William McCrum, the goalkeeper credited with inventing the penalty kick in 1890, came from which country?
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Ireland
William McCrum was an Irish goalkeeper from near Milford in County Armagh. He proposed the penalty kick through the Irish Football Association in 1890.
Sceptics mocked his idea as the "Irishman's motion", or the "death penalty".
McCrum was born on 7 February 1865 in Ballynahone Beg, a townland near Milford, and kept goal for Milford Football Club. In the first Irish Football League season, 1890–91, Milford finished bottom without a single point. His lasting mark came elsewhere. At the time, defenders routinely fouled attacking players on purpose to stop a goal, and McCrum's answer was a kick taken from any point 12 yards from the goal line. Irish FA general secretary Jack Reid took the proposal to the International Football Association Board's meeting in June 1890. A year later, on 2 June 1891 in Glasgow, it was approved as Law 13, with changes to where the goalkeeper and other players could stand. Away from football, McCrum headed the family linen firm and played cricket and rugby. He died in 1932 and is buried in St Mark's Churchyard, Armagh; his grave was restored with FIFA funding in 2015. Milford House, the family home famously known as the home of the penalty kick, has stood derelict since 1994.
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