teams, Heaton & Byker Youth Club and Wallsend St. Lukes. He signed for the biggest team in the city, Newcastle United, in October 1944. At the time he joined the club, Newcastle were only able to play friendly matches as World War II was taking place and all the football leagues in England were suspended. He made 24 appearances in two years for Newcastle as a left-back.

He made his FA Cup debut on 5 January 1946 in a match against Barnsley and had to wait until December of that year his official Football League debut; he only made four appearances for Newcastle from January until the end of the 1946–47 season. During the 1947–48 season he featured in just two league games as the club won promotion to the Football League First Division. Crowe found his chances limited during the following years and made only a handful of appearances.

Crowe became a regular member of the Newcastle team in the 1950–51 season, a very successful year for the club in which they finished fourth in the First Division in only their third season back at that level. Crowe was also part of the side that reached the 1951 FA Cup final and participated in a 2–0 victory against Blackpool. Crowe won his only trophy in this match as, despite Newcastle winning the FA Cup a further two times before the end of his career, he did not play in the 1952 final

In 2009, he began the "Charlie Crowe Appeal" with the aim of helping people with Alzheimer's disease. His daughter Lesley Edmondson started a campaign that aimed to raise £1.5 million to buy a medical scanner for Newcastle University's Campus for Aging and Vitality that can detect early signs of the disease. He was 85 years old and the last surviving player from the 1951 FA Cup winning side.

Crowe died in North Tyneside General Hospital on 27 February 2010.