Robert Copland-Crawford

Robert Copland-Crawford

Robert Erskine Wade Copland-Crawford , also Robert Erskine Crawford , (born September 5, 1852 at Elizabeth Castle , Jersey , † May 23, 1894 in Sudbury ) was a British soldier and sportsman . He was the first goalscorer for Scotland in an unofficial international football match. He was later convicted of manslaughter . Because of his involvement in criminal acts of war in Sierra Leone , the author Paul Brown referred to him in his book The Victorian Football Miscellany from 2013 as a "genocidal maniac".

biography

Athletic career

Robert Copland-Crawford was a student at Harrow School ; then his name was just Crawford . At the age of 17 he was chosen by Arthur Kinnaird to play football for Scotland against England . Although he was born in Jersey, where his father was stationed as a soldier, and lived in London , he came from a Scottish family and had spent much of his childhood near Edinburgh until the age of twelve . In fact, only one of the Scottish players in this selection was born in Scotland. The game was played on March 5, 1870 in London's Kennington Oval in front of 500 spectators. Crawford acted as a striker and hit the English goal with a long-range shot after 15 minutes. The press called the shot a “lucky long kick”, especially since the captain of the English team, Charles Alcock , had made the “tactical mistake” of ordering goalkeeper Alexander Morten to attack.

This made Copland-Crawford the first Scottish goalscorer in a - as yet unofficial - international football match. The game ended in a 1-1 draw . It was the first in a series of five consecutive, all unofficial internationals between the two teams, called Alcock Internationals . Robert Crawford competed four times for Scotland, his younger brother Fitzgerald twice.

Copland-Crawford also played cricket and was right-hand bat for the Marylebone Cricket Club .

military

After receiving an inheritance, the Crawford family changed their last name to Copland-Crawford in 1872 . Robert Copland-Crawford initially worked as a wine importer before embarking on a military career with the King's Royal Rifles in the tradition of his family . He served in the Afghan war as well as in the Sudan campaign and received awards for his services. Presumably because of his alcohol abuse , he resigned from the military in 1884, and his marriage also failed.

In 1888, Copland-Crawford took over a police command for six months in the Sulima district in Sierra Leone , which was then part of the British Empire . After a short time he acted arbitrarily and brutally against local warlords , especially against a leader named Ma (c) kiah. During military campaigns under his command, numerous people, including around 130 warboys (child soldiers), were killed and several villages were burned down. The then Governor James Shaw Hay , whose instructions Copland-Crawford repeatedly disregarded, and the Colonial Minister Lord Knutsford condemned his action, as it was against the law and destroyed relations with the people of the country. Copland-Crawford's behavior became increasingly erratic, and he complained of hallucinations . In 1889 he had one of his servants suspected of theft whipped and salt rubbed into his wounds. The man died as a result of the abuse. Copland-Crawford was charged with murder in Freetown , sentenced to one year imprisonment and hard labor for manslaughter , but was sent back to England on health grounds.

The following year there was a debate in the House of Commons investigating Copland-Crawford's actions in Sierra Leone. Liberal MP James Allanson Picton described his campaigns against the locals as "carnage" and "slaughter" that could have killed up to 1,000 people. Picton also criticized Copland-Crawford's release from custody: "I just wish all prisoners were given so much consideration." Other MPs, such as Baron de Worms, defended Copland-Crawford's actions. Because of the sentencing to a prison term, Copland-Crawford was denied a pension. By then he was seriously ill with liver disease and died in his family home in Sudbury in 1894 at the age of 41.

Robert Copland-Crawford was buried in the graveyard of St John the Evangelist Church at Wembley , which was co-financed by his family. An obelisk marks his grave, which also houses his brother Fitzgerald, who also died in 1894.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Robert Copland-Crawford: Information and opinions. In: InfoPlayers.net. January 26, 2021, accessed June 17, 2021 . 
2. ^ Paul Brown: The Victorian Football Miscellany. Goal-Post, Seaham, 2013, ISBN 978-0-9562270-5-8 , p. 56 .
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Gary Ralston: Shocking story of how Scotland's first international goalscorer waged genocide in Africa. In: Daily Record. July 1, 2012, accessed June 17, 2021 . 
4. ↑ Unofficial Match No 1. In: englandfootballonline.com. August 12, 2012, accessed June 22, 2021 . 
5. ^ England v Scotland 1870. In: Scottish Sport History. Accessed June 18, 2021 . 
6. ^ ^{A b} Adam Baxter: The Alcock Internationals. In: Unofficial Football World Championships. May 21, 2013, accessed June 18, 2021 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b c d} Buried at Wembley: Scotland's first goalscorer (and mass murderer). (pdf; 2.5 MB) In: scottishsporthistory.com. August 11, 2013, accessed June 17, 2021 . 
8. ^ ^{A b} Robert Copland-Crawford. In: ESPNcricinfo . June 16, 2021, accessed June 17, 2021 . 
9. ^ CLASS V. In: Hansard . June 2, 1890, p. 1761 , accessed June 17, 2021 (English). Sierra Leone - Mr. Copland Crawford. In: Hansard. June 9, 1890, p. 330 , accessed June 17, 2021 .