The opponent: Crawley Town
Possibly the most irrelevant matchday thread ever......
Where on earth does one possibly start? I mean sometimes coming up with a few paragraphs is a fairly straight forward task. The first thing I want to offer you is a phone number - 08457 90 90 90, this is for The Samaritans. Mrs Rosso is not a massive football fan, she humours me from time to time, but all in all she would rather be shopping or gossiping on Faceache. After watching Sky Sports News and reading Paolo’s statement, she turned to me and said, “What an absolute fucking mess”. 5 words that sum it all up just about perfectly. We have had some fantastic posts on the forum over the last few days, really well thought out, well balanced, and all of the posters want the same thing, the long term stability and success of our football club. I hope and pray that the next few days give us the answers that we need, and possibly some assurances from whoever it is that is running our club. On a personal note, I have met Paolo a few times, as have many of us, and not only is he a decent and funny guy, but he really does give a shit about our club. He has made supporting Swindon Town become interesting again, embracing the stay-aways and showing them that the Paolo Di Canio brand of football at Swindon is really worth watching. If this is the last game, and the last thread that coincides with the reign of Di Canio, I for one will be gutted.
Today we move on to Crawley, famous for hosting Gatwick Airport in the outskirts and err, Gatwick Airport. In the 5th century, The Saxons named the area Crow's Leah, meaning a crow-infested clearing, or Crow's Wood. The name has evolved many times over the years but has had the name Crawley since some time in the 1500’s. Around 110’000 people are lucky enough to be able to call Crawley their home. For those making the journey today, if you have a little bit of time to spare, The Crawley Museum is located in Goff’s Park, which shows many interesting relics, including Stone and Bronze Age items discovered locally, and a fetching pair of Steve Evans Y-Fronts, recently found buried under the centre circle at Broadfield Stadium..
Crawley has a fairly decent list of notable folk, including penalty missing pundit, Gareth Southgate, Olympic Gold decathlete, Daley Thompson, Arsenal and England Woman’s Football Captain, Faye White, and half decent boxer Alan Minter was born in the West Sussex town back in 1951. Back in 1976, band The Cure were formed in Crawley. The football club have had somewhat of a meteoric rise through the divisions it has to be said, in 2004 they wrapped up the Southern League Premier Division title, and some 9 years later they find themselves just outside the play-off spots in the 3rd highest division in English football. On the flip side, Crawley are also a team who have had their own share of financial woes. Although they had been in administration in the late 1990s, trouble began in March 2006 when the club's players and staff were made to take a 50% pay cut and the entire squad was put up for sale; Crawley went into administration in June of that year. It was revealed by a local newspaper several days later that the Chairman, Chas Majeed, was an undischarged bankrupt and therefore banned from holding a high position within the club. Majeed later resigned from his post but remained on in some capacity. This ended up being the beginning of a rather turbulent financial period for the Red Devils. Interestingly, ex Reading Boss Steve Coppell is listed as the Director of Football at the club.
What are they saying about us? –
I really could not be bothered to join up their forum, I remember last season it was a secretive one so anyone who has access to their site can translate if they wish. However, I did manage to find one Crawley fan on Twitter, I don’t think the other has signed up for it as yet.
“Olly Dawes @OllyDawes
Heard this one before! @crawleytown: our groundstaff do not anticipate any problems and say Swindon should definitely go ahead”
Crawley Town Last 6 – WLWLWL (Currently 11th on 41 points) The last 3 defeats have been against Tranmere, Bournemouth and Sheffield United, pointing out they tend to struggle against higher opposition.
The Threat – Nicky Adams and Billy Clarke have both scored 10 goals each so far this season. Hope Akpan has also chipped in with 6.
A Warm Welcome Too – Well I was planning a hello to Gary Alexander but the striker who turned out for us some 13 years ago, was a deadline day loan move to AFC Wimbledon. In his time with us Gary made 37 appearances and scored on 7 occasions.
The irrelevant stats – The Red Devils have a fairly poor record at home, having played 12, they have lost 6 and won 6. Oddly enough, their biggest victory at home this season was 3-0, and their heaviest defeat at home is also 3-0, a score that Crawley and Swindon have become well associated with!
Head to Head – We have met on 5 occasions and have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1.
The Odds – Crawley 2/1 Draw 21/10 Swindon 13/10 – First bet I had to look at was a 3-0 victory and you can get a generous 22/1 in several outlets, must be worth a punt! Andy Williams is at 6/1 with Bet365 for the 1st goal, which seems fairly decent compared to other outlets.
The Son Says – Well, he has only just got over the disappointment of his hero being sold to one of our rivals and now I break the news to him that Paolo may not be hanging around much longer. Not happy times, but a scoreline prediction of 2-0 was softly spoken through his red and white tears.
The Prediction – 3-0, no messing, in front of a whopping 3’342, at least a third from Swindon. Goals from De Vita and a Williams double seals the 3 points. Its after the game I fear.......
And Finally – In the unlikely event of you reading this Paolo, please don't go.
