Revenge prank at Stoke City, paying £3 subs to play and scoring in a Europa League final: Seventeen things you may not know about the new Crawley Town manager and his assistant

He takes over seven weeks after Kevin Betsy parted ways with the club. Lewis Young, who wanted the role, was told this morning he would not be taking over permanently after leading the Reds away from the relegation zone as interim manager.

Etherington, 41, is bringing in former Spurs and Peterborough United teammate Simon Davies as his assistant.

But who are Matthew Etherington and Simon Davies? Here are some facts about the left winger you may not have know.

Matthew Etherington

He was born in Truro, Cornwall, and was spotted by Barry Fry playing Falmouth u14s.

He made his league debut aged just 15 and 262 days.

Etherington joined Tottenham Hotspur along with Simon Davies as part of the same deal.

In 2003/2004 season, he was voted Hammer of the Year for West Ham and scored in the Championship Play-off semi-final against Ipswich Town. The following year they reach the Play-off final again and this time won, and Etherington set up the winning goal for Bobby Zamora.

Stoke City signed Etherington from West Ham for a reported £2m in 2009.

He scored in Stoke’s 5-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Bolton – they went on to lose 1-0 to Man City in the final.

He played alongside Ashley Cole and Peter Crouch for England in U20 World Cup in 1999.

He is a Liverpool fan.

After getting his new leather flushed down a toilet in 2013 at Stoke City, teammate Peter Crouch said: “Etherington decided to take his revenge by taking a load of mouldy fish-bits and putting them in Jon Walters's shoes and car, who he suspected of the jacket theft. Walters escalated it by getting a severed pig's head from a local butcher's — still covered in blood — wrapping it in Matty's jeans and putting it in his locker.”

Matthew Etherington’s playing career at a glance:

1997–2000 – Peterborough United – 51 games (6 goals)2000–2003 – Tottenham Hotspur – 45 games (1 goal)2001 → Bradford City (loan) – 13 games (1 goal)2003–2009 – West Ham United – 165 games (16 goals)2009–2014 – Stoke City – 152 games (13 goals)Total – 426 games (37 goals)

National team1997–1998 – England U16 – 5 games (0 goals)1999 – England U18 – 3 games (0 goals)1999 – England U20 – 3 games (0 goals)2002 – England U21 – 3 games (0 goals)

Simon Davies

He was born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire Town.

He made more than 50 appearances for Peterborough United before the age of 20 and was named in the Division Three team of the year in 98/99 season.

He trialled with Manchester United but signed for Tottenham under George Graham where he made 154 appearances and scored 24 goals in all competitions.

Davies scored an equaliser for Fulham in the Eurpa League semi-final against Hamburg in 2010. He also scored a volley in the final against Atletico Madrid, where they lost 2-1.

He rejoined his boyhood club Solva FC in the Pembrokeshire League after leaving Fulham. Davies had to pay £3 per week subs in order to play.

He scored six goals in 58 appearances for Wales including goals against Croatia and Italy. He captained his country during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Since retiring from playing Davies set up a private golf experience company with Etherington called Edge Golf.

In the 99/00 version of the popular football management game Championship manager, both Etherington and Davies were seen as must signings as young players.

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