Crawley Town have announced the signing of former Leyton Orient academy graduate Antony Papadopoulos on an initial two-year contract, joining the club from National League South Side Welling United.
The 21-year-old midfielder becomes The League One club’s first summer signing of the Summer Transfer Window.
Speaking to the club’s media team Antony had this to say.
“I am delighted to get this deal over the line. It has been in the works for a while, so to finally get the deal done is a great feeling and I can’t wait to get started.
“I feel like I really came into my own last season, and I had a lot of appearances, and it has always been my ambition to get back into the EFL, so I am really happy to be here as it is an exciting time for the club, and I can’t wait for the season to start.”
Who is Antony Papadopoulos?
Antony is a product of the Leyton Orient Academy winning the Youth Team Player of the Year award he signed a professional contract with the O’s in 2021.
The youngster had a work experience loan at Harlow Town before going on to make his senior debut for Orient in the EFL Trophy where he scored on his senior debut in a 1-0 victory but was also sent off in his third game vs Charlton Athletic.
At the end of the 21-22 season he was subsequently released by the club joining Welling United, joining Bowers & Pitsea on a one month loan in January 2023. In total he went on to play 70 games for the National League South side, scoring four goals.
Another coup from Non-League?
Crawley’s recruitment policy has changed over the past two seasons under their current owners. Their first season, they signed players for large wages such as Dominic Telford and just about avoided relegation in League Two.
In the second season and first full season under Scott Lindsey, the club continued to use a data-driven approach which allowed them to capture players such as Jay Williams and Klaidi Lolos as well as Danilo Orsi from Grimsby and turn him into a goal scorer.
While this may not be a ‘big’ named signing, Scott and his recruitment team should be trusted given their track record of finding gems in non-league.
With the outgoing Nick Tsaroulla to Notts County, he could slot in nicely in the left wing-back position. He is also capable of playing in the centre of midfield as well as on the right-hand side.