The 2022–23 season was Crawley Town's 127th season in their history and eighth consecutive season in League Two. The club finished 22nd in the league, three points above relegated side Hartlepool United, and also competed in the FA Cup, where they were eliminated in the first round, the EFL Cup, where they were eliminated in the third round, and the EFL Trophy, where they were eliminated in the group stage. The season covered the period from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023.
Season summary In April 2022, the club was taken over by American cryptocurrency investment group WAGMI United, whose stated goal was "to reinvent broken legacy sports management models" and wanted to turn the club into "the internet's team". Upon taking over the club they set the target of achieving promotion to EFL League One by the end of their second season. After manager John Yems was suspended by the club in April 2022, and later banned from football for 18 months for racist abuse of his own playing squad, Lewis Young took charge of the club on a caretaker basis for the final four matches of the 2021–22 season.
Crawley brought in Kevin Betsy as manager ahead of the 2022–23 season, who wanted to implement a possession-based style of football and instilled new training methods to the club, such as the use of a drone to record training sessions, and collecting urine samples from players to monitor hydration levels. Betsy was sacked on 9 October 2022 however, with the club bottom of League Two and having won one of 12 league matches, and his assistant manager Lewis Young took over on an interim basis. Young's tenure at Crawley saw the club pick up 12 points from seven matches, but despite his expectation to be given the manager role on a permanent basis, the club instead decided to appoint Matthew Etherington as manager on an 18-month contract, with co-owner Eben Smith later explaining in a thread on Twitter that he felt the club's underlying statistics were much worse than the results they picked up, and that "there was a better chance we'd be relegated with him than without him". However Etherington was sacked a month later, having managed just three matches as manager, and Darren Byfield took over from him on an interim basis. Byfield was joined in the dugout by co-chairman Preston Johnson for an away defeat to Stevenage, with Johnson the subject of ridicule online when he was overheard asking the fourth official how substitutions work. Swindon Town manager Scott Lindsey took over as manager on 11 January 2023 alongside his assistant Jamie Day, with the club 21st in the league. Lindsey won his first match as manager of Crawley, a 3–2 win at home to Salford City, but were winless in their following 8 matches. Despite this, a 2–0 win away to relegation rivals Hartlepool United on 22 April left the club needing a single point from their remaining two matches to confirm safety, which they picked up in the following match with a 0–0 draw against Walsall.
Competitions Pre-season Horsham revealed a friendly with Crawley on 10 May 2022, though this fixture was later cancelled. Sutton Common Rovers did likewise on 17 May, though this fixture was later cancelled. On 22 June, the Reds confirmed their first four pre-season friendlies, against Eastbourne Borough, East Grinstead Town, Charlton Athletic U23s and Aldershot Town. Two days later, a home fixture against Queens Park Rangers was confirmed. An eight addition was added to the schedule, against Three Bridges. A trip to Murcia and a friendly against Qatar SC were announced on 1 July, but the match against Qatar SC was cancelled later that day. the Another match was added to pre-season calendar, against Heart of Midlothian.
On 20 December, Crawley announced they would travel to the training ground of West Ham United to play a behind-closed-doors friendly against their U21 side.
DateTimeOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendance15:00Eastbourne BoroughAway1–0Appiah 48'15:00Queens Park RangersHome3–3Tilley 64', Nichols 69' (pen.), Adebowale 80'2,67419:30East Grinstead TownAway9–0Trialist x4, Trialist, Own Goal, Trialist (pen.), Trialist x219:45Three BridgesAway5–0Tilley, Appiah, Nadesan x2, Oteh13:00Heart of MidlothianAway2–2Telford x23,11019:30Charlton Athletic U23sNeutral3–2Powell, Trialist, Trialist—15:00Aldershot TownAway2–3Nadesan, Trialist—13:00West Ham United U21Away2–1Telford, Powell0
WinDrawLoss
League Two
League table
Results summary
Matches On 23 June 2022, the League Two fixtures were announced for the forthcoming season.
WinDrawLoss DateTimeOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendanceLeagueposition15:00Carlisle UnitedAway0–1—6,40319th15:00Leyton OrientHome0–1—3,85124th15:00Harrogate TownAway0–0—1,30421st19:45Northampton TownHome2–3Balagizi (2) 4', 61'2,47122nd15:00AFC WimbledonHome0–2—3,89023rd15:00RochdaleAway1–1Powell 45+2'2,27723rd15:00Salford CityAway2–2Nichols 29', Francillette 66'2,09922nd15:00GillinghamHomePostponed19:45Stockport CountyHome3–2Tilley 5', Telford 35', Tsaroulla 56'2,18720th15:00Crewe AlexandraAway0–1—3,71720th15:00Doncaster RoversAway1–4Tilley 42'5,71122nd15:00StevenageHome1–2Nadesan 47'2,73222nd15:00Grimsby TownAway0–3—6,06824th15:00Newport CountyHome2–1Tilley 40', Nadesan 57'2,83923rd15:00Mansfield TownHome3–2Nadesan 1', 46', Nichols 13'2,80221st19:45Colchester UnitedAway2–2Nadesan 45', Tilley 46'2,93119th19:45Bradford CityAway1–1Tilley 61'16,51019th15:00BarrowHome1-0Nadesan 6'2,58818th15:00WalsallAway1–2Telford 11'6,20119th19:45GillinghamHome0–0—3,28419th15:00Swindon TownHome2–0Tsaroulla 79', Powell 83'3,23019th19:45Hartlepool UnitedHome0–21,95519th15:00Tranmere RoversAwayPostponed15:00Sutton UnitedHome1–2Oteh 90+5'2,92619th19:45StevenageAway1–3Telford 89' (pen.)3,23820th15:00Newport CountyAway2–2Telford 36', 67' (pen.)4,18420th15:00Doncaster RoversHomePostponed15:00Sutton UnitedAwayPostponed19:45Grimsby TownHomePostponed15:00Salford CityHome3–2Telford 25', Conroy 34', Jenks 59'2,60020th15:00GillinghamAway0–1—9,31721st15:00Crewe AlexandraHome2–2Offord 19' (o.g.), Gladwin 90+7'2,58921st19:45Stockport CountyAway1–2Powell 9'7,02022nd15:00Leyton OrientAway0–1—7,94323rd15:00Carlisle UnitedHome2–5Oteh 50', Telford 84'2,97023rd19:45Tranmere RoversAway0–15,10523rd15:00Northampton TownAway0–15,45023rd19:45Sutton UnitedAway0–33,25323rd15:00Harrogate TownHome3–1Oteh 8', 44', Mutch 67'3,31723rd15:00AFC WimbledonAway1–0Nadesan 5'7,30022nd19:45Doncaster RoversHome1–1Khaleel 82'2,85022nd15:00RochdaleHome2–0Telford 35', Conroy 39'4,70022nd19:45Grimsby TownHome1–1Telford 87' (pen.)2,66822nd15:00Mansfield TownAway1–4Ogungbo 71'6,08022nd15:00Bradford CityHome0–03,64422nd15:00BarrowAway0–43,33523rd15:00Tranmere RoversHome2–1Oteh 30', Powell 40'2,81222nd19:45Colchester UnitedHome0–02,89422nd15:00Hartlepool UnitedAway2–0Telford (2) 40', 66'6,81222nd15:00WalsallHome0–04,18922nd13:00Swindon TownAway1–2Telford 62' pen.10,45022nd
FA Cup
The Reds were drawn at home to Accrington Stanley in the first round.
WinDrawLoss RoundDateTimeOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendanceFirst round15:00Accrington StanleyH1–4Hessenthaler 18'2,770
EFL Cup
Crawley Town were drawn at home against Bristol Rovers in the first round and to Fulham in the second round.
WinDrawLoss RoundDateTimeOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendanceFirst round19:45Bristol RoversHome1–0Nichols 73'1,860Second round19:45FulhamHome2–0Nichols 16', Balagizi 49'5,577Third round19:45BurnleyAway1–3Telford 22'6,329
EFL Trophy
On 20 June, the initial Group stage draw was made, grouping Crawley Town with AFC Wimbledon and Portsmouth. Three days later, Aston Villa U21 joined Southern Group B.
WinDrawLoss RoundDateTimeOpponentVenueResultF–AScorersAttendanceGroup Stage19:45PortsmouthHome2–2 Telford 8' (pen.), Bremang 90+5' (pen.)2,314Group Stage19:45AFC WimbledonAway2–3Powell 59', Frimpong 90+6' (o.g.)903Group Stage19:45Aston Villa U21Home5–2Davis 28', Oteh 40', 52', Marshall 83', Telford 90+4' (pen.)896
Transfers Transfers in DatePositionNamePrevious clubFee 1 July 2022 DF Dion Conroy (Swindon Town) Free Transfer 1 July 2022 DF Travis Johnson (Crewe Alexandra) Free Transfer 1 July 2022FWDom Telford(Newport County)Free Transfer 4 July 2022 GK Corey Addai (Esbjerg) Free Transfer 9 July 2022 DF Tobi Omole (Tottenham Hotspur) Free Transfer 20 July 2022 MF Jayden Davis (Millwall) Free Transfer 20 July 2022 FW Moe Shubbar (Cheshunt) Free Transfer 20 July 2022 DF Ben Wells (Welling United) Free Transfer 1 July 2022 DFBrandon Mason(Milton Keynes Dons)Free Transfer 19 August 2022 FW David Bremang Barnsley Undisclosed 27 January 2023 MF Ben Gladwin Swindon Town Undisclosed 31 January 2023 DF Kellan Gordon Mansfield Town Undisclosed 31 January 2023 MF Jack Roles Woking Undisclosed 6 February 2023 FW Jedidiah Brown Fisher Free Transfer 2 March 2023 MF Jordon Mutch Free agent 23 March 2023 MF Anthony Grant Free agent
Loans in DatePositionNameClubReturn 1 July 2022 MF James Balagizi Liverpool 20 January 2023 29 July 2022 MF Teddy Jenks Brighton & Hove Albion End of Season 30 July 2022 GK Ellery Balcombe Brentford 17 January 2023 1 August 2022 DF Mazeed Ogungbo Arsenal End of Season 19 August 2022 GK David Robson Hull City 1 January 2023 1 September 2022 FW Caleb Chukwuemeka Aston Villa End of Season 1 September 2022 MF Tom Fellows West Bromwich Albion End of Season 31 January 2023 GK Ryan Schofield Huddersfield Town End of Season 31 January 2023 MF Jack Spong Brighton & Hove Albion End of Season
Transfers out DatePositionNameSubsequent clubFee30 June 2022MFHenry Burnett(Billericay Town)Released30 June 2022DFArchie Davies(Aldershot Town)Released30 June 2022MFTyler Frost(Harrogate Town)Released30 June 2022FWRicky German(Chesham United) Released30 June 2022FWReece Grego-Cox(Woking)Released30 June 2022GKAlfie JonesReleased30 June 2022DFJordan Tunnicliffe(Wrexham)Rejected Contract30 June 2022MFSam Matthews(Wealdstone)Released28 July 2022MFJack Payne(Boreham Wood)Mutual Consent20 October 2022FWMustafa HusseinMutual Consent31 December 2022FWMark Marshall(Maidstone United)Released1 January 2023FWTom NicholsGillinghamUndisclosed12 January 2023GKGlenn MorrisGillinghamMutual Consent26 January 2023FWDavid Bremang(Hungerford Town)Mutual Consent31 January 2023DFGeorge Francomb(Dorking Wanderers)Mutual Consent31 January 2023DFOwen Gallacher(Grimsby Town)Mutual Consent 6 February 2023 MF Ronan Silva (Farnborough) Mutual Consent 9 February 2023 DF Emmanuel Adebowale (Dartford)Mutual Consent 16 February 2023 MF Szymon Kowalczyk Mutual Consent 27 February 2023 MF Zaid Al-Hussaini (Farnborough) Mutual Consent 2 March 2023 MF Kaan Kevser-Junior Mutual Consent 23 March 2023 FW Moe Shubbar Mutual Consent
Loans out DatePositionNameClubReturn 13 July 2022 FW Davide Rodari Dartford End of Season 29 July 2022 GK Glenn Morris Gillingham End of Season 1 September 2022 FW Kwesi Appiah Colchester United End of Season 23 September 2022 FW Moe Shubbar Worthing 31 December 2022 31 January 2023 MF Jake Hessenthaler Woking End of Season 11 February 2023 MF Florian Kastrati Eastbourne Borough End of Season 13 February 2023 DF Tony Craig Dorking Wanderers End of Season 17 February 2023 FW Moe Shubbar Slough Town End of Season 14 March 2023 FW Jayden Davis Lewes End of Season 14 March 2023 MF Florian Katrati Bognor Regis Town End of Season
Appearances and goals Source: Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute. Players with names struck through and marked left the club during the playing season. Players with names in italics and marked * were on loan from another club for the whole of their season with Crawley. Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward