The 2020–21 season is Crawley Town's 125th season in their history and the sixth consecutive season in the League Two, the fourth tier of English football, following a 13th-place finish in the previous season. The club will also participate in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy. The season covers the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.
Background and pre-season The 2019–20 season saw Crawley Town compete in League Two for the fifth consecutive season. Despite the club reaching the Fourth round of the EFL Cup, their best performance in the competition, manager Gabriele Cioffi left the club by mutual consent on 2 December 2019, with the club having won just once in their previous 11 matches with the club 17th in League Two. Cioffi was replaced by former manager John Yems three days later on a deal until the end of the season. Following an upturn in the club's form, with Crawley losing just 2 of their following 11 matches, Yems' contract was extended until the end of the 2022–23 season in late January 2020. However, in March 2020, the League Two season was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Crawley still having a further 9 games to play. The season was later cancelled, with Crawley finishing 13th after clubs agreed to base the final table on points per game.
Following the conclusion of the previous season, defender Jamie Sendles-White, midfielders Jimmy Smith and Josh Payne and forward Ibrahim Meite were all released following the expiration of their contracts, whilst David Sesay, Josh Doherty, Ashley Nathaniel-George, George Francomb, Dannie Bulman and Lewis Young all signed new contracts. Ollie Palmer and Panutche Camara were both offered new contracts by the club, but rejected these offers, instead signing for League One clubs AFC Wimbledon and Plymouth Argyle respectively. Forward Beryly Lubala also left the club after League One side Blackpool signed the player for an undisclosed fee on 1 September 2020, and Gyliano van Velzen left by mutual consent the following day.
Across the summer 2020 transfer window, the club brought in defenders Archie Davies and Tony Craig from Brighton & Hove Albion and Bristol Rovers, midfielders Sam Matthews, Tyler Frost and Jake Hessenthaler from Bristol Rovers, Reading and Grimsby Town, forward Sam Ashford from Hemel Hempstead Town and winger Zaid Al-Hussaini, all following the expiry of their contracts at their previous clubs. Goalkeeper Tom McGill also rejoined the club on a season-long loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, having been on loan at the club for the second half of the previous season.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the beginning of the League Two season, which was originally due to occur in August 2020, was delayed to 12 September 2020, whilst the first round of the EFL Cup was scheduled to take place on 5 September 2020.
Pre-season On 14 August 2020, Crawley announced their first pre-season friendly against the Crystal Palace under-23 team, which took place on 15 August 2020. Despite being 1–0 down at half-time, second-half goals from Sam Ashford and Brian Galach helped secure a 2–1 victory. The following week, on 22 August 2020, Crawley drew 2–2 in a friendly against the Tottenham Hotspur under-23 team with Crawley's goals coming from Ricky German and Emmanuel Adebowale in the last eight minutes. Crawley's third friendly match took place three days later, with the club drawing 1–1 against the Watford under-23 team at Hop Oast in Horsham. WinDrawLoss DateTimeOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendance13:00Crystal Palace U23Home2–1Ashford, Galach0 Tottenham Hotspur U23Away2–2German, Adebowale0 Watford U23Home1–1Nadesan0
Review
September Crawley started the season with a home EFL Cup tie to Championship side Millwall in the first round of the competition on 5 September 2020. After going 2–0 down after 31 minutes, as a result of a Scott Malone goal and a Jordan Tunnicliffe own goal, Sam Ashford scored on his senior debut from a one-on-one situation on 33 minutes to get a goal back for Crawley before a Matt Smith header scored a 3–1 victory for Millwall. Two days later, Crawley signed former Bristol Rovers forward Tom Nichols on a one-year contract. Crawley's second match of the season came in the EFL Trophy on 8 September 2020 after losing 2–1 with Nathan Ferguson scoring Crawley's goal after 78 minutes. Crawley's League Two campaign began on 12 September, with Crawley playing away to Port Vale. They lost 2–0 as a result of a Mark Cullen brace. Their first victory of the season came in their following league match, with Crawley beating Scunthorpe United 1–0 at home. Tom Nichols scored the only goal of the game after 15 minutes on his first league start for Crawley. Crawley then won 3–2 away at Oldham Athletic, with Danny Rowe opening the scoring for Oldham after 30 minutes, though Crawley equalised within a minute as Ashley Nadesan scored from a low Tarryn Allarakhia cross. George Francomb scored off the post from 25 yards out after 39 minutes to put Crawley into the lead and Nichols doubled Crawley's lead with a header with a header on 69 minutes, before Conor McAleny scored Oldham' second with 10 minutes remaining.
October Crawley's first draw of the season came on 3 October 2020 with a 1–1 draw at home to Southend United; Nadesan opened the scoring for Crawley after 21 minutes before Southend equalised with six minutes remaining. Midfielders Ashley Nathaniel-George and Filipe Morais left the club; Nathaniel-George for an undisclosed fee to Southend United, whilst Morais agreed to mutually terminate his contract. Crawley signed forward Max Watters and defender Nick Tsaroulla on one-year contracts, following the expiry of their contracts at Doncaster Rovers and Brentford respectively. They lost 2–0 away to Cheltenham Town, with Tony Craig scoring an own goal for Cheltenham before Andy Williams scored their second. Midfielder Henry Burnett joined the club on a one-year contract. Crawley lost their second EFL Trophy game 2–1 at home to Arsenal under-21, with Watters scoring on his debut for Crawley. Jake Hesketh joined on a season-long loan from Southampton. On 17 October 2020, they defeated Morecambe 4–0 at home; Francomb scored from the edge of the area in the 52nd minute, before Watters scored two goals on his league debut to Crawley on 67 and 71 minutes respectively to make the score 3–0. Tyler Frost scored his first goal of the season in the 77th minute to complete the scoring. Watters scored again in Crawley's following match to put them 1–0 up against Exeter City, but Exeter scored twice in the second half to consign Crawley to a 2–1 defeat. Crawley drew 1–1 with Salford City, with Francomb scoring his third of the season after 72 minutes after Salford scored through James Wilson in the 57th minute. On 27 October 2020, Crawley again won 4–0 at home, this time against Tranmere Rovers; Crawley scored three goals in thirteen first-half minutes with Watters opening the scoring after 13 minutes, before Nichols and Jordan Tunnicliffe scored in the 21st and 24th minutes respectively. Frost finished the scoring after 77 minutes with a low shot into the bottom corner. Crawley won again with a 2–1 victory over Cambridge United, who took an early lead through Joe Ironside. Crawley equalised in the 44th minute through Watters, who finished first-time from an assist from Nichols, and Nichols scored himself in the 56th minute with a header from a corner, before Hesketh was sent off in the 87th minute.
November Crawley were defeated 1–0 by Walsall in their first match of November, with former Crawley defender Mat Sadler scoring Walsall's only goal in the 74th minute. Goalkeeper Stuart Nelson joined the club on a three-month deal on 7 November 2020. The following day, Crawley defeated Torquay United away 6–5 after extra time. Torquay were 2–0 up at half-time with goals from Aaron Nemane and Ben Whitfield, before a head injury early in the second half saw keeper McGill substituted in place of new signing Nelson after the game was held up for 16 minutes. Crawley got a goal back through a Nichols penalty won by Nadesan after 83 minutes, before they equalised in the 14th minute of second-half added time through Watters. Torquay again took the lead in the 18th minute of added time through Josh Umerah, before Tunnicliffe scored tapped in with his right foot in the 21st minute of added time, to send the match to extra time. Asa Hall converted two penalties either side of half time in extra time to put the hosts 5–3 ahead, but two late goals from Nichols, in the 108th and 113th minutes respectively, completed his hat-trick and levelled the tie once again. Crawley won the tie in the 118th minute through Ashley Nadesan with a left-footed shot. Crawley were eliminated from the 2020–21 EFL Trophy after finishing 3rd, despite winning their final group stage match 2–0 at home to Ipswich Town; Brian Galach opened the scoring with a header from an Ashford cross after 17 minutes, before he scored his second goal after 55 minutes. Crawley drew 1–1 in League Two away to Harrogate Town, with Watters opening the scoring for Crawley after 27 minutes after a pass from Nichols from the byline. However, Harrogate striker Jack Muldoon equalised after 85 minutes with his sixth goal of the season. Crawley lost their 14-game unbeaten run at home with a 3–0 defeat to Carlisle United. Carlisle opened the scoring in the 43rd minute through Rhys Bennett, and their second and third goals came through Joshua Kayode and Aaron Hayden in the 55th and 62nd minutes respectively. Crawley defender David Sesay was sent off after 80 minutes, having received a straight red card for a professional foul. They then recorded a second successive home league defeat as, despite a 4th-minute opener from Watters to put Crawley 1–0 up at home to Grimsby Town, goals either side of half time from Matt Green and Max Wright saw Crawley record a 2–1 defeat. Crawley progressed to the third round of the FA Cup after beating League One side AFC Wimbledon 2–1. Wimbledon took the lead through a Joe Pigott header after 22 minutes, but Nadesan's chipped shot from Jack Powell's through ball in the 30th minute equalised the score. Watters scored the winner for Crawley with a right-footed shot from close range in the 50th minute.
December