Bromley FC and their first Black player, Junior Crooks

First Black player

We set ourselves the task of identifying the club’s first Black player, where to start? The club themselves and the fans’ forum were the two obvious avenues to explore and, sure enough, it was the fans’ forum that came up trumps (in our experience it usually is).

When we made our first approach, various names were bandied around: Carlton Fairweather, who went on to have a successful career with Wimbledon; Tony ‘Chalkie’ White; and Everton Augustus; but a consensus quickly emerged that Bromley’s first Black player was Junior Crooks. Armed with a name, we started searching Ancestry.co.uk and Findmypast.co.uk and gradually a picture of Junior’s life story emerged.

Junior Crooks – Background and heritage

Junior Valentine Crooks was born on 19^th December 1950 in Hanover Parish, Jamaica. We don’t know how or when he came to England as we have not found his name on any passenger list of ships in the 1950s or 1960s.

But there is a record of him flying to New York from Kingston, Jamaica, on 29^th July 1959. We do not know whether he was en-route to England or visiting family in the US but, remember, he would have been just eight years-old at the time so there must have been a pretty pressing reason for the trip.

We can speculate that Junior had been left in Jamaica while his parents made new lives for themselves in England and that he was summoned to join them when they had saved enough money to send for him. This would be a familiar ‘Windrush generation’ story (although travelling via New York would have been an unusual route), there are examples of it in our book and we know of at least one Black player of this era who was enjoying life in the Caribbean so much that he hid under his grandparents’ bed when the summons came to join his parents in England. An Audley Crooks arrived in Plymouth from Jamaica on 21^st August 1955, this fits neatly with our narrative and  Audley, who described himself as a tailor, gave a London address as his destination. So, this may be Junior’s story  but we must stress that this is pure speculation on our part.

More and more newspaper archives are being digitised and can be searched online. The digitisation is patchy and hit and miss but there are many match reports already available that feature Junior’s name and no doubt others will follow. These archives are invaluable in building a picture (albeit a partial one) of Junior’s career. There is enough information out there to tell us that he had a long career and got around a bit!

Junior -Before Bromley

Cray (1969/70 & 1970/71)

Junior apparently started his career on the books of Charlton Athletic but he first broke into the sports pages of the local papers while playing for Cray in the 1969/70 season. Jerry Dowlen, in his book ‘Where Have All the Stars Gone?‘^[2]Published by Cray 150 in 2018 takes up the story:

Junior was reportedly a 20-year old Jamaican, and a former Charlton Athletic youth player, when he broke into the Cray team midway through the 1969/70 season. He was the first-ever black player to feature in the Wands team. He stayed for the following season, clocking up a Cray career total of 10 goals in 38 games.

He clearly made a big impression, a match report in the Sheerness Times/Guardian of 29^th May 1970 describes his contribution to their 2-1  defeat to Sheppey as ‘outstanding’:

He gave left back Challis a roasting for almost the whole of the ninety minutes and deservedly netted Cray’s early goal.

He is mentioned several more times in glowing terms but Sheppey stole the points with two late goals.

Jerry Dowlen describes another memorable goal:

One of his most memorable afternoons in a Cray shirt saw the young winger score a fleet-footed and exceptional solo goal against Slade Green at Grassmeade in March 1970. It was a Kent Amateur Cup tie replay after a 0-0 draw away. The surface was ankle deep in mud. Wearing the number 11 shirt, Junior had swapped to the right wing in the second half.

The report in the Kentish Times describes how:

A great goal came in the 80^th minute when Junior Crooks received the ball just inside his own half and ran over half the length of the field to make it 2-0.

Later, playing against West Ham ‘A’ in a Metropolitan League game, Junior is said to have ‘bamboozled youth international full back Clive Charles,’ impressing watching West Ham manager, Ron Greenwood, in the process.

Erith & Belvedere (1970/71 & 1971/72)

Junior finished the 1970/71 season with Erith & Belvedere. He played in five games and helped with the club’s successful promotion push, playing in five games. He made his debut on 6^th March 1971 and scored against Carshalton. He was a regular in the following season in the Premier Division of the Athenian League.

Junior made it to Stamford Bridge during his time with Erith but as part of a group who were giving moral support to team mate, Tommy Ord, who went for a (successful) trial with Chelsea, rather than as a player himself.^[3]Club historian, Brian Spurrell

Carshalton (1972/73 & 1973/74)

Piecing together Junior’s career is tricky as there are gaps. Jerry Dowlen suggests Junior played for Redhill after leaving Cray but, if he did, he didn’t make it into the sports pages that have been digitised so far. Perhaps he played a few games for Redhill but the evidence available to us suggests that he was with Erith prior to joining Carshalton.

For the 1972/73 and 1973/74 seasons we have found reports of him playing for Carshalton. Press coverage of Junior’s Carshalton career is thin on the ground but on 3^rd November 1972 the Herne Bay Press reported on a 2-2 draw with Herne Bay, one of Carshalton’s goals came when:

a cross from Clark on the left and a header from Junior Crooks that eluded the diving Swinard. This was a goal for Crooks on his debut. The West Indian had signed from Erith during the week. His lively wandering  lent power to the home attack.

Junior is mentioned twice in the Buckinghamshire Examiner’s report dated 26^th October 1973 of Carshalton’s 3-0 loss at Chesham; and once in the same paper’s 22^nd March 1974  report of a 6-3 defeat at home to Chesham when he played a part in the build up to one of Carshalton’s goals.

The rest is silence.

Swanley (1975/76)

From Cray, Junior joined Bromley for the 1974/5 season and then returned to Hayes Lane (Bromley’s home ground)  for the 1976/77 season and stayed until he left before the end of the 1980/81 season. The ‘missing’ season, 1975/76, was spent with Swanley and we will take that season out of sequence here.

Swanley lost 3-1 to Bracknell in October 1975 but, in amongst the gloom, Junior clearly had a good game. The Bracknell Times reported on 9^th of the month:

it was not long before Swanley’s coloured striker, Junior Crooks, began to show his considerable shooting ability.

References to Junior’s colour are actually quite rare in the newspaper reports that mention him and, thankfully, the reporters who covered his games had moved on from the days when players were routinely referred to as ‘darkie.’

Junior – The Bromley years

Junior made his Bromley debut on 2^nd November 1974 against Leytonstone and, as debuts go, it couldn’t have gone much better, with Junior scoring in a 2-0 win.^[4]For the facts and figures of Junior’s time at Bromley we are indebted to club historian, John Self By the end of the season Junior had scored seven goals in twenty-two appearances, not a bad return in a struggling side that only scored twenty-five goals all season and finished bottom of the table by some distance. But stats can only ever tell part of the story and we get a flavour of Junior’s style from press reports of the day.

The Kent Evening Post of 27^th November carried the headline ‘Medway felled by Crooks’. Junior was identified as ‘the greatest threat’ to the Medway defence.

Two of his shots went perilously close. In the 34^th minute however, he found a gap and struck. A through ball, struck with just the right amount of force by Steve Waller allowed Crooks to run onto it, evade John Ribbins and keeper John Gunner, and strike it firmly into the goal.

Things got even better in the second half:

Crooks in the 55^th minute, teasingly jinked his way past an immobile defence, to put his side further ahead.

We have already mentioned that the furthest Bromley have got in the FA Cup to date was in 1976 when they reached the 1^st round proper. Drawn away at Swindon, a crowd of 6,497 must surely have been the biggest one Junior had played in front of. It seems he wasn’t overawed. Dave Roberts, lifelong Bromley fan and author of the book and film, The Bromley Boys, claimed that Junior, who had been highlighted before the game as ‘the main threat’ in the Western Daily Press, was the best player on the field, giving the vastly experienced Swindon full back, John Trollope, a torrid time:

At a crucial moment when Swindon were only 1-0 up, one of Junior’s many eye-catching runs down the wing ended with a pinpoint cross for Derek Brown to fire into the net. Alas, the referee blew for offside.

Swindon went on to win 7-0.

But, ultimately, football is about passion and raw emotion and Junior left a lasting impression on the mind of one young Bromley fan. Even now, Colin Head^[5]Colin has been immensely helpful in preparing this article and we thank him for his assistance along with Roy Oliver, Mark Andrew, John Self and other members of the fans’ forum who joined in … Continue reading, another lifelong Bromley supporter, describes Junior fondly as ‘an absolute legend.’ Colin writes of Junior:

he was playing for Bromley the first time I went to a game in October 1977 and was a feature of John Biddle’s successful side that eventually gained promotion to the Isthmian Premier Division. It was Junior himself who scored the winning goal in the Kent Senior Cup Final that season and he also hit a spectacular goal against Finchley that secured our promotion in April 1981. Swindon Town were rumoured to have put a bid in for him after his display against them in the first round of the FA Cup, which he turned down!

The match erupted into an ugly scene just before full time. With the sides level at 2-2, Folkestone’s Neil Cugley made an unfair challenge on Bromley ‘keeper Malcolm Broadway. Players and spectators descended on the goalmouth and Folkestone’s Nicky Parks was laid out by a punch. After referee Mr D Jackson of Maidstone had sorted out the mess he sent off Cubley and Bromley’s John Duffy.

Only seconds after the game resumed, right on time, Junior Crooks scored Bromley’s winner.

I think we can be sure Junior enjoyed that goal!

According to one eye witness, John Duffy was:

sent off for punching an opponent at Folkestone & Shepway. [Folkestone] were kicking Malcolm Broadway so Duffy rushed in, hit a few players and walked to the dressing room without waiting for the referee to tell him to get off.

Just a week after the Folkestone game, it was Junior’s turn to take an early bath.  The Harrow Observer of 28^th October 1977, reporting on Bromley’s 3-1 win over Harrow, tells us of an incident in the 84^th minute:

Thomas was booked for dissent before the flare up happened. Crooks appeared to butt Fowles and the two traded blows. Colleagues joined in and this lead to Fowles, Crooks and Thomas taking an early bath.

I originally thought Junior had been sent off at least twice during his time with Sutton (there may, of course, have been other occasions not yet captured in the digitisation process), in fact it was the same sending off reported again four months after the event. Looking forward to a forthcoming fixture between Harrow Borough and Bromley, an un-named journalist in 17^th February 1978 edition of the Harrow Observer recalls that:

recent encounters between the two sides have been uncompromising to say the least. The last meeting was an explosive affair with three players being sent off. Gary Fowles and Roy Thomas both saw Red and Bromley’s talented coloured striker, Junior Crookes also had an early bath.

Clearly some sending offs are more memorable than others! The sending off lives on in the memory of one fan who recalls Junior:

head-butting a Harrow Borough player ensuring a melee in which he got sent off but managed to get two of their players sent off with him. One of whom was only apparently guilty of being head-butted by Junior!

There are other reports of other games but, before we follow Junior’s career after he left Bromley, we will close with two match report snippets.  The first comes from the  Harrow Observer dated 1^st March 1977:

Borough’s defence looked lost at times against the smooth skills of Junior Crooks on the ground and the aerial mastery of centre-forward Edwards.

This was another game between Bromley and Harrow Borough, this one finished 1-1 with both sides keeping all eleven men on the pitch!

Let’s leave Junior’s Bromley career on a winning note. Dating from the 10^th April 1978, the second snippet comes from the Reading Evening Post and features a game between Maidenhead and Bromley:

a mistake by Mickey Tripp letting in Junior Crooks to score the only goal of the game after 21 minutes.

Junior played two more seasons for Bromley after this but, so far, we haven’t identified any match reports that feature his name. Bromley fan, Mark Andrews, gives us a little more detail about the end of Junior’s time at Bromley:

Early 1980 he left football all together, out of form and persistently injured. Biddle asked him back as the team was riddled with injures in April and a re-invigorated Junior returned for the final few games, scoring against Finchley as Bromley clinched promotion to Isthmian Premier.

By the time Junior left Bromley, Black players were marking their mark on the game. West Ham became the first team to field three Black players in the same team in the Football League in April 1972 (Clyde Best, Ade Coker and Clive Charles [the same player Junior was said to have ‘bamboozled’ whilst playing for Cray]), West Bromwich Albion did it in 1978 (the so called ‘three degrees’, Cyrille Regis, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson) but Bromley were not far behind. There may have been earlier examples but this programme from 19^th April 1980 shows the names of three Black players, Junior Crooks, Everton Augustus and Tony ‘Chalkie’ White (there were long-established Football League clubs who hadn’t fielded even one Black player at this time):

Junior’s last first team game was against Harlow on 14^th April 1981 at home.  This was Carlton Fairweather’s debut^[6]Carlton Fairweather went on to make well over a hundred appearances for Wimbledon in the Football League, mostly in the top flight. It is conceivable that Sutton had four Black players in the team … Continue reading and Chalkie White (another of Bromley’s Black players) scored.^[7]Courtesy of Mark Andrews Junior played some more reserve games before the end of the season and left in the summer of 1981, as did manager, John Biddle.

Junior was with Bromley for six seasons. Overall he made 213 appearances and scored 65 goals.

Mark Andrews, provided us with this detailed breakdown:

Junior Crooks	Apps	Sub	Goals
1974/75	21	1	7
1976/77	44	7	18
1977/78	51	3	21
1978/79	40	2	10
1979/80	10	5	1
1980/81	30	0	8
	196	18	65

Junior – After Bromley

After Bromley, Junior’s peripatetic career took him to at least ten clubs, but, as far as we can tell, he stayed at none for more than two seasons. Perhaps Bromley was his spiritual home? In reconstructing Junior’s post-Bromley career we have relied heavily on the digital newspaper archives on Findmypast.co.uk and there are several years where the search for ‘Junior Crooks’ drew a blank. Perhaps readers of this article will be able to fill in some of the gaps but, for now, fasten your seatbelts for a whistle stop tour.

Hampton (1981/82)

Junior was appointed player coach of the Isthmian League Division One side, Hampton, for the 1981/82 season. He (and his team) got off to a good start at Wokingham when Junior was ‘gifted an early goal’ to put his new charges 1-0 up but it didn’t last and Wokingham ran out 4-2 winners (Reading Evening Post, 24^th August 1981).

In the next game Junior was sent off after only ten minutes (an incident we will return to later) and Hampton lost 3-0 against Maidenhead (Reading Evening Post, 26^th August 1981). Both Hampton and Junior ‘put their league troubles behind them as they cruised into the second round of the Hitachi cup’ on 31^st August, Junior scored the fifth goal in the 5-1 drubbing of Camberley Town (Middlesex Chronicle 4^th September 1981).

Although he didn’t score, Junior was in ‘fine form’ when Hampton visited bottom of the table, Ware, in November. He set up the first goal but ‘squandered several chances towards the finish with the Ware defence in complete disarray,’ he also hit the post. It finished 3-0 to Hampton (Hertford Mercury and Reformer, 20^th November 1981).

In February, Hampton were knocked out of the London Senior Cup following a 3-2 defeat at Farnborough played in appalling conditions, ‘heavy overnight rain reduced parts of the Cherrywood Road pitch to a quagmire and the tie looked set to be put off … However a small army of helpers got the playing surface shipshape and although it was very soft under foot the game went ahead.’ The Farnborough manager, Ted Pearce, conceded afterwards that ‘this was not a game with finesse’ but, in spite of it all, Junior was described as ‘ever dangerous’ and one of the Hampton goals came when the Farnborough keeper was unable to hold one of Junior’s free kicks and the loose ball was ‘swept in by Peter Shodeinde’ (Farnborough News, 16^th February 1982).

In March Hampton beat Chesham 2-1. It would have been more but for the ‘five-star show’ of Dave Ounsworth in the Chesham goal, ‘he reserved his best save for a power header from Junior Crooks’ (Buckinghamshire Examiner, 26^th March 1982).  Chesham got their revenge in a return fixture in April, winning 1-0 after defender ‘Mitchell kept a tight grip on striker, Junior Crooks’ (Buckinghamshire Examiner, 2^nd April 1982).

Erith & Belvedere (1983/84)

The next press cutting we have found dates from 1^st March 1984 so who Junior played for in 1982/83 is unclear to us. Junior featured for Erith in a 2-2 draw with Crawley Town, ‘Jeff Cornes’ corner tested the near post, Junior Crooks claiming the touch that beat an unprepared Collier’ (Crawley & District Observer, 1^st March 1984).

Erith’s club historian, Brian Spurrell, adds that Junior also scored in a 3-2 defeat to Corinthian in a Kent Senior Trophy match and that Junior was player-coach during this spell at the club.

Gravesend & Northfleet (1984/85)

Junior started the 1984/85 season as he meant to go on with a goal and an assist in the 2-0 home win over Bedworth United in August (Coventry Evening Telegraph, 25th August 1984). Junior generally played for London or Kent-based clubs, but away games took him further afield and so it is not unexpected to find him mentioned in Midlands’ papers like the Coventry Telegraph or the Birmingham Weekly Mercury. On 19^th August 1984, he featured in the latter’s non-league round up, Cheltenham Town had drawn 1-1 at home to Gravesend & Northfleet. In spite of playing well, the visitors scored ‘only once, in the 65^th minute,  when Junior Crooks drove home from 20 yards.’ Junior later hit the bar with another effort.

On 1^st September Gravesend found themselves 2-0 down at Trowbridge but they pulled one back in the 68^th minute and then ’14 minutes from time their leading goalscorer, Junior Crooks, got the equaliser’ (Bristol Evening Post, 3^rd September 1984).

Later in September Gravesend visited Witney Town and ‘a splendid individual goal by Junior Crooks gave Gravesend a well-earned draw’ (Birmingham Weekly Mercury 23^rd September 1984).

Although Junior was usually reliable from the penalty spot, he missed one away against Gloucester City in October. In the 43^rd minute ‘Crooks put his penalty shot wide.’ He ‘redeemed himself for the penalty fiasco when he broke free in the 79^th minute to score.’ It was the only goal of the game (Birmingham Weekly Mercury, 7^th October 1984).

An early evening edition (remember them?!) of the Coventry Evening Telegraph on 13^th October reported on the first half of Gravesend’s game against AP Leamington: ‘Junior Crooks twice had chances to put his side in front. But Gravesend’s top scorer first shaved the bar and then saw Hemmings make a good save.’ We have to turn to the next day’s edition of the Birmingham Weekly Mercury to find out how the game finished and it seems Junior didn’t just score goals he set them up too: ‘Junior Crooks set up Gravesend’s first goal just three minutes from the end. The top scoring striker sent a low cross into the area from wide on the left and Leroy Bess snapped up his chance with ease.’ Gravesend added a second in injury time.

In December, ‘Crooks netted Gravesend’s last goal after a shot from Steve Luckett had been parried by Walsh.’ Junior had been cautioned earlier in the game ‘following a clash on the edge of the visitors’ penalty area.’ Gravesend beat Trowbridge 4-0 (Bristol Evening Post, 3^rd December 1984).

Perhaps Junior didn’t see out the season with Gravesend because there is a report in the Kentish Express dated 4^th April 1985 of him playing for Erith and earning a penalty when he was fouled.

Tilbury (1985/86 and 1986/87)

After what looks like a successful season with Gravesend (and, apparently, a brief spell with Erith),  Junior seems to have spent the next two seasons with Tilbury. We have found just one match report featuring Junior in the 1985/86 season but it is a revealing one.  On 17^th April 1986 the Middlesex Chronicle reported a game that Hampton won 4-2 against Tilbury:

Hales and Walkes both missed further chances as Hampton tore into Tilbury, but the visitors got one back in the 58^th minute through former Hampton player/coach Junior Crooks.

This is further confirmation that Junior was a sought after coach as well as a good player.

Junior may have had mixed feelings if he read the report in the Wembley Observer of 11^th September 1986 – he is described as a ‘veteran striker.’ But he was approaching his thirty-sixth birthday so it is hard to argue with the description.

Tonbridge (1986/87 and 1987/88)

By February 1987 Junior had switched to Tonbridge. Reporting on Tonbridge Angels’ 1-1 draw with Hastings the Kent & Sussex Courier had this to say:

It was three minutes into injury time when substitute Junior Crooks, making his first appearance for Tonbridge since signing as player/coach, walzed past his markers down the right wing, battled to the byline and produced a high cross of pure genius that beat Paul Hubbard, the former Tonbridge keeper, and let Angels’ leading scorer Gary Aldous net his 20th goal of the season with a superb far-post header from three yards.

Junior’s appearance from the bench in the 71^st minute had a big impact. In addition to providing the cross for the goal, ‘his right wing ball-playing and ball-winning skills caused the rather ponderous defenders plenty of problems’ (Kent & Sussex Courier, 13^th February 1987). Junior was clearly still a quality player.

Tonbridge Angels finished the season in style with Junior playing his part in a 4-2 win over Dover (Kent & Sussex Courier, 1^st May 1987).

At the start of the following season Junior named himself as non-playing substitute for Tonbridge’s visit to Chelmsford City. Named as substitute again for the game against Burnham in November, Junior was called into action as early as the 13^th minute when a Tonbridge player was stretchered off . Tonbridge won the ‘rather drab’ Southern League Cup tie ‘thanks largely to a talented display by their 37 year-old coach.’ Presumably in an effort to save energy, Junior instructed his younger team mates ‘to play the ball on the ground to him and nothing more than two yards away.’ Although Junior didn’t score in the 3-1 win he did have two efforts disallowed for offside (Kent & Sussex Courier, 20^th November 1987).

Alma Swanley (1988/89)

For the 1988/89 season Junior switched to Alma Swanley and newspaper reports give us fleeting glimpses of his contributions during the season.

‘Good work from Junior Crooks’ helped Alma take the lead against Faversham but the visitors equalised and it ended 1-1. It was early days, but both teams were in the top four (East Kent Gazette, 22^nd September 1988).

The following month Junior scored from the penalty spot in Alma’s 4-2 win over Chatham (Chatham Standard, 25^th October 1988).

In March, Alma saw off a spirited fightback by the hosts, Whitstable, when ‘man of the match for Alma,’ Junior lashed the ball into the roof of the net to secure a 4-2 win.(Kentish Gazette, 17^th March 1989).

It is clear from a programme that Colin Head has kept all these years that Junior also scored against Met Police FC in a Kent League match played on 27^th March.

     

 

Alma had three players sent off in a ‘turbulent’ Kent League match at Faversham  in April. Junior was not one of them but he did score Alma’s only goal in a 4-1 defeat with a free kick from just outside the box (Kentish Gazette, 7^th April 1989).

The season drew to a close with a 1-0 win for Alma over Ramsgate in the Kent League Cup Final, ‘nimble Junior Crookes’ provided the assist for the only goal. Junior had a chance to put the game beyond doubt but his penalty was saved when the keeper pushed his spot kick onto the post (Thanet Times, 3^rd May 1989). So, a Cup Winner’s medal to go with the one he secured twelve years earlier with Bromley.

Greenwich (1989/90)

As the big four-o approached Junior continued his nomadic journey around south-east London when he signed for Greenwich for the 1989/90 season. Even at this late stage in his career it is clear that he continued to pose a threat to opposing defences.

Junior scored ‘a scrambled affair’ in the 70^th minute when he ‘tucked home’ the third goal for Greenwich to make it 3-0 against Whitstable. A late consolation for the visitors left the final score at 3-1   (Kentish Gazette, 8^th September 1989).

Greenwich beat Chatham Town 1-0 in October, the only mention of Junior is ‘a splendid shot’ that the keeper saved (Chatham Standard, 17^th October 1989).

Greenwich beat Deal 3-1 in the opening weeks of the season but, when they travelled to Deal for a Kent Senior Cup match in October, Deal manager Jimmy Nokes revealed to the Deal, Walmer & Sandwich Mercury (19^th October 1989) he was considering:

a special marking job on attacker Junior Crookes who netted two in their previous encounter. ‘We’ll be playing a much tighter system this time’ he explained.

The following week the paper reported on the 1-1 draw. The Greenwich goal came when:

striker Junior Crookes … rose superbly in the penalty area to direct a firm header beyond the reach of Creedon from a pinpoint Paul Challis cross.

In the closing seconds Greenwich should have won it but Marlon Campbell shot over the bar from point-blank range after ‘a fine move instigated by Crooks.’

Greenwich won the replay 3-2  and Junior played a part in all three Greenwich goals. For the first ‘Crooks provided the through ball and Barham found the space to thump a firm shot past keeper Spencer Creedon.’ For the second ‘Crooks was able to sweep home from close range’ from a low cross whipped in from the left.’ The third came when:

Crooks, tormentor of so many Kent League defences, held the ball up with his back to goal before being allowed the time and space to turn and drill a low shot past Creedon (Deal, Walmer & Sandwich Mercury (2^nd November 1989).

After this the flow of digitised match reports for Greenwich Borough for the season dries up.

Erith & Belvedere (1989/90)

One report in the Folkestone, Hythe, Cheriton & Sandgate Herald (this truly was a golden age for local newspapers!) dating from 13^th April indicates that, before the 1989/90 season was out, Junior returned to Erith for a third spell:

Sub Junior Crooks bounced a very low header over the bar from only a couple of yards from a cross by Alexander.

Folkestone beat Erith & Belvedere 2-1.

Club historian, Brian Spurrell, tells us that Junior played in 94 games for Erith & Belvedere in total (including 11 as substitute) and scored 22 goals.^[8]Junior is profiled in Brian Spurrell’s book: ‘A Century of Deres'

Thamesmead (1991/92)

We have found several match reports between 14^th August 1991 and 24^th January 1992 that mention Junior playing for Thamesmead.

He scored twice from the penalty spot in a Tuesday evening game against Thames Poly on 13^th August, the game ended in a 2-2 draw (Kent Evening Post 14^th August 1991). He scored again from the penalty spot in a 3-2 win over Darenth Heathside (Kent Evening Post 19^th August 1991).

In September, Junior scored a last minute winner for ‘lowly’ Thamesmead against high flying Alma (Kent Evening Post 30^th September 1991), while in October he scored a ‘consolation goal’ in 3-1 loss to Crockenhill (Kent Evening Post, 7^th October 1991). Only a couple of weeks later Junior, clearly trusted with penalties, scored another spot kick in a 2-1 defeat at Corinthian (14^th October 1991 Kent Evening Post).

Moving into January 1992, we learn from the Kent & Sussex Courier 24^th January 1992 that:

Junior Crooks, the former Tonbridge player, put a shot over the bar after a good turn on the edge of the area.

Alma Swanley (1992/93)

In the twilight of his career Junior had a second spell at Alma Swanley. In October 1992 they lost 2-0 to Leatherhead in the FA Vase Trophy, There is only one mention of Junior, ‘Alma showed they could break quickly and experienced striker Junior Crooks should have caused problems when he found space at the far post’ (Dorking & Leatherhead Advertiser, 8^th October 1992). The newspaper archives throw up no further references to Junior until the following season.

Three Bridges (1993/94)

Three Bridges in East Sussex, is further south than his familiar stamping ground but the Crawley News on 22^nd December 1993, three days after his forty-third birthday, reported that Three Bridges had signed Junior from Alma Swanley. The report describes him as a ‘central defender’, maybe he dropped back into defence as he lost his trademark pace?

There is one further mention of Junior’s time with Three Bridges during the 1993/94 season.  The Crawley News of 2^nd March 1994, commenting on Three Bridges’ 2-0 win over Peacehaven & Telscombe, reported Three Bridges’ boss Bobby Nash as saying:

We are starting to believe in ourselves and with both Dave Yearwood and Junior Crooks to come back, as well as well as some good youngsters coming through, there is competition for places.

Not much to go on, but it proves Junior was there and even at the age of forty-three was still involved.

A Wembley swansong?

The 1993 FA Cup Final, played on  20^th May 1993, featured Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday. A Black footballing legend, Ian Wright, scored the Arsenal goal in a 1-1 draw.

There is a tantalising possibility that Junior Crooks, another Black footballing legend, may have stepped onto the hallowed Wembley turf that day too.  The 23^rd April edition of the Maidstone Telegraph reported:

The flesh may be weak but the spirit is certainly willing among the over-35 veterans of North Kent club Canada Dry as they contemplate playing at Wembley in the twilights of their careers.

At a time when contemporaries have either hung up their boots or are considering doing so, Canada Dry’s golden oldies are ninety minutes away from a Wembley appearance following Sunday’s shock 6-5 win over 1991 finalists and favourites Arnold at Welling in the Umbro sponsored national veterans cup.

Victory on May 2 at Stockport’s Edgeley Park ground against the winners of the North West v North East semi-final will book the club’s place at Wembley for a 25 minutes each way match against a professional veterans side as a prelude to the FA Cup final on 15^th May.

Junior is named among the Canada Dry players.

There are two problems with our romantic ending to Junior’s story, firstly, the Cup Final was on 20^th not the 15^th but, secondly, and even worse, we have been unable to trace the result of the game at Edgeley Park.

So, with apologies for historians amongst you, let’s move for a moment from the world of history into the genre of fiction:

In the last minute of the scheduled fifty, Junior Crooks jinked past two men before lashing a left foot shot into the top corner of the net and wheeling away to celebrate in front of the fans gathered behind the goal. Everyone watching agreed afterwards that it was the best goal scored at Wembley that day.

The not so ‘beautiful game’?

In 1975 the well-known journalist, Bernard Joy, wrote that it was unlikely a ‘coloured player’ would ever play for England because they lacked the temperament, couldn’t handle English conditions, didn’t like physical contact and wouldn’t be able to overcome the barracking of fans. He was proved wrong just three years later when Viv Anderson was called up for his first cap. Junior Crooks was never in contention for a cap but he faced exactly the same prejudice and bigotry expressed in the Bernard Joy quote, maybe more so, non-League football could be brutal, the pitches appalling and the barracking of fans up close and personal. That Junior sustained the career he did through two decades when racism was prevalent in the English game is testament not just to his skill but to his determination and courage.

As a young and gifted attacker who played with pace and flair, Junior was clearly loved by many fans of the clubs he played for; as a young, gifted and Black attacker who played with pace and flair, these sentiments would not have been shared by supporters of the teams he came up against. There would have been barracking and, as Junior played through the 1970s and 1980s, we can, sadly, be sure that some of it would have been racist in nature. He lived, worked (he was described in one report as a cable layer from Plumstead) and played his football in parts of south-east London and north-west Kent not especially noted for their enlightened attitudes to race and colour – attitudes that lingered on, the murder of Stephen Lawrence in Eltham in April 1993 is perhaps the most notorious example. How did Junior deal with the abuse? Well, he isn’t around to ask but we can reasonably assume that he dealt with it in the same way other footballers who have told their story did, by blocking their ears as best they could and concentrating on shoving their words down the abusers’ throats in the only way they could – by playing better and, in Junior’s case, turning defenders inside out and scoring goals.

We can also be sure that sometimes defenders would have played the ‘race card’ to wind him up, there are examples in our book, ‘Football’s Black Pioneers’ – see the Swindon chapter, for instance, to read Chris Kamara’s story. The Reading Evening Post of 26^th August 1981, reporting on Hampton’s 3-0 loss to Maidenhead, tells us that:

Hampton were down to ten men at this time having had Junior Crooks sent off after just ten minutes for an off-the-ball incident which left Steve Palfrey lying on the ground.

We cannot know what happened but if Junior had retaliated to a racist comment from the Maidenhead defender he would not have been the first to be sent off in such circumstances, nor would he be the last, Chris Kamara was sent off in 1988 for breaking an opponent’s jaw after being baited by him throughout the game.

If Junior was sent off only twice in a career spanning twenty-three years (quite a big ‘if’ admittedly!) we should praise his remarkable self-control rather than criticise his occasional lapses.

Junior Crooks: R.I.P. – A Bromley Legend