Career
After retiring as a player he also coached both Distillery and Ireland. On February 20, 1897 he became the first coach in the history of modern football to take charge of a national team Crone’s younger brother Bob Crone was also a notable football player, playing for Glentoran, Middlesbrough, West Bromwich Albion and N ottinghamshire County, as well as Distillery and Ireland.
Crone, an all-round athletic, was also a useful cricketer and distance runner.
Distillery
Crone spent sixteen seasons at Distillery playing as a defender. His club team mates included fellow Irish internationals Olphert Stanfield, Jack Reynolds and Samuel Johnston.
Crone could play anywhere across the back-line, but was most familiar as a left-back or left-half. He also played for Distillery during the inaugural Irish League season of 1890-1891 and went onto make 35 league appearances for the club before he retired in 1893.
Irish International
Between 1882 and 1890 Crone also played 12 times for Ireland.
He made his debut on February 25, 1882, while still in his teens, in a 7-1 defeat to Wales. This was only Ireland’s second ever international. He remained a regular for Ireland throughout the following eight seasons.
On April 7, 1888 he scored for Ireland in a 5-1 defeat to England.
All of his 12 international appearances ended in defeat, a statistic which results in Crone holding the unfortunate record of finishing on the losing side more times then any other international player during the 1800s. After retiring as a player, Crone became a coach at Distillery, a post he held for fifteen seasons.
On February 20, 1897 he also took charge of the Ireland team for the 6-0 defeat against England. This was the first time in the history of modern football that a coach took charge of a national team
Distillery
Irish Cup
Runner Up 1887-1888: 1
County Antrim Shield
Runner Up 1889-1890: 1
Belfast Charities Cup
Runner Up 1883-1884, 1889-1890, 1891-1892, 1892-1893: 4.
