Crawley Town co-owner upsets Reds fans with 'crazy' comment live on Twitter

The US consortium – led by co-owners and co-chairmen Preston Johnson and Eben Smith – took over in April 2022 and after being on the charm offensive initially with the fanbase, there has been a lot of radio silence.

Fans have been demanding to hear from them following a season of turmoil which saw them have five managers and finished just three points off relegation. Also since Christmas we have seen experienced and fan favourite players leave the club such as Tom Nichols, Glenn Morris, Jake Hessenthaler, James Tilley and George Francomb, among others.

But other than minutes from a meeting with the Crawley Town Supporters’ Alliance, the Reds fans have not heard from the owners this season, which has led to frustration and comments on social media.

On Tuesday night – when Crawley Town were beating Heybridge Swifts 7-1 in a pre-season friendly – some Reds fans took to joining a Live Twitter Space music fan Johnson had joined to have their say. The Twitter Space was titled Shilly + Frens: Can a web3 community drop the song of the summer?.

A number of Crawley Town fans joined with one asking: “Where’s Preston, when are you selling?” Preston, talking to the host Shwaz: “You are just going to get crazy Crawley fans at this point.”

The fan then said: “Preston, when are you selling?” The fans were then ejected from the Twitter Space.

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Later on though, another joined using the ‘Bored Ape’ handle and said in reply to a request for question s about a music track they had just heard: “I have got a question, Preston, you are terrible at making music, almost as bad as you are running a football club. Sell the club, WAGMI Out.”

Shwaz said: “It turns out soccer fans in England are intense and unforgiving. I know this guy, he works very hard and cares very much and some of you guys are ****s, be nice, be better.”

WAGMI United Leaks (@LeaksWagmi) tweeted: “Crawley Town are currently taking part in a pre season friendly two weeks before the season starts. Preston is currently sitting here talking about “crazy Crawley fans” and NFT’s.”

Crawley fans have not responded well to Johnson’s ‘crazy Crawley fans’ comment.

Freddie Marchant tweeted the clip of the comment and said: “Good to see Preston cares."

TedtheRed was not pleased with Johnson’s response to fans being called an expletive by Shwaz. He tweeted: “Guy calls Crawley fans ****s,@SportsCheetah laughs and thanks him. Wow! #wagmiout”

Katie Dudley said: “Being called losers and crazy and generally slating the fans is not on at all. Not going to win back the fans that way @crawleytown @SportsCheetah.”

GH Away Day Travel tweeted: “With all the abuse that they have had it’s not surprising to be really honest. I don’t think they will sell up soon - just won’t give the supporters any information apart what comes out from the staff at the office - which is there prerogative - bit like the Glazier’s at Man Utd.”

SussexWorld has approached Preston Johnson for a comment.