March 2 – FIFA has agreed to fund the restoration of the grave of William McCrum, the man responsible for first proposing the penalty kick to football’s lawmakers which was adopted back in 1890.
Penalties were initially treated with scorn by England, who called them “the Irishman’s motion”, unsportsmanlike and against the Corinthian spirit, but they soon became adopted across the world.
The decision to restore McCrum’s grave was taken at the International FA Board meeting in Belfast at the weekend.
A statement said: “The IFAB acknowledged the contribution of the late William McCrum, who, as a member of the Irish FA, proposed the idea of the penalty kick in 1890. FIFA has agreed to fund the restoration of William McCrum’s grave, which has fallen into disrepair.”
McCrum came from a family of wealthy linen mill owners but according to his great-grandson Robert, died “alcoholic, penniless and alone, in a boarding house” just before Christmas in 1932. He is buried within the grounds of St Mark’s Parish Church in Armagh.
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