Manchester United and Leeds ties fresh in Crawley Town minds as another FA Cup adventure starts
Crawley Town may have bowed out in the first round of the FA Cup in three of the past four seasons – but their famous Cup-set against Leeds United in the 2020-21 season and their trip to Manchester United ten years before that is still fresh in the minds of many at the club.
Last season they reached the secnd round, where Rob Elliot’s team lost a seven-goal thriller 4-3 at home to Lincoln City. They had beaten non-league side Maidenhead United 2-0, after extra time, in round one, thanks to a very late Toby Mullarkey equaliser and a Tola Showunmi goal four minutes from penalties.
However, the Reds have had notable success in the FA Cup before then, not only beating Leeds back in 2021 but also reaching the fifth round and taking 9,000 fans to Old Trafford to face the mighty Manchester United in 2011, eventually losing 1-0, with Richard Brodie hitting the crossbar with a header.
And it’s days like that and the Leeds win that people around the club talk about now.
As Crawley gear up to visit National League Premier side Boreham Wood in this weekend’s first round, I asked Reds boss Scott Lindsey if the FA Cup holds a special place in the club’s history, he said: “For sure. Definitely. There’s people who were talking yesterday to one or two people around the club and they were talking about the Leeds United game, that was mentioned.
“I think you never kind of forget those games, do you? It’s almost like the Wembley (League Two play-off final) game will never be forgotten. It’ll be in the history books forever. And I think cup games are very much the same. So yes, let’s hope we have another run so we can etch that into the history books as well.”
I also asked if he had any special memories as a player or manager. Lindsey replied: “Not really. I think I’ve always probably got to round one and probably no further throughout my career, probably as a player and as a coach. So, not real great memories as such, but it’s a competition that I’m fond of, obviously.
“Growing up and watching some amazing cup finals when I was younger, it’s quite a special competition in many ways.
"Probably we lost its magic a little bit along the way. I think that magic’s come back a little bit now. And yes, it’s a game I want to do well in. It’s a competition I want to do well in. I’ve never really had a brilliant cup run, certainly as a manager, so it’d be nice to tick that one off.”
The Reds head to Boreham Wood in confident mood, despite the club’s currently league position. His side currently sit in 23rd spot on 12 points but now only five points behind last week’s opposition Bristol Rovers.
Lindsey thinks the team’s spirits are high after such an emphatic win against Bristol Rovers. He said: “I think we’ve been good in the last games. I think we were unlucky against Shrewsbury in many ways. I think the officials didn’t help us in a lot of ways. I don’t want to make excuses, but they didn’t.
“Certainly, the Walsall game, I thought we were outstanding, possibly our best performance of the season. And then we go and beat a big club like Bristol Rovers in the last game 4-0. So, we’ll take that. I think any game, whether it’s the Cup match or a league game, any game you go into with momentum is always a good thing and a good feeling.
“We’re, in my opinion, in a good place at the moment. You wouldn’t think that we’re in the bottom two if you walk around the building and hear the players and you watch the training. We’re in a false position, in everyone’s opinion, at the club. So, we know what we need to do. We know what we’ve got to do to get it.
“Saturday’s kind of a bit of a break from the norm, but it won’t be a break because it’ll be a tough game, and we’ve got to roll our sleeves up and take on the challenge in the shape of Boreham Wood.”
Does a result like the one versus Bristol Rovers take pressure off the player’s shoulders? Lindsey said “Definitely. I think that you look at the games, a lot of the games we’ve played, we’ve missed some big, big chances. I think if we put away our xG goals, we’d have probably been in the top 10 or 11.
“So, we know we’ve missed a lot of chances, but I think the pleasing thing for me is that we’ve made those chances. We’ve played some good football, and we’ve been dominant in a lot of the games, and we’ve got the ball to the final bit but not done that final bit well enough.
"So, it was pleasing to see us do that on Saturday, albeit we lost a penalty. But it was pleasing to see us put four goals away. It’s kind of about time and hopefully we see more of that.”