'Roy Keane doesn't understand' - Ecstatic Crawley Town head coach describes euphoric feeling of celebrating survival

There were incredible scenes of celebration after the game as fans ran onto the pitch to celebrate with players and staff alike. Skipper Jay Williams led a ‘we are staying up chant’ standing on the dugout while fans also chanted Kazim-Richards name.

Former Manchester United star and Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane famously once criticised Aston Villa after they survived relegation for their over the top celebrations – and the Reds head coach referenced that when describing the feeling of seeing what it meant to everyone to avoid relegation.

The 39-year-old was given seven games to make sure he kept Crawley in League Two and in the end he did it by one point with Harrogate and Barrow both going down.

And when asked where this moment ranked in his career, Kazim-Richards said: “That's high. It's kind of surreal. And I say this with all respect, I think Roy Keane said it one time when he sees a team celebrating not getting relegated, right? And I just feel like he's had the grace of not being in a relegation fight, so he doesn't understand. We've just won survival. Right? And with all due respect, Crawley Town is not Man United.

“So this affects so many local people. This local club, it does, you know? And me standing there, it felt like we just won a cup. It did. It was the same kind of euphoria, it was the same kind of feeling, emotion, and it was amazing.

“And it was amazing to see the relief and the excitement from everybody that deserves it in terms of all the fans and the paying public, you know? So when sometimes people talk about, ‘oh, they're celebrating, they've just stayed up’, like, yeah, because we've worked and we've earned. It wasn't a given. We've had to fight and scrap on the last day.”

The players put in a heroic performance against Salford and Kazim-Richards revealed what he said to the players in the build up to this massive game.

"You can try and you can try and implement and try and work towards what your goal is but then to fulfil that, what a feeling,” he said. “And the only goal that Julian [Gray] and I had was to keep Crawley Town in the EFL and that is signed and delivered. No one can take that away now.

“And that was the message to these boys today was, don't come back in at half past five and be upset and disappointed in the way you approached it. Not the result. Don't come back in there saying you could have done more.

“Don't come back in there feeling sorry for yourself because only you can affect it on the pitch, right? So, to come here now and sit here with you guys and having done that within the seven games is amazing. I’m ecstatic.”