John Edward "Jack" Crane (26 August 1913 - 5 January 1974) was an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Essendon

Essendon Football Club

The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

, Richmond

Richmond Football Club

The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed The Tigers, is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Australian Football League. Richmond shares healthy rivalries with Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. After winning five premierships between 1967 and 1980, the club hit the depths in 1990,...

 and North Melbourne

North Melbourne Football Club

The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL).

Although recruited from Preston

Northern Bullants

Northern Blues Football Club is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston and currently playing in the Victorian Football League representing the central and outer areas of Melbourne...

, Crane played originally for the South Melbourne

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

 seconds. He started his VFL career at Essendon and kicked five goals on his debut, against Hawthorn

Hawthorn Football Club

The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

 at Windy Hill

Windy Hill, Essendon

Windy Hill is an Australian rules football ground located in Essendon, a northwestern suburb of the Melbourne metropolitan area....

.

A dispute with a teammate meant that he was cleared to Richmond after just one more league game and he was used as a full-back at his new club. He spent much of the 1940 VFL season

1940 VFL season

Results and statistics for the Victorian Football League season of 1940.-Premiership season:In 1940, the VFL competition consisted of twelve teams of 18 on-the-field players each, plus one substitute player, known as the 19th man...

 as a key forward, kicking 21 goals. In the grand final that season he was Richmond's centre half-back

Centre half-back

In Australian rules football, the centre half-back refers to a position in the half-back line of a football field.Centre half back is considered a key position in defence. Examples of centre half-backs include Glen Jakovich, Darren Mead, Tom Harley and Chris Tarrant....

, but couldn't prevent a 39 point loss.

Crane served with the Australian armed forces during the war, having enlisted in 1943. He returned to football in 1945, playing 17 games for North Melbourne.

He later coached the Caulfield Football Club

Caulfield Football Club

Caulfield Football Club was an Australian rules football club which played in the VFA from 1965 until 1987. Nicknamed The Bears, they were based in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield and wore a blue and white guernsey.-History:...

.

Two brothers, Len

Len Crane

Len Crane was an Australian rules footballer who played for South Melbourne and Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League .Crane made his VFL debut in 1947 with South Melbourne and played as a half back flanker...

 and Tom Crane

Tom Crane

Tom Crane was an Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne and North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League ....

, were also league footballers.