Crapnell, who was born in Paisley, began his club career in the junior leagues with Cambuslang Rangers.[4] He was already 23 when he moved to Airdrie in 1926 as a replacement for Alex Dick who had been advised to stop playing,[5] but within three years he had become the Diamonds club captain and achieved international recognition, receiving all of his caps while with Airdrie.[5]
Motherwell signed him in January 1933 for a fee of £2,000.[4] He helped them reach the 1933 Scottish Cup Final,[6] but they lost 1–0 to Celtic.[4] He retired in 1934 to try a career in insurance.[4][5] After a brief comeback in the Motherwell reserve team, he retired again.[4]
Crapnell was 5 feet 5 inches tall, which was small for a defender.[1] He had a "reputation for tenacity", however, and won nine Scotland caps between 1929 and 1933, only finishing on the losing side once[1] and captaining the team in four of those appearances.[7] He is the most capped player in Airdrieonians' history.[1][5] Crapnell also represented the Scottish League XI five times (all victories) between 1929 and 1932.[8]
^John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)