'Crawley Town have achieved legendary status this year' - CEO Erdem Konyar

The Reds recorded arguably their biggest result in their 125-year history when they downed Premier League giants Leeds United 3-0 at home, live on the BBC, in the third round of the FA Cup in January.

Crawley couldn’t match their fairytale runs to the fifth round in 2010-11 and 2011-12 but performed valiantly in their 2-1 loss at Bournemouth in the fourth round.

And CEO Konyar felt the entire playing staff deserved to be ‘praised and appreciated’ for their efforts.

He said: “I’m proud of all the lads. I think the gaffer (Yems), (assistant manager) Lee Bradbury and all the lads have achieved legendary status this year.

“They got the biggest result in the club’s history. The things they’ve achieved are close to the best the club has ever achieved.

“I’m very excited to see the gaffer in charge of the team next year and carry on building something special

“All these lads should be praised and appreciated.”

Despite the Reds’ cup success, Konyar conceded that Crawley should have ‘nine, ten points more’ in League Two.

Konyar pointed to the congested fixture list and the sale of Max Watters to Cardiff City in January as reasons why, in his view, Crawley hadn’t accrued as many points.

He added: “I genuinely believe that this Covid period took the wind out of our sails.

“We’ve had to catch up and we’ve been playing Tuesday and then Friday. We had to play Carlisle on a Tuesday away and then we had to play Scunthorpe on the Friday

away.

“These are not excuses. These are just elements that have hampered us.

“Also, we as a board have to take accountability. We sold probably the best striker in League Two.

“We had to do what we had to do to create longevity and give this club a chance to grow.

“That’s why I think the gaffer, Lee and all the players should be praised and appreciated for their achievements this year.”