ABSTRACT
Crayston’s style of play was also a model for both his contemporaries and the players whom he managed later in his career, when he took over the managerial reins of Arsenal in the mid-1950s. He was described variously as a ‘quietly spoken, quick-thinking half-back, who fitted so well into the Arsenal scheme, and who would sooner cut off his leg than go over the ball at a man’;2
‘a graceful performer, height giving dominance in the air, and systematic in his approach to the game’;3 ‘tall and powerful’;4 ‘the long-striding immaculate Crayston’;5 and ‘wily and strong’.6 Crayston made 312 appearances during his lengthy career with the Gunners before moving onto the backroom staff, first as a coach, then as assistant manager and eventually in the manager’s hot seat itself.
