Bob Crompton (26 September 1879-15 March 1941) was one of English football's star players before the First World War.  He played for Blackburn Rovers as an amateur for his first two years with the club because he did not want to jeopardize his amateur status in swimming and water polo. He was captain of the side which won the championship  in 1911–12 and 1913–14.  He was still playing when football resumed after the war, but injury forced his retirement at the age of forty in 1920.  He played forty-one times for England between 1902 and 1914, when the number of international matches was much lower than in later years. Compton had a reputation for robust tackling combined with a use of the shoulder charge, which would be penalized as rough play in more recent times. He maintained his trade as a plumber and was successful enough not only to be the first footballer to drive a car, in 1908, but also to become a director of a local firm of building contractors. In June 1921 the Football Association granted the special permission necessary for an ex-professional to become a director of Blackburn Rovers.   By the end of 1926 Crompton was team manager and led the team to a surprise victory in the 1928 Cup Final. He was then an early victim of player discontent and in the spring of 1931 lost both his job as manager and his seat on the board. He briefly managed Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic during 1935–6, but when Blackburn was threatened with relegation to the third division in 1937–8 he was recalled as ‘honorary’ team manager. The club escaped and in May 1938 he was back on the payroll. Under his charge Rovers won the second division championship but war then intervened.  Crompton died suddenly at his Blackburn home in 1941 after having watched a wartime fixture between Rovers and Burnley.