Crawley Town FC
So what’s been
happening at the
Checkatrade.com
stadium over the
last 3 months? Well
if you follow the Red
Devils on the pitch,
you won’t need me to
tell you.
For the uneducated then, lets do a quick
round up of December; 2 wins at home
with a 3-2 victory over Dagenham &
Redbridge and 2-1 against Stevenage
and 2 defeats on the road, 4-2 at Barnet
and 2-0 at Wycombe.
January saw 1 win and 4 defeats, with
that solitary victory coming courtesy of
a 1-0 home win over Cambridge United,
thanks to a Matt Harrold strike. At the
time, 7 wins at home out of 8 games
meant the Red Devils were definitely
on the up. However any joy was short
lived though, as the Reds then suffered
3 defeats on the bounce against Notts
108
County, Yeovil and Mansfield Town
respectively.
that his side need reinforcements and
quickly.
All this means Crawley were In 17th place
out of 24 at the end of January and 14
points clear of relegation.
I am constantly asked why Crawley
haven’t been able to sustain the heady
days of what seems like only a few years
ago, when the Club made a spectacular
rise from non league football to League
one. I remember those FA Cup games as
well, like they were yesterday; that 2-1
victory over Championship side Derby
County and that trip to Old Trafford to
play Manchester United in front of nearly
75,000 people! In short, there was an
overseas benefactor who decided to stop
investing his money! Add that to the fact
that crowds of around 2000 just aren’t
enough to support the Club. Apparently
the majority of the 100,000 people living
in Crawley support London teams or
Brighton & Hove Albion. How true that is,
I honestly don’t know. But what I would
say is, if you miss the charm of standing
on the terraces after grabbing a pie on
the way in as I do, then get yourself along
to Crawley and support the Red Devils.
Especially if your team’s playing away
that day.
However at the time of writing, news
came through of a major development off
the pitch, where it was announced that
the Club were in “advanced negotiations”
with a consortium from abroad. However
there was a still a way to go before the
deal could go through as current Chief
Executive Michael Dunford said the board
will only sell to people who have the
best interests of the Club at heart. It is
understood the group intend to replace
the entire board and bring in their own
players from overseas to improve the
squad.
With the Club having been put up for sale
3 years ago and the need for a substantial
cash injection patently clear, Manager
Mark Yates is as eager as ever to know
what the future holds. So do the players
and the fans. What Yates does know is