[Football] Crawley Town FC ............. Concerned?

[wehatepalace]

Either that, or you're biased and can't see that it's a bit shit.

Let’s be honest, Brighton is “a bit shit” these days too. I was in the city last weekend having not ventured further than the Amex for quite a few years, and my first impression was that it’s become very untidy and unkept, lots of graffiti everywhere and lots of rubbish
The seafront is looking quite tatty, and traffic......lots of it.
London Road is awful and Churchill square could be any generic shopping Mall in the country.
Don’t even get me started on what West Street has become.

On the flip side, Crawley doesn’t really have any of those problems, yes it’s a bit plain but it has lots of facilities that put many other towns to shame.
Yes some of the estates are a “bit shit” but for Broadfield I give you Whitehawk, for Bewbush I give you Moulscombe.
You see every town has its shitty bits and every town it’s nice parts, obviously Brighton has the advantage of being on the coast which, having lived in Brighton is always awe inspiring, but where I live now in Crawley I can literally walk out my back gate straight into the equally impressive Tilgate Park where I can walk for miles as far as the cowdray estate in Balcombe in fact.
We also have fantastic transport links and an airport.
I love Brighton it’s where my heart is but Crawley ain’t all bad.

 

[durrington gull]

went to last home game vs Forest Green - really poor atmosphere at the Broadfield

 

[Don Tmatter]

Looks like pressure's getting to Kewell
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/4944030/crawley-manager-harry-kewell-confrontation-fans/

 

[GT49er]

Concerned? No - why should I be? I don't wish them any ill, but I'm not a Crawley fan They will have good times and bad times, and neither will have much effect on my life.

 

[BensGrandad]

It would seem that despite the size of the population of Crawley the locals do not want a FL team and prefer to watch a higher standard of football elsewhere. Perhaps they should go back to being a non league.team with their loyal support. If they got relegated would they come back up?

 

[e77]

Wouldn't be a bad thing to have a functioning League One team up the road to us to loan out players to play at a decent standard.

There problem is that their entrance to the league coincided with us picking up under Gus and, in the other direction Palace have annoyingly had a good run.

Always thought Eastbourne or Hastings might be able to support a Football League team as they have a large catchment.

 

[BensGrandad]

Wouldn't be a bad thing to have a functioning League One team up the road to us to loan out players to play at a decent standard.

There problem is that their entrance to the league coincided with us picking up under Gus and, in the other direction Palace have annoyingly had a good run.

Always thought Eastbourne or Hastings might be able to support a Football League team as they have a large catchment.

I am sure that neither Eastbourne nor Hastings could generate enough support to substantiate a League team

 

[e77]

I am sure that neither Eastbourne nor Hastings could generate enough support to substantiate a League team

People probably said the same about most teams who made it into the Football League at some stage.

 

[Bognor Seagull]

Wouldn't be a bad thing to have a functioning League One team up the road to us to loan out players to play at a decent standard.

There problem is that their entrance to the league coincided with us picking up under Gus and, in the other direction Palace have annoyingly had a good run.

Always thought Eastbourne or Hastings might be able to support a Football League team as they have a large catchment.

Concur with this. I actually feel proud that Sussex has two league football clubs. Crawley are not competition for us & certainly helps put our county on the football hotbed. Can only help both clubs if we loaned players to them. They mean us know harm so why the disdain from some? They have a tidy decent ground - much prefer that space to be used for footie than housing! Hope they survive in League 2 this year

 

[BensGrandad]

People probably said the same about most teams who made it into the Football League at some stage.

How many have risen up the leagues, not many.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I find myself indifferent to Crawley. I don't feel like we have any rivalry with them. I don't feel anything whether they win or lose, in fact, I rarely even register their results.

Perhaps if they had ever been in a position to be in direct competition with us on the pitch, we'd all feel differently, but even in the lowest of times for the Albion, Crawley were never a factor, so they're just another League Two team who mean nothing to me, like Colchester or Morecambe. They seem to have struggled for three or four seasons now. Eventually these things catch up, so I daresay if they don't drop down to the National League next May, it'll only delay the inevitable.

 

[GT49er]

I am sure that neither Eastbourne nor Hastings could generate enough support to substantiate a League team

Hmmm.....I wonder. Eastbourne population:

Only about 5000 less than Cheltenham;
10,000 more than Hartlepool;
30% higher than Accrington, Shrewsbury, Carlisle and Burnley;
50% higher than Bury or Burton;
Four times the size of Accrington;
Almost 20 times the population of Nailsworth.
Some of them are doing OK, and some have been around the lower leagues quite happily for a number of years.

As I remember, Eastbourne always seem to have had two or three teams - Eastbourne Town, Borough, United. Maybe they'd have to do an Inverness and unify them. I'm not saying they would generate enough support, but they potentially certainly could.

How many have risen up the leagues, not many.

That's not the point - the question was about supporting a FL team; that doesn't mean they have to romp into the Championship or the PL! For many smaller clubs, League 1 or 2 is fine.

 

[Whitechapel]

Don't give a shit about Crawley either way, but Delighted to see Kewell failing miserably. Absolutely detestable money-grubbing moralless c*nt

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

But they'll play the stiffs, much like Brighton always did. Isn't there a rule about how many pro's can play (or contracted players)?

Talking of which, my beloved East Preston gave the dev squad a good run for their money losing 3-2 after being 2-0 up on Tuesday. Strangely enough I think the devs did the same v Stoke yesterday.

I don't think Crawley have any stiffs as such.

 

[ManOfSussex]

Hmmm.....I wonder. Eastbourne population:

Only about 5000 less than Cheltenham;
10,000 more than Hartlepool;
30% higher than Accrington, Shrewsbury, Carlisle and Burnley;
50% higher than Bury or Burton;
Four times the size of Accrington;
Almost 20 times the population of Nailsworth.
Some of them are doing OK, and some have been around the lower leagues quite happily for a number of years.

As I remember, Eastbourne always seem to have had two or three teams - Eastbourne Town, Borough, United. Maybe they'd have to do an Inverness and unify them. I'm not saying they would generate enough support, but they potentially certainly could.


That's not the point - the question was about supporting a FL team; that doesn't mean they have to romp into the Championship or the PL! For many smaller clubs, League 1 or 2 is fine.

Easbourne Borough survived a couple of years in The Conference Premier too. Same potential with Hastings - population of over 90,000 with another 90,000+ population in the surrounding area in Rother.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Hmmm.....I wonder. Eastbourne population:

Only about 5000 less than Cheltenham;
10,000 more than Hartlepool;
30% higher than Accrington, Shrewsbury, Carlisle and Burnley;
50% higher than Bury or Burton;
Four times the size of Accrington;
Almost 20 times the population of Nailsworth.
Some of them are doing OK, and some have been around the lower leagues quite happily for a number of years.

As I remember, Eastbourne always seem to have had two or three teams - Eastbourne Town, Borough, United. Maybe they'd have to do an Inverness and unify them. I'm not saying they would generate enough support, but they potentially certainly could.


That's not the point - the question was about supporting a FL team; that doesn't mean they have to romp into the Championship or the PL! For many smaller clubs, League 1 or 2 is fine.

Wikipedia suggests it's about 99,000 in Eastbourne and about 90,000 in Hastings/ St Leonards.

Hastings is a funny old place. Terrible transport links and a bit of a drag to get to. I imagine it can be quite an insular place as a result, a bit "us against the world", which- if their football team ever made it to a decent level- could actually work in their favour and generate a real connection with the local support. I'm not convinced Eastbourne would engender quite such a similar reaction, particularly when you consider there must be a relatively high proportion of local residents who are out-of-town retirees.

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

I like having 2 league teams in Sussex, so I guess that means they are the closest I have to a 2nd team.

Chesterfield will be going down. I do fear Crawley will be joining them unless they sort themselves out.

 

[ManOfSussex]

Wikipedia suggests it's about 99,000 in Eastbourne and about 90,000 in Hastings/ St Leonards.

Hastings is a funny old place. Terrible transport links and a bit of a drag to get to. I imagine it can be quite an insular place as a result, a bit "us against the world", which- if their football team ever made it to a decent level- could actually work in their favour and generate a real connection with the local support. I'm not convinced Eastbourne would engender quite such a similar reaction, particularly when you consider there must be a relatively high proportion of local residents who are out-of-town retirees.

The buzz in Hastings during The FA Cup run 5 years ago shows the potential in regards to support.

 

[e77]

How many have risen up the leagues, not many.

True but some have. My point is geographically speaking Eastbourne or Hastings make more sense than Crawley (Worthing is very much in the Brighton catchment area and would probably need a new ground).

 

[BensGrandad]

I must admit that I would have expected Crawley to be a decent League 1 side with flirtation towards The Championship similar to Southed, Rotherham or Peterborough