William McCrum

William McCrum (7 February 1865 – 21 December 1932) was a wealthy Irish linen manufacturer and sportsman from Ulster, most famous for being the inventor in 1890 of the penalty kick in football.

[1] His father created the famous linen manufacturing firm of McCrum, Watson and Mercer and was the builder of the Victorian era model village of Milford.

William studied at The Royal School, Armagh, and then Trinity College Dublin, where he was university champion.

He lived at Milford House with his father and later worked for the family business, including a time as London representative and one of the managing directors.

His father, Robert G. McCrum, thought William would not return and was advised by his American agents to make the firm a public liability with shares in the stock market.

It appears William and Maude equally enjoyed a good lifestyle and quickly accumulated debts of over £2,000.

Since 1994, Milford House has been derelict and is today one of the top ten listed buildings at most serious risk in Northern Ireland.

The British writer and former literary editor of The Observer, Robert McCrum, is his grandson, and wrote about William McCrum:Shut out of the family business as a lightweight, eventually deserted by a faithless wife and coldly ignored by his father, Master Willie travelled the world, lived high on the hog and was well-known as a gambler.

The idea was submitted to the June 1890 meeting of the International Football Association Board by the Irish FA's general secretary and IFAB representative Jack Reid.

[8]The proposal initially generated much derision and indignation amongst footballers and the press as the "Irishman's motion" or the "death penalty" as it was known, conceded that players might deliberately act unsportingly.

[8] The penalty kick rule was approved as number 13 in the Laws of the Game, a year after it was proposed, on 2 June 1891, at the Alexandra Hotel, Bath St., in Glasgow "after considerable discussion" and with changes affecting where the goalkeeper and other players could legally stand.

[9] His great-great-grandson Jake Lush McCrum is currently the CEO of the Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals.