Going into the 2023-24 season Crawley Town were favourites to be relegated from League Two after narrowly avoiding relegation the season before. However, Scott Lindsey’s men seemingly defied the odds achieving promotion to League One via the EFL playoffs.
What followed in the summer window after an amazing season for the club was the core of their squad being dismantled, losing key names and fan favourites such as star striker Danilo Orsi, the number one keeper Corey Addai, and the Duo of Lawerence Maguire and Liam Kelly to MK Dons.
Ownership And Financial Issues at Crawley Town
The main issue for Crawley Town is the financial side with other clubs further down the EFL pyramid having the resources and wage budget to offer their key players better deals. The ownership of Crawley Town is a crypto group that goes by the name of WAGMI United.
They have already come in for criticism by the fan base on occasion and this relationship was further strained after losing many of their key players following promotion. After the squad from that playoff final was pulled apart arrivals were a must with over 18 players coming into the club in the summer.
2024/25 League One Campaign Affected By Key Departure
Going into the current campaign, Crawley Town were favourites to go down but despite this with the new squad in place they started the season with two wins from two. Around the start of the season, there was speculation on more departures, this time around their manager Scott Lindsey.
There was no surprise about this from the perspective of the Red Devils fanbase and football fans outside the club as Scott was appointed in January 2023, keeping Crawley Town up before leading them to the promotion from the fourth tier.
There was interest in Lindsey around English football before the season but his continued success with Crawley Town in League One caused this to ramp up with him eventually leaving to take charge of MK Dons in League Two in September.
Despite speculation around Scott taking a higher-up job, he took a step down to the team that Crawley Town beat in the playoffs last season, joining two of their key players from the previous campaign, Liam Kelly and Lawerence Maguire.
Difficult Times Appear Set to Continue
Crawley Town are very much in the League One relegation battle. They are five points adrift of safety, albeit with two games in hand.
New manager Rob Elliot was brought in from National League side Gateshead F.C but hasn’t had the easiest start in his role. His side have had to contend with injuries to key players without being in a position to compete against the other teams in the division financially.
The exodus of key players from the promotion-winning team is continuing in the January transfer window with Jay Williams leaving to join MK Dons. The midfielder played 43 times in League Two last season and topped the club’s charts for successful tackles, averaging 1.5 per game.
This now being the third Crawley Town player to join former manager Scott Lindsey. Overall, it has been a rollercoaster two years for Crawley Town who have faced many ups and downs both on and off the pitch. There does not appear to be any quick fix at the Broadfield Stadium.