Although formed in 1896, Crawley Town have only been a Football League club since winning The Conference title in 2010/11.
It’s no real surprise, therefore, to discover we have only met them in a total of seven league games, with Rovers winning three, Crawley two and the other two games ending in draws. Rovers have scored eight goals, Crawley seven.
The first league meetings between the clubs took place in 2011/12 when Rovers were beaten 4-1 at the Broadfield Stadium on 3rd September 2011. The return fixture at The Memorial Stadium, on 14th January 2012, ended goalless.
In 2020/21 we did the double over Crawley, winning 1-0 at The Memorial Stadium on 4th September 2021 courtesy of goal scored by Leon Clarke. The striker was making his Rovers league debut and scored within 90 seconds of being introduced as a half time substitute.
We recorded a 2-1 win in Sussex on 8th March 2022 when Harry Anderson and Aaron Collins were on target for Rovers with Jake Hessenthaler replying for the home side. Earlier this season, at The Mem, the sides played out a goalless draw in front of a crowd of 7,411
Some 21 players have turned out for both clubs, a total that includes the above mentioned Leon Clarke and, amongst others, Tony Craig, Sam matthews and Scott Sgearer.
I can trace only three players who have made their Rovers league debuts against Crawley; Danny Woodards first appeared for Rovers in the aforementioned 4-1 defeat at Crawley in September 2011, while Leon Clarke, as already mentioned, was Rovers’ goalscorer in the 1-0 home win ten years later and Antony Evans also made his Rovers debut in that game.
Crawley currently occupy 232nd place in the league table, with 30 points from 37 games, and are 12 points from safety. This week they dispensed with the services of manager Rob Elliott and reappointing former boss Scott Lindsey, who left them to take charge of MK Dons last summer.
Rovers are two places and 12 points better off than Crawley, with 42 points from their 30 games, but with only three away wins to their name all season, while Crawley have won just four of their 18 home games.
Last Saturday both of these sides conceded five goals, Rovers losing 5-0 at Lincoln City, Crawley going down 5-1 at Huddersfield Town.
Hopefully, we won’t see ‘a new manager bounce’ this weekend and we can achieve away win number four!
We wish all travelling Gasheads a safe trip to and from Crawley.