35 Years before his '70's 'Persona' of the 'Belly'Butt' Wrestler-SHIRLEY CRABTREE was almost
half that Man-in Weight and a Very Strong RUGBY League Player!-His 'Slimmer-Line' Incarnation
along with his Super-Strength made him the 'Perfect' Candidate to enter the Ranks of Professional
Wrestling!-In those Days he reminds me of another ex-RUGBY League Player-turned Wrestler Who was to follow him 30 Years Later-MAL KIRK!- Running into either/both these Solid,Colossal Men was akin to
Running into a Brick Wall!-It began for SHIRLEY in the Late 1930's in his Native YORKSHIRE-with the
HALIFAX Strongman 'Challenging' All-Comers!
Below in 2 Very Rare Bills we can Observe the Origins of a Man who Definitely left his Indelible Mark
on The Wrestling in this Country!
Here he is at THE EMPIRE-ROTHWELL-against a POLISH 'Strongman' KARISHAFSKI on
EASTER 'TUESDAY'??-APRIL 19TH 1938!!
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Poor quality, 1932
Not found a picture of him , but the chain is broken , his dad was a Herbert.
Yes, Ron, I've found that signing for Streatham and Mitcham in July, 1935. But there is a bit more to his rugby playing.
There's also a report of him playing for Halifax as a front row forward in August, 1932, and requesting a transfer for £250 transfer fee. In November 1934 he returned to Halifax, with the report saying he has transferred from York.Negotiations completed for the transfer to London in May, 1935, signing reported in July. Then he ended up in Dewsbury in 1937.
Shirley senior did some boxing in the late 1920's but it looks to be amateur. He had a short spell in Rugby league with Streatham and Mitchum who tried pro Rugby and it lasted only 1935-1937. It was then he went to Dewsbury.
Sometimes Front Row Forward but also Hooker standing 5-10 in height and 13-10 in weight.
Thanks for the further detail. Reaching the end of his life in 1975 he was spared the nightmare that was to come
Yes that's what it says above Bernard. Halifax-York-Dewsbury. He actually went back to Halifax for a while between York and Dewsbury. Information taken from transfer documents. If there were more transfers I didn't come across them.
Just a small point in the identification discussion.
Shirley junior ,according to the write up, played rugby for Bradford Northern.
The second bill shows that senior played for Dewsbury.
Any Rugby League fans out there?
Peter
16 hours ago
The A-Z entry for Shirley incorrectly gives his date of birth as 1929 instead of 1930
We have seen references to Shirley year of birth as 1930, including the Ryan Davies book.
The reason we went with 1929 as the year of birth was that the only primary source we found with reference to Shirley's date of birth was his registration of death, 0841C/C21C/228
This states the date of birth as 14th November, 1929.
There's a possibility that the family registered the wrong date of birth but as this was the only primary source we found with an actual date we decided to go with that.
Shirley Crabtree Sr was born on 26th May, 1906. As a schoolboy he took up amateur boxing but went on to play professional rugby for Halifax in the early 1930s, transferred to York in 1932 and Dewsbury in 1937. He also had what seems to have been a short dabble with professional wrestling. In 1939, by which time he was parted from Shirley’s mother, his occupation was listed as a hewer in a colliery. Shirley Crabtree Sr died in 1975, at the time living in Grimsby.
The second handbill also refers to wrestling exhibitions not fights
I think in the second handbill he is listed as doing Bodybuilding demonstrations, not actually wrestling. Still really neat finds though.
The A-Z entry for Shirley incorrectly gives his date of birth as 1929 instead of 1930
Kept the kids happy? I was one of those kids, I hated watching his daft tag matches and seeing great wrestlers like Rocco, Finley, Quinn etc reduced to playing the fool to a Baffoon in a giant baby grow. And the token handicapped person in a wheelchair was just cringeworthy.
AS you would expect with wrestling , Shirley Senior had worked a bout with Karchinski a few weeks earlier at the Doncaster Corn exchange. Shirley in that one had retired injured. He had been a front row forward with Halifax. Don't think he wrestled for long so a very rare programme.
The A-Z will need to be updated this refers to just one match
Still, overlooked saying a great addition Adrian. I had only found two documented matches for Shirley Sr.
Made the very young children happy but once past eight years most children had a deeper appreciation of the down the card wrestlers
The thing is, Shirley Jr made the kids happy. What's out there for the kids these days?
As a legitimally tough All in Wrestler his father would turn in his grave at what followed nearly half a century later
We know Shirley was a big lad but in 1938 he was only eight years old, so I think we can assume this was his dad.
Did we Note the Name of HARRY SMITH on the above Bill?-Well below we again
see MR.CRABTREE 'Demonstrating his Unique Method of Body-Building'!!
It's MAYPOLE Day 82 Years ago at GAWTHORPE with a Feast AND a Procession! +++
EXHIBITIONS of Professional Wrestling given by a Host of Other Wrestlers!!
It's an 'Enormous Attraction'!!
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