Crowther was born in
Bilston,
Staffordshire. A
wing half, he signed for
Aston Villa from
non-league club
Bilston Town for a fee of £750 in 1955. He was part of the Villa team that beat
Manchester United 2–1 to win the
1957 FA Cup final. Less than a year later, in February 1958, Crowther was hastily signed by United for £18,000 in the wake of the
Munich air disaster. The transfer was completed around an hour before their match against
Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup was due to kick off. Having already played for Villa in the competition that year, Crowther would normally have been
cup-tied, but United's squad had been ravaged by Munich and were therefore given special dispensation by
the Football Association to field him. United won the match 3–0, and Crowther and United went on to reach a
second consecutive final, though they lost 2–0 to
Bolton Wanderers. His time at
Old Trafford was short-lived, however, and in December that year he joined
Chelsea for £10,000; coincidentally, his debut for the Pensioners was against United. Crowther stayed with the west London side for two seasons, making 58 appearances in all competitions, before having brief spells with
Brighton & Hove Albion, where his contract was terminated apparently because of the player's refusal to appear for the club's third team, Crowther announced his retirement at the age of 27, citing his disillusionment with the game. In his later life, he was diagnosed with osteoporosis which gradually worsened. In a 2012 interview, he called winning the FA Cup with Villa "the best day of his life". He died on 28 May 2014. ==Honours==