Harry Cripps, was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional footballer who played for South East London

South East (London sub region)

The South East is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lewisham and Southwark. The sub region was established in 2008. The south east has a population of 1,300,000 and is the location of 500,000 jobs...

 side Millwall

Millwall F.C.

Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...

 for the majority of his career, becoming a cult figure in the process.

Initially on the books of Millwall's bitter rivals West Ham

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

, he was a member of the FA Youth Cup

FA Youth Cup

The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under–18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part...

 Final team of 1958-59 alongside Bobby Moore

Bobby Moore

Robert Frederick Chelsea "Bobby" Moore, OBE was an English footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years and was captain of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup...

, Eddie Bovington

Eddie Bovington

Eddie Bovington is an English former footballer who played for West Ham United as a wing-half.Bovington played Junior football with West Ham, and was a member of the FA Youth Cup Final team of 1958-59 alongside Bobby Moore, Harry Cripps and Jack Burkett.He made his senior debut in a Football...

 and Jack Burkett

Jack Burkett

Jack Burkett is an English former footballer who played as a full-back.Burkett started his career at West Ham United, joining the senior team in July 1958. He played in the FA Youth Cup Final of 1958-59 alongside Bobby Moore, Harry Cripps and Eddie Bovington, and made his League debut against...

.

Cripps was signed by The Lions in 1961 and made his first team debut on 19 August 1961 against Wrexham

Wrexham A.F.C.

Wrexham Football Club are a professional football team based in Wrexham, north-east Wales, who play in the English football pyramid.Founded in 1872, they are one of the oldest surviving football clubs in Britain and the oldest professional club in Wales...

 following an injury to Johnny Gilchrist. He rapidly became a fan favourite due to his bustling, combatative performances at full back, always looking to get forward and score goals, and becoming renowned as a fearless tackler. He was particularly prominent during Millwall's successive promotion seasons in the mid-1960s, during which time the team began an unbeaten home record at The Den

The Den (stadium)

The Den was the fifth football stadium occupied by Millwall F.C. in Cold Blow Lane, New Cross, London since their formation in Millwall on the Isle of Dogs in 1885 before moving to The New Den, in May 1993. The ground opened in 1910 and was the home of Millwall for 83 years. It boasted a record...

 which extended to an amazing 59 matches (1964–1967), drawing on the intimidating atmosphere generated by Millwall's legendary vociferous fans.

This period saw the club return to Division Two after a lengthy absence, under the guidance of Manager Billy Gray and later, Benny Fenton

Benny Fenton

Benjamin Robert Vincent Fenton was an English professional football player and manager.-Playing career:Fenton signed for Colchester Town in 1934, moving to West Ham United a year later...

. He was also a key part of what was perhaps Millwall's greatest ever side that narrowly missed out on promotion to the old Division One by just one point, during the 1971-72

1970-71 in English football

The 1970–71 season was the 91st season of competitive football in England.-First Division:Arsenal won the league championship at the end of a season which would soon be followed by their FA Cup final tie with Liverpool. Arsenal secured the league title at White Hart Lane, the home of bitter rivals...

 season, that also included the likes of Barry Kitchener

Barry Kitchener

Barry Kitchener is an English former professional footballer. He played for Millwall between 1966 and 1982. Kitchener signed for Millwall in August 1965 and made his Millwall debut on 11 February 1967 at left back, against Birmingham City replacing the injured Harry Cripps...

, Keith Weller

Keith Weller

Keith Weller was an English footballer. He is considered to be one of Leicester City's greatest ever players. Following seven operations for cancer, he died in the United States in 2004 aged 58.-England:...

 and Eamon Dunphy

Eamon Dunphy

Eamon Martin Dunphy is an Irish media personality, radio and television presenter, author, sports pundit, as well as a former professional football player. He is best known as a soccer analyst on Raidió Teilifís Éireann 's coverage of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League. He was paid...

. He left the club after fourteen seasons to join Charlton

Charlton Athletic F.C.

Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

 in 1974, by which time he had amassed a record breaking 400 league appearances for The Lions, beating the record of Jim Forsyth of 321 Football League appearances. He later became a coach at Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace F.C.

Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...

, as well as assistant manager at Charlton, Manager of Barking

Barking F.C.

Barking Football Club is am English football club based in Barking, Greater London. The club are currently members of the Essex Senior League and play at Mayesbrook Park in Dagenham.-History:...

 and Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

. He was also a coach in the contrasting environment of Winchester College

Winchester College

Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...

, an elite fee-paying school.

Arry's Bar at The New Den

The New Den

The Den , is a football stadium and the home of Millwall FC. It is situated in South Bermondsey, South East London, almost directly adjacent to the railway line between London Bridge and New Cross Gate, plus the SELCHP incinerator. It is under a quarter of a mile away from original Den...

 is named in honour of Harry Cripps, which is a play on words of his Millwall nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

, 'Arry Boy.

External links

• Millwall Hall Of Fame profile
• Arry's Bar at Millwall FC
• Obituary in The Independent
  The Independent
  The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...