Football Season Guide

League 1

England

League 1

2012/2013

Crawley Town

In

Paul Jones(gk, Peterborough), Gary Alexander(att, Brentford), Mat Sadler(def, Walsall), Nicky Adams(mid, Rochdale), Mark Connolly(def, Bolton), Shaun Cooper(der, Bournemouth)

Out

Tyrone Barnett(att, Peterborough), Jamie Day(mid, released), Scott Shearer(gk, Rotherham), Glenn Wilson(def, Gateshead), Ben Smith(mid, released), John Dempster(def, Mansfield), Dean Howell(def, Fleetwood), Byron Napper(mid, released), Pablo Mills(def, released)

Since narrowly avoiding going into liquidation in 2010 by attracting new investment, Crawley's story has been akin to a fairytale, as they enjoyed two fine FA Cup runs and won back to back promotions. The club were faced with a problem over the summer, as manager Sean O'Driscoll left to take over at Nottingham Forest, but they signed a capable replacement in Richie Barker, who built up his reputation with his fine management of Bury over the last few years. The only notable player that left is striker Tyrone Barnett, who joined Peterborough on loan in February and had his loan turned into a permanent deal, but Crawley have a ready replacement in Gary Alexander, who joined them on loan from Brentford last season and has now sealed a permanent move. The club made a number of quality signings over the summer - the likes of Mat Sadler, Nicky Adams, Paul Jones and Shaun Cooper are all proven League One players, while Bolton trainee Mark Connolly lacks Football League experience, but is only 21, and can become an useful player over time. With a squad that has plenty of proven players at this level, a good manager and money to spend, Crawley will expect to enjoy success in the upcoming season.

Target

Richie Barker said in a recent interview that his priority is to stay up, but this is probably an attempt to take pressure off his players. Crawley should realistically aim for a solid midtable finish - expecting a third consecutive promotion is probably too optimistic, but they can establish themselves as a solid League One side and build on that next season. However, if they are in the top half come Christmas, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if they spent money over the winter window to try and make a Play-Off push.