'Thrill of a lifetime' - Crawley Town vice-chairman sends open letter to fans as he steps down from role

Levin was made vice-chairman when Preston Johnson returned as chairman and CEO following his brief departure as co-chairman.

And following the end of a season which saw Crawley relegated, Levin announced his departure with an open letter to fans.

In the letter he says it has been a ‘thrill of a lifetime’ being part of the club and highlighted what he is proud of accomplishing in his time.

Here is his open letter in full.

With the end of the football year comes change, not just on-the-pitch but also off-the-pitch. I will be stepping away from the Club at the end of this month.

Being a part of Crawley Town since the WAGMI takeover has been the thrill of a lifetime. It has been an honour to steward the Club in my operational capacity as Vice Chairman over the last year.

I leave proud of what we have accomplished. Just in the last year, we have taken great strides forward:

• Expanding the team to drive improvements across new and existing departments
• Modernizing infrastructure by implementing new systems across ticketing, payments, and WiFi
• Breaking records (to hopefully be topped this year) for season tickets sold and match day attendances
• Communicating directly with the fans, including the formation of the Devil’s Advocates, publishing a weekly newsletter, and producing a mini-series podcast on the characters around the Club
• Improving relationships with key community stakeholders including Borough Council and Manor Royal
• Launching a club-branded beer
• Renovating the club shop to improve the merchandise and match day ticketing experience
• Designing and initiating a North fan zone and enhancing the South fan zone
• Signing the largest front of kit sponsorship deal in the Club’s history (more in the coming weeks on this)

These are all signs of progress, but there is more to do.

We must find creative ways to grow. We are a small club fighting in a world of ever increasingly large clubs. We must continue to take steps forward to improve the business by driving more revenue from sponsorships, tickets, merchandise, food & drink, and events. It is important to develop our positioning in the market to attract more fans. The bigger and more far-reaching we are off-the-pitch, the better our on-the-pitch performance can be.

We need unity and support from across the fanbase to continue on this journey of growth and competitiveness. The divisiveness of this season detracted from an amazing run at staying up in League One: if any number of small things had gone our way, we would’ve survived against all odds.

Lastly, we need our Red Army to continue to show up every match day, rain or shine, home or away, and support Scott and our boys in Red with positivity and encouragement. We can achieve the unachievable when our players, staff, and fans are all rowing in the same direction – Town. Team. Together.

The Club is in good hands with Preston Johnson and Scott Lindsey.

Thank you to everyone who makes Crawley Town Football Club such a special place, to everyone who gave me the benefit of the doubt, provided suggestions and feedback, said hello at matches, and who supported me along the way.

Wishing you all the very best.

#COYR

Ben Levin Vice Chairman Crawley Town Football Club