Crawley Town boss John Yems calls on fans to back the club next campaign

The Reds finished the 2020-21 League Two campaign in 12th and embarked on a fairytale run to the fourth round of the FA Cup, dumping Premier League heavyweights Leeds United out of the competition in the third round.

But Yems admitted that the upcoming season might be much tougher for the Reds, and asked for fans to rally around the team.

He said: “Next year will be a very hard season. It’s a season where we’re going to need all the fans behind us, more so than ever.

“The budget will be one of the lowest in the league, if not the lowest.

“We’ve got to make sure that everybody pulls together and does their best with what we’ve got available.

“Finance and things like that I can’t control, but from our point of view it’s business as usual.

“We’ve got to cut our cloth accordingly. There won’t be any mega signings.

“I think it will be harder this year after Covid than it was last year.

“It’s all positive and negatives.

“Whatever happens next season, the fans will know that we will be trying our damnedest and we need the supporters to get behind us to back whatever happens.”

Government guidelines mean Crawley fans have not set foot in The People’s Pension Stadium since the Reds’ 1-1 draw with Bradford City on Tuesday, December 15.

And Yems hoped that fans will make Crawley’s home a fortress on their return.

He added: “We’ve got to try to make Crawley Town a horrible place for teams to come and play football.

“We’re going to need support, we’re going to need patience, we’re going to need everything just to get through the season.”

Despite the 2020-21 campaign almost ending a month ago, the hard work hasn’t stopped now for Yems.

And the Reds boss admitted that the wheels were in motion for some ins and out at the club.

He said: “We’ve got things to sort out within the club. Now’s the time to do the work.

“We’re looking at people coming in, people going out.

“We’re looking to make sure the club starts the season all ready to go.”