Editing Crewe Alexandra F.C. (section)

===Formation and early years===
Crewe Alexandra Football Club was formed in 1877 as an offshoot of Crewe Alexandra Cricket Club (established in September 1866 by Thomas Abraham{{efn|Abraham also supported the formation of the [[Cheshire Football Association]] in 1878, being appointed secretary, and was an umpire in the first [[Lancashire Senior Cup]] final, held at [[Darwen]] in 1880. He refereed the first [[Liverpool Senior Cup]] final, also in 1880, and travelled extensively to umpire Crewe Alexandra's matches. He also made a significant contribution to amateur [[Sport of athletics|athletics]], helping organise annual events at the cricket club's ground in Earle Street, as well as becoming a long-standing official of the Northern Counties Athletic Association and the [[Amateur Athletic Association]].<ref name="Dyer"/>}} and other workers at Crewe locomotive works),<ref name="Sandhu-14Oct2015">{{cite news |last1=Sandhu |first1=Nathan |title=Retail hotspot was once home of the Crewe Alexandra Cricket Club |url=https://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/news/crewe-south-cheshire-news/retail-hotspot-once-home-crewe-10249259 |access-date=16 February 2021 |work=Crewe Chronicle |date=14 October 2015}}</ref><ref name="Morse-01Sep2016">{{cite news |last1=Morse |first1=Peter |title=Crewe cricket club is planning a big 150th birthday bash |url=https://www.crewechronicle.co.uk/sport/cricket/crewe-cricket-club-planning-big-11830747 |access-date=16 February 2021 |work=Crewe Chronicle |date=1 September 2016}}</ref>{{efn|Crisp notes 1950s newspaper correspondence suggesting the formation of a football club was proposed by cricketer [[A.N. Hornby]], who also played professional football, and who elicited the support of 'Thomas Abrams' (presumably Thomas Abraham) and John O'Brien Tandy.<ref name=Crisp6>Crisp, p.6.</ref>}} and named after [[Alexandra of Denmark|Princess Alexandra]].<ref>"1877 – A Football Club is formed in Crewe, as a separate organisation from the successful Crewe Cricket Club. They take the name 'Alexandra' after Princess Alexandra": from [http://www.crewealex.net/news/article/potted-history-255195.aspx the club's official website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105125308/http://www.crewealex.net/news/article/potted-history-255195.aspx |date=5 November 2013 }}</ref><ref>Seddon, Peter (2004), ''Football Talk: The language and folklore of the world's greatest game'', Chrysalis Books, London ({{ISBN|1-86105-683-4}}), p.174.</ref> They were based at the [[Alexandra Recreation Ground]] in [[Crewe]], adjacent to [[Crewe railway station]], and played their first match against a side from [[Basford, Staffordshire|Basford]] in North Staffordshire on 1 December 1877, [[Tie (draw)|drawing]] 1–1.<ref name="Dyer">{{cite book |last1=Dyer |first1=Liam |last2=Day |first2=Dave |title=The Industrial Middle Class and the Development of Sport in a Railway Town |publisher=Manchester Metropolitan University |url=https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/618860/1/The%20Industrial%20Middle%20Class%20and%20the%20Development%20of%20Sport%20in%20a%20Railway%20Town.pdf |access-date=16 February 2021}}</ref><ref name=Crisp6/> In 1883, Crewe Alexandra's first match in the [[FA Cup]] was against Scottish club [[Queen's Park F.C.|Queen's Park]] of Glasgow, losing 10–0.<ref>{{cite news|title=English Challenge Cup. Queen's Park (Glasgow) v. Crewe|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000250/18831008/056/0004|access-date=5 February 2015|work=Sheffield Daily Telegraph|date=8 October 1883|via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In February 1886, [[William Bell (footballer, born 1859)|William Bell]] became the first Crewe player to win an international [[Cap (sport)|cap]], playing for [[Wales national football team|Wales]] against [[Ireland national football team (1882–1950)|Ireland]] in Wrexham.<ref name="EUFImatch">{{cite web |title=Wales vs Ireland international football match report |url=https://eu-football.info/_match.php?id=4359 |website=EU Football.Info |access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref> In [[1887–88 FA Cup|1887–88]], the club reached the [[FA Cup semi-finals]], defeating [[Swifts F.C.|Swifts]],<ref name=Crisp7>Crisp, p.7.</ref>{{efn|Crewe drew 2–2, and lost the replay 3–2, but successfully appealed against the result in respect of the size of the Swifts' goals (the crossbars were too low). Crewe won the replay played at a neutral ground, Derby County's [[Baseball Ground]], 2–1.<ref>Crisp, pp.7, 18.</ref>}} [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] and [[Middlesbrough F.C.|Middlesbrough]] en route, before going out to [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]]. In 1891, the football club split away from the cricket club—a step that was condemned by [[Francis Webb (engineer)|Francis Webb]], chief engineer of the town's [[London and North Western Railway]] (LNWR) [[Crewe works]], who was virulently opposed to professionalism in sport;<ref name=Redfern>Redfern, Allan (1983) "Crewe: Leisure in a railway town" in Walton, John K., and Walvin, James, ''Leisure in Britain, 1780-1939'', Manchester University Press, Manchester, pp.117-136. ISBN  0-7190-0912-X.</ref> following the schism, Webb and the LNWR said the company would "refuse to find employment in the Crewe Works for any professional football player".<ref name="Dyer"/> Consequently, "the football section of the Alexandra Club owed little to the LNWR..., despite the teams being closely linked to the local railway industry"<ref name="Kural">{{cite web |last1=Kural |first1=Tom |title=Listen, it's time to bring back the wheel! |url=https://therailwaymenreview.wordpress.com/2022/09/07/listen-its-time-to-bring-back-the-wheel/ |website=Railwaymen Review |date=7 September 2022 |access-date=7 September 2022}}, quoting Morris's ''Vain Games of No Value? A Social History of Association Football in Britain during its First Century''.</ref> (though one of Webb's successors as LNWR's chief engineer, [[Charles Bowen Cooke]], was "less intractable" and "was President of Crewe Alexandra Football Club and the professional athletics meetings it organised").<ref name=Redfern/>

On 5 March 1892, [[John Pearson (footballer, born 1868)|John Pearson]] became the first Crewe player to win an [[England national football team|England]] cap, playing against Ireland in Belfast;<ref name="Gibbons" /><ref name="Englandstats" /> he remains the only Crewe player capped for the full England side while playing for the club.<ref name="EU - JoP">{{cite web |title=John Hargreaves "Jackie" Pearson |url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=16215 |website=EU Football.Info |access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Alexandra Football Ground location 1911.png|thumb|1911 Ordnance Survey map showing Alexandra Football Ground in its current location]]Crewe secretary J.G. Hall helped found the unsuccessful [[The Combination|Combination]] (launched at Crewe's Royal Hotel in early 1889) and then the [[Football Alliance]] (1889–1892).<ref name="Whittle">{{cite news |last1=Whittle |first1=Paul |title=The Football Alliance: Teams Who Didn't Make the League |url=https://the1888letter.com/the-football-alliance-teams-who-didnt-make-the-league/ |access-date=30 November 2021 |work=THE 1888 LETTER: Football Then And Now |date=4 April 2020}}</ref> When the latter merged with the Football League, Crewe were a founding member of the [[Football League Second Division]] in 1892, but lost their league status in 1896 after only four seasons—finishing third from bottom, fourth from bottom, then bottom twice—possibly due to a player budget that was a quarter of that of other clubs.<ref>Crisp, pp. 7–8</ref> The club left the Alexandra Recreation Ground shortly before the end of the [[1895–96 Football League|1895–96 season]], and after playing at a number of different venues, including in nearby [[Sandbach]], they moved to the first [[Gresty Road]] ground in 1897 (in 1906, the club's current ground adjacent to Gresty Road was constructed to the west of its previous site).<ref name=UD>Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p62, {{ISBN|0-9547830-4-2}}</ref> Incorporated as a limited company on 29 May 1899,<ref name="CoHo1899">[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00062367/filing-history?page=5 Filed 01 Jan 1995: A selection of documents registered before 1 January 1995, including Memorandum of Association of the Crewe Alexandra Football Club Company Limited, signed 29 May 1899]. Companies House. Retrieved: 22 September 2021</ref>{{efn|The first Articles of Association lists seven directors, three of whom were railway clerks (as was the first company secretary), plus a tailor, grocer, painter and foreman.}} Crewe spent two further seasons in the second incarnation of the Combination from 1896 followed by three seasons in the [[Lancashire League (football)|Lancashire League]], before competing in the [[West Midlands (Regional) League|Birmingham & District League]] for ten years. They also won the [[Cheshire Senior Cup|Cheshire Senior Challenge Cup]] in 1907 and 1910.<ref name=Crisp7/> The team spent the 1910s in [[Central League (England)|the Central League]], finishing second in 1913–14 and 1920–21.<ref name=Crisp8>Crisp, p.8.</ref>

[[File:CreweAlexandraFC League Performance.svg|thumb|300px|right|Chart of table positions of Crewe Alexandra in the Football League.]]

Crewe rejoined the [[English Football League|Football League]] in 1921; they finished 6th in their first two seasons in the [[Football League Third Division North|Third Division North]] but did not finish as high again until [[1931–32 Football League|1931–32]] and [[1935–36 Football League|1935–36]].<ref>Crisp, p.8, p.58, p62.</ref> In October 1932, defender [[Fred Keenor]]'s last Wales appearance marked Crewe's first international cap of the 20th century.<ref name="EU - FrK">{{cite web |title=Fred Keenor |url=https://eu-football.info/_player.php?id=10362 |website=EU Football.Info |access-date=28 March 2021}}</ref> Crewe's first major honours were [[Welsh Cup]] wins in 1936 and 1937;<ref name=p12/> [[Crewe]] is not in [[Wales]] but English clubs, usually from border areas, participated by invitation. In 1936, [[Bert Swindells]] scored his 100th League goal for Crewe,<ref>Crisp, pp.62–63.</ref> going on to score 128 League goals for the club,<ref name=p12>Crisp, p.12.</ref> a [[List of Crewe Alexandra F.C. records and statistics|record that still stands]],<ref name="CAFC">{{cite web|title=Potted History|url=http://www.crewealex.net/news/article/potted-history-255195.aspx|website=Crewe Alexandra|access-date=12 July 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105125308/http://www.crewealex.net/news/article/potted-history-255195.aspx|archive-date=5 November 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref> as well as goals in both Welsh Cup finals.<ref>Morris, p.99.</ref>