Football Season Guide

Crewe Alexandra will be hoping to bounce straight back at the first attempt after being relegated from League One at the end of last season. The Railwaymen have spent the last three seasons struggling at the wrong end of League One and finally fell through the trap door in April, finishing rock bottom of the table. Manager Steve Davis was appointed as manager in November 2011, replacing the legendary Dario Gradi, and oversaw a remarkable transformation as the side won promotion via the play-offs that season. Life has been tough since then but the club have remained faithful with their manager and he will be in charge again for the new season. They were up against it from the start and then lost talented winger Ryan Colclough to Wigan Athletic during the January transfer window and finished 16 points adrift of safety. The club remain committed to their policy of bringing players through their youth system and then sell them on to bigger clubs for profit. Nothing has changed this summer with a modest amount of transfer activity. Midfielder David Fox has been released despite being a central figure last season whilst strikers Brad Inman and Marcus Haber have also both left the club having contributed 19 of the total number of 46 goals scored in League One last season. Davis has attempted to replace those goals with the signings of experienced strikers Ryan Lowe, whose loan move from Bury has been made permanent, and Chris Dagnall from Hibernian. He will be pleased to have re-signed full-back Zoumana Bakayogo whist young midfielder Liam Smith has arrived on loan from Newcastle United and is indicative of the approach ahead of the new season as the Railwaymen again rely on youth. They are used to punching above their weight and they will have to do so again this time around with plenty of big clubs in League Two challenging for promotion.