VFL
Crapp started his umpiring career in the Victorian Football Association in 1895; when the newly formed Victorian Football League commenced in 1897, he was appointed to the first match at Corio Oval between Geelong and Essendon.
Crapp was well regarded amongst the players as being a very competent umpire, well able to discern a "stage" for a free kick. He was also proud of the then unusual ability to refer to all players by their names during the course of a match. In 1901, Crapp began the practice of calling the reasons for free kicks and nominating who was to take the kick by name. This innovation was soon adopted generally amongst the umpiring fraternity.
Crapp umpired at a time when the field umpire had to not only control the field play, but also return the ball into play once out of bounds (boundary umpires commenced in 1904 ). Furthermore, until 1922, the field umpire also had to return the ball to the centre following the scoring of a goal. Luckily, the overall pace of games was much slower than in the more modern eras, and Crapp maintained a relatively high standard of fitness.
By 1905, his record stood at 147 matches, including 17 finals and 7 Grand Finals (1898–1902 and 1904–05). In addition he umpired Interstate matches in 1899, 1902 and 1905.
Read more about this topic: Ivor Crapp