Full name Thomas Henry Crumbie Place of birth Leicester, England Spouse Rosa Crumbie | Date of birth 1 February 1868 Date of death 13 March 1928 | |
Place of death Market Harborough, England Died 13 March 1928, Market Harborough, United Kingdom | ||
Thomas Henry "Tom" Crumbie (1 February 1868 – 13 March 1928) was a player and administrator for Leicester Tigers in rugby union. He has been described as a visionary and ahead of his time, his reforms and developments in the 1920s still setting the club up for its success in the 1990s.
On 2 August 1895 Crumbe was appointed as secretary of Leicester Tigers following the resignation of predecessor Tom Pettifor whose business interests took him too often away from the city. Crumbie held the position for the next 33 years, the rest of his life.
Crumbie has been credited with dragging the club to national prominence, he disbanded reserve and third teams making the First XV an invitation side and introducing players from all over the country. During his tenure 26 players from the club became capped at international level.
During Crumbie's tenure Welford Road was significantly redeveloped with the capacity rising to 35,000 and the ground hosting 5 England test matches before the RFU developed their own stadium at Twickenham.