Saturday 16th November sees the seventh league meeting between Bristol Rovers and Crawley Town, with Rovers having won three of the six encounters to date, Crawley two and there’s been one draw.
Rovers were beaten 4-1 in the first meeting between the clubs, on 3rd September 2011, while the return fixture at The Mem in January 2012 was goalless.
Our last league meetings took place in 2020/21 when we did the double against Crawley, winning 1-0 at The Mem and 2-1 in the return fixture. The home win saw Leon Clarke make a goalscoring debut for Rovers, while Harry Anderson and Aaron Collins were on target in the away fixture.
Clarke, by the way, is one of 21 players who have turned out for both clubs, a list that also includes Tony Craig, Tom Nichols and Scott Shearer.
Apart from Clarke, only Danny Woodards and Antony Evans have made their Rovers league debuts against the Sussex outfit.
We have also met Crawley in four FA Cup ties, one League Cup tie and one Trophy tie. Rovers have won two and drawn two of the FA Cup
matches. Following a goalless draw in a First Round tie at The Mem in December 2013, the replay later that month was abandoned after 74minutes due to torrential rain making conditions impossible to continue. Rovers were 2-1 winners at the third attempt, earning them a Third Round visit to face Birmingham City at St Andrews.
The sides met again in the competition in 2016/17 and Rovers won the First Round tie 4-2 after extra time in a Mem replay following a 1-1 draw at Crawley.
The only League Cup tie saw Crawley win 1-0, in August 2021 while they were also 2-1 winners in last season’s Trophy game on 5th December 2023 which was Matt Taylor’s
first game in charge of Rovers.
Crawley, were promoted from League Two, via the play offs, at the end of last season and have seen a change of manager this season. Scott Lindsey was replaced as manager by former Gateshead boss Rob Elliott at the beginning of October.
The current league standings show Crawley in 21st place, with 12 points from their 15 games, while Rovers are in 16th place with 17 points from their 14 games.
Last Saturday Crawley held Huddersfield to a 2-2 draw at home while they exited the Bristol Street Motors Trophy in midweek, losing 2-1 at Wycombe.
Rovers boss Matt Taylor said this about tomorrow’s opponents in his press briefing this week; ‘They are a really dangerous team. I think they are top of the possession charts in the opposition half, so they are not only a good building team, but they move the ball really well.
‘We are at home. We have to force the issue, put them under pressure, play in their faces as much as we possibly can and make it a certain type of game where we are dictating what the tempo looks like.
‘I’m looking forward to it as it’s a different type of challenge to last week’s game against Lincoln, which is the beauty of this season. Every week will be something different.’
Crawley come to The Mem having won one, drawn two and lost three of their last six league games, while Rovers’ last six league games shows three wins, one draw and two losses.
With a tough run of matches on the horizon three points tomorrow would be a huge boost ahead of next Saturday’s trip to face Mansfield Town. It won’t be easy, few matches are in the league, but home form is vital, and The Mem needs to become a fortress once more.