Crawley Town FC

1 before switching again 5 years later to the Metropolitan League. The league was a competition for both professional and amateur sides. Crawley retained their amateur status and went on to win the Metropolitan League Challenge Cup in 1959. Crawley turned semi-professional in 1962 and the following year they joined the Southern League First Division. In 1969 they were promoted to Premier Division of the Southern League but the joy was short lived as the following they were relegated back to the first division where they remained until the 1983-84 season when they were promoted as runners-up. The club have enjoyed many cup successes, winning the Sussex Professional Cup in 1970, the Gilbert Rice Floodlight Cup in 1980 and 1984, the Southern Counties Combination Floodlight Cup in 1986, and the Sussex Senior Cup in 1990 and 1991. The Sussex Floodlight Cup was won in three consecutive years from 1991 to 1993 and also again in 1998/99. Despite several cup successes, Crawley's most successful cup run at the time was in the 2010/2011 season when they reached the The FA Cup fifth round proper. During the cup run they defeated Derby at home 2-1 in the Third Round. The club enjoyed a money-spinning tie with former Premier League with Manchester United at Old Trafford in front of 75197 fans. In 2004 The Red Devils signed off their 20-season stay in the Premier Division of the Southern League by wrapping up the championship in convincing style, ending up 12 points clear of the field and adding their second successive League Cup success and the league’s Championship Match trophy. The title was wrapped up with four matches remaining, as a 3-0 victory at Welling sparked emotional celebrations from a large travelling contingent. Crawley would now be playing in the Football Conference, the highest level of Non-League football, for the first time in their history. In 2011 after major investment into the club, the team was promoted to the Football League for the first time. They also reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, playing in front of 74.000 fans against Manchester United at Old Trafford including 10,000 Crawley fans. In February 2012 they again reached the fifth round after knocking out Bury, Redbridge, Bristol City and Hull City before losing 2-0 to Premier League Stoke City at the Broadfield Stadium. In May 2012 Sean O’Driscoll was appointed Evans’ successor but within two months had accepted the manager’s job at Nottingham Forest. Richie Barker was appointed as his replacement in August 2012 and guided Crawley to a creditable 10th-place finish but after a run of seven League games without a win, with just one goal scored, he left the club by mutual consent in November 2013. The experienced John Gregory was appointed as his replacement and guided Reds to 15th place despite a punishing end to the season when they had to play 21 games in ten weeks. In December 2014, John stepped down from his duties to undergo a heart operation and former Wales international Dean Saunders was appointed Interim Manager until the end of the season. Saunders was unable to prevent Reds from dropping back into League Two after three seasons at that level and left the club in May 2015. He was replaced by the former Cheltenham boss Mark Yates and Reds finished 20th in their first season back in League Two. In March 2016 Turkish businessman Ziya Eren became the club’s new owner and replaced Yates with the highly-respected and experienced former Chelsea, Arsenal youth and reserve-team coach Dermot Drummy in May 2016. Drummy brought in a total of 22 new players during the summer of 2016 and the club was able to invest in its infrastructure thanks to Mr Eren's generosity. But after a poor second half of the season, which ended with Reds 19th in the table, Drummy left the club and on May 23 former Leeds and Liverpool winger Harry Kewell was appointed Head Coach with ex-Northern Ireland international Warren Feeney as his assistant. Under Kewell Reds finished 14th in 2017-18, their highest position since relegation, but Kewell and Feeney left in August 2018 to join Notts County. He was replaced on September 7, 2018, by the Italian coach Gabriele Cioffi, a former defender with extensive coaching experience abroad. He was also part of the management team at Birmingham City during the 2016-17 campaign. Gabriele signed a three-year contract and a few days later named the former Blackburn and Fleetwood youth coach Nathan Rooney as his assistant. Reds finished the season in 19th place and sealed a ninth season as a Football League club. Off the pitch the club entered into a two-year agreement with Brighton & Hove Albion to stage FA Women's Super League and under-23 fixtures at The People's Pension Stadium, the new name for our home after the club agreed a naming rights deal with the Crawley-based company in December 2018. Crawley kicked off the new year brightly with two consecutive wins to nil at The People’s Pension Stadium against Colchester United and Cheltenham Town. Cioffi’s side finished in 19th position after vital away wins against Yeovil and Exeter in mid-April secured our football league safety for a tenth year. On the final day we defeated already promoted Tranmere Rovers in West Sussex 3-1 in a marvellous display to put a positive on a tough season in all competitions. After a tricky pre-season in terms of results, Cioffi’s Crawley started the 2019/20 season with a bang, sitting within the play-off places by the end of September, with only two defeats in ten league games and a marvellous EFL Cup run. The Reds defeated first-round opponents Walsall in mid-August 2-3, with goals from Ashley Nadesan, Filipe Morais and Tom Dallison in a dramatic evening game in the West Midlands that put us into the second-round hat where we would be drawn at home to Premier League Norwich City. Norwich made changes for the game but still named players like Ralf Fahrmann, Ben Godfrey and Emiliano Buendia in the side who failed to shine at a packed-out stadium. Crawley were huge underdogs for the clash, but looked up for the battle from the first whistle as Ollie Palmer looked to give England man Ben Godfrey a scare early on. Norwich controlled possession but it was the Reds who struck first as Bez Lubala’s 17th minute effort deflected past ex-Germany international Fahrmann and into the net. The Red Devils were defending like heroes and were able to deny danger from some of England’s most exciting players. Emi Buendia struck the woodwork twice but it was red glory in West Sussex as Crawley progressed with a clean sheet. Stoke City of the Championship came next and again proved to be a massive test for League Two Crawley. The Potters took a first-half lead through Sam Vokes but the Reds levelled the game up as Nathan Ferguson found the net. Crawley were the dominant force in the tie that ended in penalties as Sam Vokes’ missed spot-kick was the difference to send Crawley through to round four, where they lost out to Colchester United. After achieving only six points from a possible thirty before December of 2019, Manager Gabrielle Cioffi was replaced with current Manager John Yems, who took charge of a successful final four months of a prematurely curtailed 2019/20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yems’ Crawley were unbeaten in nine in the second-half of the season and only lost three times in eighteen fixtures under the new Manager. After a six-month layoff during the pandemic, the 2020/21 season began behind closed doors as government rules meant that supporters had to stay at home. Despite being knocked out of the Carabao Cup in the first round against Championship Millwall, Crawley embarked on yet another memorable cup run, this time in the Emirates FA Cup. Crawley played one of their most memorable games in an 125-year history in the first-round, defeating Torquay United 5-6 after extra-time, coming back from two two-goal deficits as Tom Nichols starred, scoring three and assisting two. The Reds then defeated League One Wimbledon away from home at the new Plough Lane which set up an attractive third-round tie at home against Leeds United. The Leeds clash will go down as our most famous result within our history, and despite COVID-19 rules not allowing the attendance of fans, the game was covered live on BBC One for the nation to watch. Leeds fielded a team including England star Kalvin Phillips, Spain international Rodrigo Moreno and Ex-Real Madrid goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, and Brazil star Raphinha was introduced off of the bench. Against all odds and pre-match predictions, Crawley destroyed Premier League Leeds United 3-0, with goals from Nick Tsaroulla, Ashley Nadesan and Jordan Tunnicilffe. A classic fixture under John Yems that will be remembered forever. Crawley exited in the fourth round after a 2-1 away defeat to AFC Bournemouth, during a time where a number of Crawley players were ruled out with COVID-19, meaning it was difficult to field a side for the game that was lost so narrowly in a valiant attempt against Championship opposition. The club sold striker Max Watters for a record undisclosed fee in January 2021 to Cardiff City. Crawley finished the 2020/21 season in 12th place, a record high since their relegation from League One in 2015.