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Originally formed in 1896, Crawley Town have had a chequered history particularly in recent years. Early teams competed in the West Sussex League and it was sixty-five years before they progressed to the lower reaches of the Southern League.
Despite winning the prestigious Southern Counties Combination Floodlight Cup in 1986, it was not until 2004 that they climbed into the Football Conference when they wrapped up promotion by winning at the Welling San Siro. Life in The Conference was littered with financial problems not least during the ownership period of the SA Group who took over in 2005. By August 2006 things had got so bad that it was announced that the club would fold due to it’s debts. A last-minute rescue package allowed them to carry on although a ten-point deduction was enforced for entering Administration.
Season 2007/08 saw the arrival of a new manager in the not insignificant shape of former Boston United boss, Steve Evans (yes, that really is his name). In April 2008 the club was taken over by Prospect Holdings Ltd who cleared the debt and set about providing Evans with the funds to build a side capable of gaining promotion to The Football League. Evans is reported to have spent around half a million pounds in transfer fees alone but has guided “The Red Devils” to a position where they will now face The Bulls for the first time since 2005/06 when HUFC did the double over the West Sussex outfit.
The Broadfield Stadium is owned by the local Borough Council and has been home to the club since the late nineties when their former home, Town Mead, was sold to property developers. The Broadfield is dominated by the main West Stand that provides just over a thousand seats. The rest of the ground is essentially standing only with visitors usually given the North Terrace at on end although a limited number of seats are made available in the West Stand.
It will be nice to welcome back Ben Smith back to Edgar Street.
