2023–24 Crawley Town F.C. season

In April 2022, the club was taken over by American cryptocurrency investment group WAGMI United,^[1] whose stated goal was "to reinvent broken legacy sports management models" and wanted to turn the club into "the internet's team".^[2] Upon taking over the club they set the target of achieving promotion to EFL League One by the end of their second season.^[1] After manager John Yems was suspended by the club and later banned from football for 18 months for racist abuse of his own playing squad,^[3] the club brought in Kevin Betsy as manager ahead of the 2022–23 season,^[4] who wanted to implement a possession-based style of football and instilled new training methods to the club, such as the use of a drone to record training sessions, and collecting urine samples from players to monitor hydration levels.^[5] Betsy was sacked on 9 October 2022 however, with the club bottom of League Two and having won one of 12 league matches,^[6] and his assistant manager Lewis Young took over on an interim basis. Young's tenure at Crawley saw the club pick up 12 points from seven matches, but despite his expectation to be given the manager role on a permanent basis, the club instead decided to appoint Matthew Etherington as manager on an 18-month contract.^[7][8] However Etherington was sacked a month later, having managed just three matches as manager, and Darren Byfield took over from him on an interim basis.^[9] Swindon Town manager Scott Lindsey took over as manager on 11 January 2023 alongside his assistant Jamie Day, with the club 21st in the league.^[10] Linsey won his first match as manager of Crawley, a 3–2 win at home to Salford City,^[11] but were winless in their following 8 matches.^[2] Despite this, a 2–0 win away to relegation rivals Hartlepool United on 22 April left the club needing a single point from their remaining two matches to confirm safety,^[12] which they picked up in the following match with a 0–0 draw against Walsall.^[13]

Crawley played 7 pre-season matches ahead of the 2023–24 season, and won their first three, all by a 2–1 scoreline, away to non-league sides East Grinstead Town, Three Bridges and Dover Athletic.^[14][15][16] This was followed by a 4–0 defeat at home to Premier League club Crystal Palace,^[17] and a 9–1 defeat to League One club Portsmouth, played at Portsmouth's training ground behind closed doors.^[18] Crawley then played two further friendlies away to non-league clubs, and defeated Heybridge Swifts 7–1 and Bromley 2–1 to round off their pre-season campaign.^[19][20]

Manager Scott Lindsey wanted to overhaul the playing squad due to concerns over his inherited squads' attitude – he told BBC Radio Surrey that after his appointment in January 2023, it took 28 days before every player turned up on time.^[21] Lindsey said that he "had to put that straight" and that "some players had to go" and "we had to bring in – in my opinion – better people, better staff, better players in terms of their attitude and professionalism".^[21] Like in the previous season, the club adopted a data-based recruitment strategy, though co-owner Preston Johnson told The Athletic that they placed more trust in this approach compared to the previous season, saying "we just decided to trust in math".^[2] He added that the approach was to "find players who has been overlooked or under-regarded but had good underlying numbers for creating, or limiting, expected goals".^[2]

Following the end of the previous season, it was announced that Ludwig Francillette, Ben Wells, Jordon Mutch, Anthony Grant and Davide Rodari were to be released upon the expiry of their contracts, whilst three other out-of-contract players remained in contract negotiations with the club;^[22] Grant later re-signed for the club on a short-term deal, before leaving the club early in the season to sign for Welling United.^[23][24] Of the other three players, midfielder Rafiq Khaleel later signed a new two-year contract with the club,^[25] and goalkeeper Roshan Greensall signed a one-year contract,^[26] whilst forward Aramide Oteh left to sign for Walsall.^[27] Defenders Tony Craig,^[28] Brandon Mason^[29] and Joel Lynch,^[30] midfielder Jake Hessenthaler^[31] and forward Kwesi Appiah^[32] all had their contracts terminated by mutual consent. Meanwhile, four players were transferred out to fellow League Two clubs during the summer transfer window: forward James Tilley joined AFC Wimbledon for an undisclosed fee,^[33] fellow forward Ashley Nadesan joined Gillingham for an undisclosed fee,^[34] midfielder Jack Powell, who was given the club's Player of the Season award for the previous season, transferred to Crewe Alexandra,^[35] and on 25 August 2023, striker Dom Telford who was the club's top scorer in the 2022–23 season, joined Barrow for an undisclosed fee.^[36] The club did however exercise options within defenders Harry Ransom and Nick Tsaroulla's contracts to extend them by a further year.^[22]

On 22 June 2023, the club announced the signing of midfielder Liam Kelly on a two-year deal following the end of his Rochdale contract.^[37] A week later, forward Danilo Orsi joined from Grimsby Town for an undisclosed fee, with Johnson claiming Orsi's impressive expected goals numbers were what motivated the club to sign him.^[2][38] Defender Joy Mukena, forward Klaidi Lolos and winger Ade Adeyemo all joined on free transfers, with all three players having played for non-League teams during the previous season.^[39][40][41] Winger Harry Forster also joined the club with Crawley paying his former club Bromley "undisclosed compensation".^[42] Jay Williams joined the club for an undisclosed fee from Brackley Town; Williams was described as a defender on the club website,^[43] but ultimately manager Lindsey opted to play him as a defensive midfielder, later describing him as a "tough-tackling, aggressive midfield player" and "one of the best midfielders in this division".^[44][45] Defender Will Wright, midfielder Ronan Darcy and forward Adam Campbell also joined the club on undisclosed fees, from Gillingham, Swindon Town and Gateshead respectively,^[46][47][48] whilst the club also brought in three loanees before the start of the league season: goalkeeper Luca Ashby-Hammond from Fulham, attacking midfielder Kamarai Swyer from West Ham United and defensive midfielder Aaron Henry from Charlton Athletic.^[49][50][51] Defender Laurence Maguire joined the club on loan from Chesterfield on 30 August on a loan initially until January, though that loan was later extended until the end of the season.^[52][53]

Forward Sonny Fish had joined the club on a free transfer on 8 August,^[54] but would not make a league appearance,^[55] and would instead have loan spells at Worthing, Tonbridge Angels, Welling United and Gateshead over the course of the season.^{[56][57][58][59]} Roshan Greensall also went out on loan, and joined Broadbridge Heath on loan until January 2025,^[60] and midfielder Jayden Davis spent the season out on loan, first at Farnborough and later at Braintree Town.^[61][62]

During the January transfer window, loanees Ashby-Hammond, Swyer and Henry were all recalled by their parent clubs.^[63][64][65] The club brought in goalkeeper Ryan Sandford and midfielder Jeremy Kelly on free transfers, both signing short term contracts until the end of the season.^[66][67] Defender Mustapha Olagunju also joined the club on a loan until the end of the season, from Huddersfield Town.^[68]

Date	Pos.	Player	Transferred from†	Fee	Ref.
29 June 2023	FW	Danilo Orsi (ENG)	Grimsby Town	Undisclosed	[38]
1 July 2023	MF	Liam Kelly (IRL)	(Rochdale)	Free transfer	[37]
3 July 2023	DF	Joy Mukena (ENG)	(St Albans City)	Free transfer	[39]
4 July 2023	MF	Harry Forster (ENG)	(Bromley)	Undisclosed compensation	[42]
15 July 2023	FW	Klaidi Lolos (GRE)	(Oxford City)	Free transfer	[40]
18 July 2023	FW	Ade Adeyemo (ENG)	(Cray Valley Paper Mills)	Free transfer	[41]
18 July 2023	MF	Jay Williams (ENG)	Brackley Town	Undisclosed	[43]
28 July 2023	MF	Ronan Darcy (ENG)	Swindon Town	Undisclosed	[47]
1 August 2023	DF	Will Wright (ENG)	Gillingham	Undisclosed	[46]
5 August 2023	FW	Adam Campbell (ENG)	Gateshead	Undisclosed	[48]
8 August 2023	FW	Sonny Fish (WAL)	(Leyton Orient)	Free transfer	[54]
9 January 2024	GK	Ryan Sandford (ENG)	(Dartford)	Free transfer	[66]
1 February 2024	MF	Jeremy Kelly (USA)	( FC Tulsa (USA))	Free transfer	[67][69]

† Brackets around club names denote the player's contract with that club had expired before he joined Crawley.

Date	Pos.	Player	Transferred to†	Fee	Ref.
2 June 2023	DF	Tony Craig (ENG)	(Dorking Wanderers)	Mutual consent	[28][70]
22 June 2023	MF	James Tilley (ENG)	AFC Wimbledon	Undisclosed	[33]
29 June 2023	DF	Brandon Mason (ENG)		Mutual consent	[29]
30 June 2023	DF	Ludwig Francillette (GLP)	(Eastleigh)	Released	[22][71]
30 June 2023	MF	Jordon Mutch (ENG)		Released	[22]
30 June 2023	FW	Aramide Oteh (ENG)	(Walsall)	End of contract	[27]
30 June 2023	MF	Jack Powell (ENG)	Crewe Alexandra	Free transfer	[35]
30 June 2023	FW	Davide Rodari (SUI)		Released	[22]
30 June 2023	DF	Ben Wells (IRL)		Released	[22]
2 July 2023	FW	Kwesi Appiah (GHA)	(Boreham Wood)	Mutual consent	[32][72]
20 July 2023	MF	Jake Hessenthaler (ENG)	(Dagenham and Redbridge)	Mutual consent	[31][73]
27 July 2023	FW	Ashley Nadesan (ENG)	Gillingham	Undisclosed	[34]
13 August 2023	DF	Joel Lynch (WAL)		Mutual consent	[30]
25 August 2023	FW	Dom Telford (ENG)	Barrow	Undisclosed	[36]
25 November 2023	MF	Anthony Grant (JAM)	(Welling United)	End of contract	[24]

† Brackets around club names denote the player joined that club after his Crawley contract expired.

Date from	Pos.	Player	Loaned from	Date until	Ref.
14 July 2023	GK	Luca Ashby-Hammond (ENG)	Fulham	10 January 2024	[49][63]
29 July 2023	MF	Kamarai Swyer (ENG)	West Ham United	15 January 2024	[50][64]
4 August 2023	MF	Aaron Henry (ENG)	Charlton Athletic	5 January 2024	[51][65]
30 August 2023	DF	Laurence Maguire (ENG)	Chesterfield	End of season	[52][53]
1 February 2024	DF	Mustapha Olagunju (ENG)	Huddersfield Town	End of season	[68]

Date from	Pos.	Player	Loaned to	Date until	Ref.
3 August 2023	GK	Roshan Greensall (ENG)	Broadbridge Heath	1 January 2024	[60]
25 August 2023	MF	Jayden Davis (ENG)	Farnborough	16 January 2024	[61][62]
25 August 2023	FW	Sonny Fish (WAL)	Worthing	29 September 2023	[56]
29 September 2023	FW	Sonny Fish (WAL)	Tonbridge Angels	8 February 2024	[57][58]
16 January 2024	MF	Jayden Davis (ENG)	Braintree Town	End of season	[62]
8 February 2024	FW	Sonny Fish (WAL)	Welling United	28 March 2024	[58][59]
28 March 2024	FW	Sonny Fish (WAL)	Gateshead	End of season	[59]

On 22 June, the EFL League Two fixtures were released.^[75] Crawley opened the season with a 1–0 win at home to Bradford City – debutant defender Will Wright's 41st minute free kick was the only goal of the game.^[76] This was followed by a 1–1 draw at Salford City, where Crawley took the lead after a 40th minute own goal from Luke Garbutt before Conor McAleny equalised shortly after half-time.^[77] Manager Scott Lindsey described the result as "two points dropped" with Crawley having hit the woodwork on four occasions.^[78] Nick Tsaroulla put Crawley ahead at home to Milton Keynes Dons in the 16th minute and though Mo Eisa equalised 11 minutes later, Crawley won the match 2–1 after Danilo Orsi's first goal for the club on 52 minutes.^[79] A 1–0 defeat at home to Gillingham was Crawley's first league defeat of the season, with Crawley defender Harry Ransom's own goal being the only goal of the game.^[80] Crawley were then beaten again away to Swindon Town; after Dan Kemp's goal left Crawley one behind at half time, four second half goals from Jake Young and one from Tyrese Shade gave Swindon a 6–0 victory.^[81] The result was Crawley's joint-biggest defeat as an English Football League club, and manager Lindsey described it as a "toothless performance".^[82]

Crawley started September away to Stockport County and though they went 2–0 down after 36 minutes, Adam Campbell got a goal back in the 42nd minute with a volley that went in off the post. Laurence Maguire, on his debut for the club, equalised in the 54th minute with a volley from Liam Kelly's cross and Orsi put Crawley ahead eleven minutes later, though Isaac Olaofe equalised for Stockport in the 89th minute to finish the match 3–3.^[83] A 4–1 win at home to Newport County followed; Tsaroulla put Crawley ahead after 5 minutes before Omar Bogle's equaliser five minutes later for the game to go into half-time level. Campbell scored a second-half brace with goals in the 54th and 67th minutes, before Ben Gladwin rounded off the win with a low drive into the bottom right corner in the 79th minute.^[84] Crawley were 1–0 down at half time at home to Tranmere Rovers, though Ronan Darcy equalised in the 61st minute with his first goal for the club. Tranmere regained their lead in the 66th minute before Tsaroulla equalised two minutes later and Klaidi Lolos scored a 96th minute winner to give Crawley a 3–2 win and moved Crawley to 6th, inside the play-off places. It was the first time Crawley had won consecutive home league games for 11 months.^[85] Crawley won 3–2 again away to Grimsby Town – Crawley went 2–0 down after 30 minutes, before Kelly scored from 25 yards out and Darcy from a tight angle to level the score at 2–2 by the 35th minute. Crawley won it in the 96th minute once again with Orsi scoring from close range against his former club.^[86][87] Crawley won a fourth consecutive match with a 3–0 win at home to Sutton United, to move up to second in the league – Campbell opened the scoring in the 6th minute, before Maguire and Orsi scored goals from close range in the second half.^[88] After Crawley picked up 13 points from five matches over the month of September, manager Lindsey and midfielder Kelly were nominated for the EFL League Two Manager of the Month and Player of the Month awards respectively,^[89] though they missed out to Stockport County's Dave Challinor and Louie Barry.^[90]

Crawley opened October with three consecutive defeats. After a 2–0 defeat away to Doncaster Rovers, with the goals scored by Modou Faal and Joe Ironside,^[91] Crawley were beaten 1–0 at home to Wrexham with the goal scored by former Crawley striker Ollie Palmer.^[92] Lolos, on his first league start, put Crawley ahead with a goal from the edge of the area in the 15th minute, before Shilow Tracey equalised five minutes later. Darcy put Crawley back ahead on 28 minutes with a shot from the edge of the box going in off both posts, but a Dion Conroy own goal and goals from Courtney Baker-Richardson and Elliott Nevitt consigned Crawley to a 4–2 defeat.^[93] Crawley then drew 1–1 away at Walsall, with Orsi equalising for Crawley in the 94th minute after Walsall went ahead in the 88th,^[94] and lost 2–1 away to Forest Green Rovers, with Callum Morton scoring a first-half brace after Darcy put Crawley ahead from a short-corner routine in the 7th minute.^[95] Having failed to win any of their five matches during October, the club fell to 14th in the league, though manager Lindsey said that the club "was still in a good position" and that he was "a victim of [his] own success", given the expectations from the club's early season form.^[96]

Crawley won both of their home games and lost both of their away matches in November. The club began November with a 3–1 win at home to Accrington Stanley; after going 1–0 down in the second minute, Danilo Orsi scored from a one-on-one in the eighth minute to equalise before Will Wright put Crawley ahead in the 48th minute by scoring from 25 yards. Brad Hills was shown a red card in the 74th minute for fouling Orsi in the penalty area and Orsi scored the resulting penalty kick to secure a 3–1 win.^[97] Crawley were then defeated 1–0 away to Barrow with Dom Telford, who had joined Barrow from Crawley in August, scoring the only goal of the game in the 46th minute.^[98] This was followed by a 2–1 win at home to Harrogate Town, where Ben Gladwin scored a "fierce drive" from 30 yards out in the 23rd minute before Jack Muldoon equalised for Harrogate in the sixth minute of first half stoppage time. Lolos then headed in a 72nd minute winner for Crawley from a Liam Kelly corner.^[99] The club took a 10th-minute lead away to Notts County after Campbell found the top corner from outside the box, though David McGoldrick chipped Crawley goalkeeper Luca Ashby-Hammond to equalise ten minutes later. Jim O'Brien and Junior Morias then scored second-half goals to consign Crawley to a 3–1 defeat.^[100]

Crawley picked up only their second away win of the season with a 2–1 win against Colchester United, who were managed by former Crawley manager Matthew Etherington; Liam Kelly put Crawley ahead with a low shot in the 41st minute before Orsi converted a penalty won by Nick Tsaroulla in the 64th minute. Joe Taylor scored a consolation goal for Colchester for the game to finish 2–1.^[101][102] Consecutive home defeats followed, with a 3–1 defeat to Mansfield Town, followed by a 2–1 defeat to AFC Wimbledon; Orsi converted a penalty won by Campbell in the 36th minute to equalise against Mansfield after Baily Cargill had put the away side ahead, but Davis Keillor-Dunn and George Maris both scored second-half goals for Mansfield before Jay Williams was sent off for Crawley to consign Crawley to a 3–1 defeat on 16 December,^[103] and six days later, Josh Davison and Ali Al-Hamadi put Wimbledon 2–0 up in the first 18 minutes, though Wright got a goal back for Crawley in the 83rd minute, 18 minutes after Joe Lewis was sent off for Wimbledon.^[104] Manager Lindsey described Crawley's first half performance against Wimbledon as "the worst they have played under me".^[105]

Crawley were drawn away to fellow League Two club Notts County in the first round of the FA Cup, with the match played on 4 November.^[135] Danilo Orsi put Crawley ahead in the third minute, scoring after his previous shot rebounded off the post, though Daniel Crowley equalised 10 minutes later. David McGoldrick put Notts County ahead early in the second half before Orsi equalised in the 66th minute after converting Kellan Gordon's cross, but substitute Macaulay Langstaff scored for Notts County in the 76th minute to give the home side a 3–2 win.^[136]

Crawley were drawn away to Exeter City in the first round of the EFL Cup.^[137] Klaidi Lolos put Crawley ahead in the 15th minute from close range before Kyle Taylor and James Scott scored in the second half for Exeter to give the home side a 2–1 victory and eliminate Crawley from the competition.^[138]

In the group stage, Crawley Town were drawn into Southern Group B alongside Charlton Athletic, Sutton United and Aston Villa U21.^[139][140] After topping the group, they were drawn at home to Bristol Rovers in the second round^[141] and away to Peterborough United in the third round.^[142][143]