A fan's view: Drummy's new side suggest a happy 2017

Sitting 13th in the League might be unlucky for some, but not for Crawley Town who started the new year a healthy mid-table in League Two, six points outside the play-offs with a very creditable 32 points on the board.
Crawley Town fan Steve Herbert SUS-160111-112347002Crawley Town fan Steve Herbert SUS-160111-112347002
Crawley Town fan Steve Herbert SUS-160111-112347002

All in all, Reds manager Dermot Drummy’s first half of the 2016/17 season has been a success.

The fans can see he is building a decent looking team.

Performance levels over Christmas were excellent other than one poor first half at Leyton Orient, the team performed well.

Crawley Town boss Dermot Drummy. Picture by Phil Westlake SUS-160811-144014001Crawley Town boss Dermot Drummy. Picture by Phil Westlake SUS-160811-144014001
Crawley Town boss Dermot Drummy. Picture by Phil Westlake SUS-160811-144014001
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We may only have won the one game (Yeovil) out of the three, but the second half performance at Orient and the display at Plymouth New Year’s Eve was very positive. It was only an inept refereeing performance in Devon that denied us a result.

On the fans front, one thing that has happened over Christmas is the official supporters travel has changed hands. Something that had to happen.

The CTSA have handed over the official club away travel to G&H coaches. The CTSA were born with our arrival as a football league club, and they have provided a brilliant service for us travelling Reds fans over that time. But unfortunately gone are the days of running three CTSA coaches and a G&H coach to Swindon on a Tuesday night!

The travelling support has dwindled since our dizzy heights of League One. This season especially they found it hard to run coaches to games. So they have done the honourable thing and handed the official away travel over to G&H who have been running Crawley Town away travel since 1972.

Crawley Town boss Dermot Drummy. Picture by Phil Westlake SUS-160811-144014001Crawley Town boss Dermot Drummy. Picture by Phil Westlake SUS-160811-144014001
Crawley Town boss Dermot Drummy. Picture by Phil Westlake SUS-160811-144014001
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The late Bruce Winfield always wanted a United fan base and in my eyes this is a huge step towards achieving this.

Next up is Hartlepool at home this coming Saturday and to try and attract new fans, the club have offered a brilliant deal for this game. Supporters can pay what they like for tickets (minimum £1). Advance sales for the game have been astronomical and a big gate is expected. It’s another sign of the new owners really trying to do the right thing for the club and increase the fan base.

The people of Crawley and the surrounding areas should snap this deal up and come and see for themselves what an exciting team we have this season.

On the playing front, both goalkeeper Mitchell Beeney and defender Alex Davey have returned to parent club Chelsea after their loans ended.

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With Crawley keeper Glenn Morris in fine form, it was always going to be hard for Mitchell to get game time.

But he will be remembered by the Crawley faithful for a fantastic performance at Charlton Athletic earlier in the season where he saved a penalty and Crawley won 2-0.

As for Alex Davey, it just hasn’t happened for him and I wish both players the best of luck for the future.

With away games on the horizon at Blackpool, Luton and Barnet, we have some exciting fixtures to look forward too. There really is every chance that the boys could yet finish in that magic top-seven and extend the season, by having a dabble at the play-offs.

The future’s bright, the future’s RED!

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