Association football baseball club in England

football club
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the township of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed ’ The Railwaymen ’ because of the township ‘s links with the rail industry, and besides normally known as ’ The Alex ’, they have played at Gresty Road since 1906. The supporters ‘ fiercest competition is with Staffordshire -based side Port Vale.

The club was formed in 1877 as the football division of Crewe Alexandra Cricket Club, named after Princess Alexandra. Crewe reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1888 and were then a establish member of the Football League Second Division in 1892. In 1921, the club was invited to join the newly created Football League Third Division North, where they stayed for the adjacent 37 years before being placed in the modern Fourth Division in 1958. The team achieved their first forwarding after finishing one-third in 1962–63. Crewe were immediately relegated but were promoted again in 1967–68 ; they again lasted precisely one temper in the Third Division. Crewe spent 20 years struggling in the one-fourth grade before their fortunes were revived under Dario Gradi, director for 24 years from 1983. He doubly led the team to promotion to the one-third tier, and after two unsuccessful play-off campaigns, won the 1997 Second Division play-off final examination to win a plaza in the Football League First Division. After an absence of 101 years, they played at this moment grade level―renamed the Football League Championship before the startle of the 2004–05 season ―for eight of the be nine seasons. Gradi encouraged Crewe to play attractive, technical football and built a reputation for developing young players, with future England internationals David Platt, Danny Murphy, Seth Johnson and Dean Ashton all emerging at the golf club. After Crewe dropped down to the one-fourth tier again in 2009, Steve Davis led the club to promotion to the third tier via the play-offs in 2012. In 2013, the club won its first and alone Football League Trophy. Under David Artell, director since January 2017, Crewe returned to third tier League One in 2020 and finished 12th in the 2020–21 season. From belated 2016 through to issue of the FA ‘s Sheldon revue in March 2021, the club—and Gradi—were heavily implicated in the football sexual mistreat scandal, facing criticism for their cover of young person coach Barry Bennell, who had been imprisoned in 1995 for child sexual mistreat, and who was sentenced again in 2018. Gradi was suspended by the Football Association in December 2016, and club president John Bowler resigned in March 2021 .

history [edit ]

formation and early years [edit ]

Crewe Alexandra Football Club was formed in 1877 as an outgrowth of Crewe Alexandra Cricket Club ( established in September 1866 by Thomas Abraham [ a ] and other workers at Crewe locomotive works ), [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ bacillus ] and named after Princess Alexandra. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] They were based at the Alexandra Recreation Ground in Crewe, adjacent to Crewe railway station, and played their beginning equal against a side from Basford in North Staffordshire on 1 December 1877, drawing 1–1. [ 3 ] [ 6 ] In 1883, Crewe Alexandra ‘s first equal in the FA Cup was against scots club Queen ‘s Park of Glasgow, losing 10–0. [ 9 ] In February 1886, William Bell became the first Crewe player to win an international cap, playing for Wales against Ireland in Wrexham. [ 10 ] In 1887–88, the club reached the FA Cup semi-finals, defeating Swifts, [ 11 ] [ c ] Derby County and Middlesbrough en road, before going out to Preston North End. In 1891, the football club split off from the cricket club—a step that was condemned by Francis Webb, head mastermind of the town ‘s London and North Western Railway works, who supported the excommunication of master sportsmen ; following the schism, Webb and the LNWR said the company would ‘refuse to find employment in the Crewe Works for any professional football musician ‘. [ 3 ] On 5 March 1892, John Pearson became the first gear Crewe musician to win an England cap, playing against Ireland in Belfast ; [ 13 ] [ 14 ] he remains the only Crewe musician capped for the full England side while playing for the club. [ 15 ] Crewe secretary J.G. Hall helped found the abortive Combination ( launched at Crewe ‘s Royal Hotel in early 1889 ) and then the Football Alliance ( 1889–1892 ). [ 16 ] When the latter merged with the Football League, Crewe were a establish extremity of the Football League Second Division in 1892, but lost their league condition in 1896 after merely four seasons—finishing third base from bottom, fourthly from bed, then bed twice—possibly due to a player budget that was a quarter of that of other clubs. [ 17 ] The club left the Alexandra Recreation Ground shortly before the end of the 1895–96 season, and after playing at a number of different venues, including in nearby Sandbach, they moved to the foremost Gresty Road background in 1897 ( in 1906 the current Gresty Road ground was rebuilt to the west of the original web site ). [ 18 ] Incorporated as a limited company on 29 May 1899, [ 19 ] Crewe spent two far seasons in the irregular incarnation of the combination from 1896 followed by three seasons in the Lancashire League, before competing in the Birmingham & District League for ten years. They besides won the Cheshire Senior Challenge Cup in 1907 and 1910. [ 11 ] The team spent the 1910s in the Central League, finishing second in 1913–14 and 1920–21. [ 20 ]
Chart of board positions of Crewe Alexandra in the Football League. Crewe rejoined the Football League in 1921 ; they finished 6th in their first base two seasons in the Third Division North but did not finish a high again until 1931–32 and 1935–36. [ 21 ] In October 1932, defender Fred Keenor ‘s last Wales appearance marked Crewe ‘s first international cap of the twentieth hundred. [ 22 ] Crewe ‘s beginning major honours were Welsh Cup wins in 1936 and 1937 ; [ 23 ] Crewe is not in Wales but English clubs, normally from surround areas, participated by invitation. In 1936, Bert Swindells scored his hundredth League goal for Crewe, [ 24 ] going on to score 128 League goals for the club, [ 23 ] a record that placid stands, [ 25 ] deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as goals in both Welsh Cup finals. [ 26 ]

Post-World War II [edit ]

From the 1950s to the early on 1980s, Crewe enjoyed only casual success. Looking over Gresty Road, Michael Palin, in the 1980 BBC Great Railway Journeys of the World series, describe Crewe as “ like those other railroad track towns, Swindon and Doncaster, possessed of a football team which is perpetually propping up the bottom of the Fourth Division ”. [ 27 ] Between 1894 and 1982, Crewe finished final in the Football League eight times, more than any early league club. [ 28 ] On 25 December 1954, Crewe embarked on a sequence where they did not win away from home for 56 matches ; the run ended with a 1–0 winnings at Southport on 24 April 1957. [ 29 ] Crewe finished bottom of Division Three North three times in a rowing from 1955–56 to 1957–58, tallying precisely 28, 21 and 23 points from 46 games in each respective season. [ 30 ] The club was placed into the newly formed Fourth Division in 1958–59. [ 31 ] all-time records were set against First Division Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup fourthly round in 1960. A new record Gresty Road attendance of 20,000 interpret Crewe detention Spurs to a 2–2 guide on 30 January. [ 32 ] On 3 February, Tottenham convincingly won the replay 13–2, Crewe ‘s record defeat. [ 33 ] The comply class, however, Jimmy McGuigan ‘s Crewe slope defeated another First Division cabaret, Chelsea, 2–1 in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on 7 January 1961. Chelsea ‘s side included former Crewe player Frank Blunstone —who scored Chelsea ‘s goal—as well as England internationals Peter Bonetti, Jimmy Greaves and Terry Venables. [ 34 ] Crewe were then again drawn against the eventual duplicate -winning Spurs side, who won 5–1 in the fourth round at White Hart Lane. [ 35 ]

1960s promotions and relegations [edit ]

In 1963, Crewe secured their first gear promotion to the Third Division, winning the season ‘s concluding game against Exeter City, with Frank Lord scoring the only goal in presence of a crowd of 9,807 at Gresty Road. Lord holds the record for most hat-tricks for the club with eight. [ 36 ] The club finished in third rate, behind champions Brentford and Oldham Athletic, but were relegated back to Division Four the following season. In the 1964–65 season, Terry Harkin scored a record 34 league goals for Crewe. [ 37 ] [ 23 ] Managed by Ernie Tagg, the club achieved promotion for a second gear time in 1967–68, but again spent barely one season in the Third Division. [ 38 ]

1970s and early 1980s [edit ]

From 1969, Crewe spent 20 years in Division Four, finishing bottom in 1971–72, 1978–79 and 1981–82, and not achieving a top half coating until 1985. [ 39 ] In 1974, they came within two minutes of taking Aston Villa into extra prison term in a League Cup one-third beat replay at Villa Park. [ 40 ] In 1977, Tommy Lowry played his record-setting 475th and last game for the Railwaymen ; he had earlier passed Peter Leigh ‘s sum of 430 appearances between 1960 and 1972. [ 23 ] From February to September 1979, the club went a record 16 matches ( 15 league, one League Cup tie ) without winning at Gresty Road. [ 41 ] In December 1979, director Tony Waddington signed the goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar who kept eight clean-sheets in his 24 matches played, [ 42 ] and, on 5 May 1980, scored a penalty—his only professional goal—to seal a 2–0 victory over York City. [ 43 ]

The Gradi years ( 1983–2011 ) [edit ]

Dario Gradi managed 1,359 Crewe beginning team games In June 1983, after Crewe finished second from bottom at the end of the 1982–83 temper, the club appointed Milan -born Dario Gradi as coach. [ 44 ] He looked to build an academy structure to develop players that could be sold to help fund the musician growth plan. [ 45 ] Among his early on transfer successes were Geoff Thomas and John Pemberton ( both signed from Rochdale and sold to Crystal Palace, in 1987 and 1988 respectively ), [ 46 ] [ 47 ] and former Manchester United apprentice David Platt, signed in 1985 and sold to Aston Villa for £200,000 in February 1988. [ 48 ] Under Gradi, and despite some Crewe fans ‘ initial reservations, [ 49 ] Crewe played attractive, technical football and gained a reputation for developing new talent. Steve Walters became Crewe ‘s youngest player, aged barely 16 years and 119 days when he played against Peterborough United on 7 May 1988. [ 50 ] In 1989, Crewe won their third promotion, a 1–1 draw at Tranmere Rovers enough to take both teams into the Third Division. [ 51 ] interim, on 7 January 1989, Crewe had hosted Aston Villa—and Platt—at Gresty Road in the FA Cup one-third orotund, taking a 2–0 contribute before the visitors rallied to secure a 3–2 win, [ 52 ] [ 53 ] with Platt netting the winner but refusing to celebrate against his former club. [ 54 ] A year former, on 6 January 1990, Crewe were again drawn off at Chelsea in the third circle ; Walters gave Crewe a first-half contribute at Stamford Bridge before Chelsea equalised in the 82nd minute to force a replay which they won 2–0. [ 55 ] [ 56 ] In March 1990, Crewe defender Paul Edwards was sold to Coventry City for £350,000 ; [ 57 ] he was former named in the 1989-1990 Third Division PFA Team of the Year, [ 58 ] Crewe ‘s inaugural player to feature in the awards. Crewe were relegated in 1991. however, despite far player sales―defender Rob Jones joined Liverpool for £300,000, [ 59 ] then Craig Hignett was sold for a club record £500,000 to Middlesbrough [ 60 ] ―the golf club reached the 1993 Third Division play-off final but lost against York City at Wembley. [ 61 ] Crewe then gained promotion in 1994 after a concluding day victory at Chester City. [ 62 ] [ 63 ] In the same year, Neil Lennon became the first Crewe musician to win an international cap since Fred Keenor in 1932 when he was selected to play for Northern Ireland against Mexico. [ 64 ] Crewe twice lost in play-off semi-finals, to Bristol Rovers in 1995 [ 65 ] and Notts County in 1996, [ 66 ] [ 67 ] then returned to Wembley in the 1997 Division Two play-off concluding, securing a 1–0 victory over Brentford to put the baseball club back in the second tier for the inaugural time since 1896. [ 68 ]

second grade survival [edit ]

Crewe achieved their highest complete stead, 11th, in the 1997–98 First Division season. [ 23 ] Gradi kept his team in the division until 2002, despite a matchday income on which many more humble clubs could not survive. Boosting the finances, celebrated player sales included Lennon ( to Leicester City for £750,000 ), [ 69 ] Danny Murphy ( to Liverpool for an initial fee of £1.5m ), [ 59 ] and Seth Johnson ( to Derby County for £3m ). [ 70 ] Gradi celebrated his 1,000th game in commit of Crewe on 20 November 2001. [ 71 ] After one season in the Division Two the team were promoted back to Division One at the end of the 2002–03 season, [ 72 ] having finished in second place—Crewe ‘s first runner-up position—with Rob Hulse scoring 22 league goals, and being named in the PFA Team of the Year, [ 73 ] ahead of a £750,000 remove to West Bromwich Albion. [ 74 ] Crewe retained their Division One seat in the 2003–04 season, during which assistant coach Neil Baker took temp bang between 22 September and 17 October 2003 while Gradi undergo heart surgery. [ 75 ] At the startle of the 2004–05 season, Crewe were rated one of the teams most likely to be relegated from the newly renamed ‘Championship ‘. In the consequence, they put in a good show in the first half of the season, but after selling Dean Ashton to Norwich City for £3 million in the January 2005 transfer window, [ 76 ] Crewe failed to win until the concluding equal of the temper, when they defeated Coventry City 2–1 to avoid delegating on finish deviation. however, they were relegated to League One ( horizontal surface three ) the comply temper. Nonetheless, Crewe were named the “ Most admire Club ” in the 2006 Football League Awards. [ 77 ]

Stepping back [edit ]

By the summer of 2007, Gradi was the longest-serving director in English league football, having completed 24 years in sole charge of the cabaret. Crewe announced that, from 1 July 2007, Gradi would take up a raw character as the baseball club ‘s technical director while gradually allowing newly appointed first-team coach Steve Holland control of the team. [ 78 ] Holland ‘s beginning season was a disappointment as the cabaret narrowly avoid relegation, finishing 20th with 50 points. [ 79 ] Ahead of his moment season, he spent half a million pounds on fresh signings, while striker Nicky Maynard joined Bristol City for £2.25 million. [ 80 ] however, despite a positive pre-season, Crewe took merely nine points from their inaugural 16 games. The board sacked Holland as first team coach in November 2008, and re-appointed Gradi as caretaker coach. [ 81 ] On 24 December 2008, former Stoke City director Gudjon Thordarson was appointed as Holland ‘s successor. [ 82 ] He made a promise begin, and received the February 2009 Manager of the Month award ( the first base time a Crewe coach had won the award ), [ 83 ] but the team suffered a poor end-of-season race, not winning for 10 games, and were relegated to League Two. On 2 October 2009, after nine months in charge and another poor rivulet of results, Thordarson was sacked, [ 84 ] and Gradi was reinstated as caretaker coach. Despite lingering close up to the playoff places for the majority of the temper, another run of poor form saw the club finish 18th. Crewe improved to 10th in the 2010–11 temper, during which Gradi won the January 2011 Manager of the Month. [ 85 ] In November 2011, Gradi last stepped down equally coach and returned to his previous function as director of football focus on youth growth. [ 86 ]

2011 to present day [edit ]

Steve Davis was appointed coach in the lapp month. [ 87 ] Previously director of nearby Nantwich Town, Davis had been appointed assistant coach in June 2009, replacing erstwhile assistant Neil Baker. [ 88 ] Davis immediately led the team to a 16-match unbeaten run in early 2012 up to 7th position, earning the club a play-off place. [ 89 ] Crewe defeated Southend United in the two-legged semi-final, extending the unbeaten ply to a club read 18 matches [ 90 ] and securing a play-off final examination against Cheltenham Town at Wembley on 27 May 2012 which they won 2–0 ; the goalscorers were academy graduates Nick Powell and Byron Moore. [ 91 ] [ 92 ] Before the 2012–13 season, Crewe sold Powell to Manchester United, and on transfer deadline day captain Ashley Westwood joined Aston Villa. however, with new Academy players coming into the beginning team, Crewe returned to Wembley to win the Football League Trophy, beating Southend United 2–0 in the final in April 2013. [ 93 ] In the league, Crewe finished in mid-table ; they ended the season by fielding a team whose starting line-up were all Crewe Academy graduates. [ 94 ] [ 95 ]
John Bowler in 2000. He served as president from 1987 until resigning in March 2021 following criticisms in the FA ‘s sexual activity abuse inquiry. In March 2014, John Bowler, Crewe chair since 1987, was honoured with the Contribution to League Football Award at The Football League Awards. [ 96 ] Dario Gradi had earlier won the same prize, in 2011. In the 2015 New Year Honours, Bowler was awarded an MBE for services to football ; Gradi was presented an MBE in January 1998. [ 97 ] [ 98 ] Crewe retained their rate in League One in the 2013–14 season, but started the following season ailing, gaining four points from the first 11 League games. Some sustained runs of better results pulled the club out of the relegation places. The team needed at least a home draw against Bradford City to secure safety but lost 1–0 and had to rely on results elsewhere to ensure League One football for another class, finishing two points above the bottom four in 20th. [ 99 ] The 2015–16 season started in a similar traffic pattern, with the team winning good two of their first 15 league games. They besides crashed out of the FA Cup in the first round against non-league Eastleigh, [ 100 ] forcing Davis to defend his status as the ‘right serviceman ‘ for the job. [ 101 ] Crewe ‘s relegation to League Two was confirmed following a 3–0 frustration at local rivals Port Vale, with five games remaining. [ 102 ] After an initially promise originate to the following season, Crewe ‘s kind slumped during the final months of 2016, and on 8 January 2017, Davis was sacked as Crewe director. [ 103 ] Former Crewe defender and Academy operations director David Artell replaced Davis. [ 104 ] [ 105 ] Artell maintained the menstruate of Academy players and, as Crewe improved to 15th at the end of the 2017–18 season, he emulated Davis in selecting another starting line-up who were all Crewe Academy graduates. [ 106 ] After 36 years engagement with the club, Gradi, 78, announced his retirement from all positions at Crewe Alexandra on 7 October 2019. [ 107 ] In February 2020, far changes to the club ‘s board were announced with local businessman Stuart Whitby [ 108 ] and former Nantwich Town president Tony Davison joining the board following a £1.75m buy-out of majority stockholder Norman Hassall. The Railwaymen Supporters Society besides raised £250,000, [ 109 ] to earn the veracious for a Crewe fans ‘ representative on the clubhouse ‘s new board. [ 110 ] On the pitch, Artell ‘s build up since 2017 culminated in Crewe vying for promotion for a lot of the 2019–20 season, with the club clear of the table ( ahead of Swindon Town on goal deviation ) when the football season was suspended in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On 9 June, Crewe ‘s promotion to League One was confirmed, but Swindon were crowned League Two champions on the basis of average points per game. [ 111 ] Artell was selected as League Two Manager of the year in the League Managers Association Awards [ 112 ] —becoming the first Crewe coach to win such an annual award—and two Academy graduates, Perry Ng and Charlie Kirk, were named in the PFA League Two team of the Year. [ 113 ] Crewe finished 12th in League One at the end of the 2020–21 season – the club ‘s highest finish since relegation from the Championship in 2006. [ 114 ]

Stadiums [edit ]

detail of 1888 OS map showing Alexandra Recreation Ground and adjacent football land in Crewe

Alexandra Recreation Ground [edit ]

Until 1896, Crewe played at the Alexandra Recreation Ground, located precisely to the north of the contemporary Gresty Road. After playing at a variety of venues in 1896 and 1897, including in nearby Sandbach, the cabaret returned to the lapp area of Crewe, adjacent to Crewe railway place, to play at the inaugural Gresty Road ground, located to the southeast of the original stadium. In 1906 the ground was demolished to make direction for some new railway lines, and a new Gresty Road stadium was built on a site directly to the west. [ 18 ] [ 115 ]

Gresty Road [edit ]

Gresty Road in 1998, looking east towards the Family Stand, with old Main Stand on rightPhotograph Main stand ( left ) and Gresty Road end The pitch runs approximately east to west, with teams playing either west towards Gresty Road or east towards the railroad track station. The main stand has constantly been situated on the south slope of the grind. Until the 1990s, the main stand was a wooden structure, built in 1932 after a fire destroyed the master stand, [ 115 ] [ 116 ] offering the ground ‘s merely ( wooden ) seating plus a standing area―’The Paddock’―while the other three sides were all standing terraces. This configuration saw the club ‘s record attendance when 20,000 people watched the FA Cup third round affiliation against Spurs in 1960. [ 23 ] During the 1990s, phased modernization saw open terrace at the ‘Railway end ‘ ( at one time a roughly formed ‘ash savings bank ‘ terraced with sleepers ) replaced by a newfangled family bandstand in 1993. [ 117 ] The ‘Gresty Road End ‘ ( then the main away supporters sphere ) was besides replaced by an all-seater stand in 1995 ; [ 118 ] and the partially-covered northern stand ( the home supporters ‘ ‘Pop Side ‘ ) was replaced by an all-seater stand in 1996–97. [ 119 ] completion of the final phase in 2000, including construction of a newfangled £5.2 million independent rack, saw some reorganization of seating allocations. off fans are presently accommodated in the stand along the northern touchline, with the option of extra capacitance in the family stand for peculiarly big visiting contingents ; Crewe hosted its first base 10,000+ crowd in the immediately all-seater stadium in 2000 [ 120 ] with the record attendance of 10,092 when Crewe played Manchester City on 12 March 2002. [ 121 ] The Gresty Road End and chief rack are entirely for home supporters. [ 122 ] In June 2021, the club agreed a £0.5m naming rights deal with long-run shirt patronize Mornflake ; the grate will be called the Mornflake Stadium until 2023–24. [ 123 ] besides known as the Alexandra Stadium, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. It features four stands : [ 122 ]

  • The Air Products Stand seats 6,809 spectators and also has a directors area and media seating, and houses the club’s offices, team changing rooms, hospitality facilities, ticket office and club shop.
  • The Rhino Safety Stand,[124] also known as the Gresty Road End, accommodates 982 spectators and 4 disabled spectators. A bar for home supporters is situated to the north of this stand.
  • The Blue Bell Family Stand, also known as the Railway End, accommodates 682 spectators.
  • The Whitby Morrison Ice Cream Van Stand,[125] formerly the Pop Side, accommodates 1,680 away spectators, and also houses the ground’s matchday video filming facilities. In July 2021, Whitby Morrison announced a 99-year extension of its stand sponsorship at Crewe.[126]

Should the footing necessitate expansion, the most likely change will be renovation of the Ice Cream Van Stand to become a two-tiered rack. [ 122 ]

Club identity [edit ]

Crewe Alexandra kit, 1988–1989 Since the late 1890s, the main ( ‘home ‘ ) Crewe playing strip has featured a bolshevik or predominantly red top, normally with white shorts ( though red and black shorts have besides been concisely adopted ) and red socks. [ 127 ] The team played in white shirts and blue shorts from 1886 to 1896, but have since played chiefly in red and white. [ 127 ] [ 128 ] The loss shirts earned the early nickname of ‘The Robins ‘, [ 128 ] though the club is more normally referred to as ‘The Alex ‘ or ‘The Railwaymen ‘ ( reflecting the club ‘s railroad track works founders, the township ‘s associations with the railway diligence, and the club ‘s proximity to Crewe railroad track station ). [ 127 ]

Crewe ‘s away colours have varied. Blue, white or blue-and-white shirts have been the most normally adopted, but during the twenty-first century, the club has besides occasionally played in other colours including black or gold kits. [ 129 ] For the 2021–2022 season, Crewe ‘s away kit is black with a gold trim. [ 130 ] The town ‘s crest appeared on the team ‘s shirts in the 1958–59 season. [ 127 ] This included a lion―associated with the Marquess of Crewe ―holding a cog roulette wheel, a larger six-spoked railway rack, and two wheatsheaves reflecting south Cheshire ‘s agricultural connections. [ 128 ] This was replaced in 1975 by a simple badge with a lion holding a railway wheel―a motif borrowed from British Railways [ 127 ] ―on a set containing the words ‘Crewe Alexandra Football Club ‘ arranged around a football. The stream badge, adopted in 1998, features a lion perched on a football, encircled by a laurel and the clubhouse ‘s name ; it dropped the railway bicycle, prompting some Crewe fans to demand the club “ bring back the wheel ”. [ 128 ] The baseball club ‘s mascot is besides a leo : Gresty the Lion appears on matchdays and in early community activities. [ 131 ] The current shirt sponsor is cereals supplier Mornflake ―also based in Gresty Road―whose logo has appeared on the shirts since 2005, [ 127 ] and is set to continue through to 2023–24. [ 132 ]

Supporters and rivalries [edit ]

Attendances [edit ]

Crewe is a small town : its built-up area had a entire population of 71,722 in 2011. [ 133 ] Founded by employees of the railroad track works, the club drew many of its supporters from the works, a well as residents from more rural areas surrounding the town. The cabaret ‘s location next to Crewe railroad track post has besides helped supporters travel to and from games at Gresty Road. From the 1920s through to the 1960s, attendances typically averaged around 6,000, [ 134 ] but local derbies could more than double push : the visit of Stoke City on 26 October 1926 attracted 15,102, for model, [ 135 ] while Port Vale drew 17,883 on 21 September 1953, [ 136 ] Crewe ‘s phonograph record league crowd. [ 134 ] Cup matches against major clubs such as Spurs besides drew large crowd ( a record 20,000 in 1960 ). [ 32 ] however, league attendances dwindled in the 1970s and 1980s, [ 137 ] when seasonal worker averages of under 2,000 were recorded four times, with 1986-87 being lowest : 1,817 ; [ 134 ] precisely 1,009 watched a 1–1 draw with Peterborough United on 4 February 1986. [ 138 ] Crewe ‘s revival from the mid-1980s under Gradi boosted local interest, with 5,000-plus attendances increasingly common, even as Gresty Road ‘s passage to an all-seater stadium began to restrict numbers in the late 1990s ; average attendance peaked at 7,741 in 2004 during Crewe ‘s years in the Championship. [ 134 ] League Two crowd before the COVID-19 pandemic closure in 2020 averaged 4,580, [ 134 ] equitable above their all-time average, 4,576. [ 139 ] ticket prices at Gresty Road are broadly in line with early clubs ‘ rates for all-seated areas. In the BBC ‘s 2017 Price of Football survey, Crewe ‘s tickets for individual League Two games cost a maximum of £22 ( 15 other clubs charged higher prices ) ; the most expensive Crewe season ticket monetary value £325 ( only one other golf club, Accrington Stanley, charged less for its most expensive season tickets ), and its lowest priced season slate ( £280 ) was in the mid-range for the division. [ 140 ] For the 2021–2022 season in League One, matchday tickets cost a maximal of £25. [ 141 ]

Rivalries [edit ]

Crewe ‘s main rivals are chap English Football League team Port Vale. As of March 2021, the clubs have played 81 games since 1892 ( 8 games against Burslem Port Vale ) ; overall, Crewe have won 20 games, Port Vale have won 38, with the teams drawing 23 games. [ 142 ] [ 143 ] The competition ( known by some since the 1980s as the A500 Derby ) intensified after the millennium, when both clubs were in Leagues One and Two, with close encounters sometimes resulting in violence and arrests. [ 144 ] [ 145 ] On 22 February 2014, Crewe beat Vale 3–1, at Vale Park and there was trouble oneself ahead, during and after the game, with respective arrests made and flares thrown on the deliver. [ 146 ] In January 2015 at Vale Park, Crewe won 1–0 to seal their first league double over Port Vale, and two arrests were made at the game, with minor disturbances between equal fans after the match. [ 147 ] Six arrests were made at Gresty Road during the 22 September 2018 meet between the two sides. [ 148 ] A 2019 report ranked the Port Vale-Crewe Alexandra competition as the 14th biggest competition in English professional football. [ 149 ] Crewe besides maintain smaller rivalries with Wrexham, Shrewsbury Town, Stoke City and traditional local Cheshire derbies with Macclesfield Town, Chester City, Stockport County and Tranmere Rovers. The Railwaymen ‘s competition with Stockport intensified reasonably in 2009 when Stockport all but relegated Crewe from League One, after beating them 4–3 at Edgeley Park. [ 150 ] Crewe then returned the favor on 30 April 2011, when they beat County 2–0 at Gresty Road, confirming County ‘s relegation to non-League football. [ 151 ]

Songs and music [edit ]

Crewe ‘s fans were the beginning to sing the birdcall “ Blue Moon “ [ 152 ] ―also sing by fans of Manchester City ― ( with lyrics that do not quite match the Rodgers and Hart original ) and said to be a response to the glooming days of the 1950s and 1960s, [ 153 ] or reflecting an erstwhile joke that the team only wins ‘once in a amobarbital sodium moon ‘, internet explorer, rarely. [ 154 ] During the 1990s, one Crewe athletic supporter, classically train musician Richard Sutton, was known for taking a trumpet to games, [ 155 ] playing episodic fanfares such as the root from Star Wars during matches. [ 156 ] The Crewe-based dance trio Dario G were named after Dario Gradi. [ 157 ] [ 158 ]

trainman Supporters Society [edit ]

Crewe supporters often sing a song featuring the line “ We are the Railwaymen ”. Aggregating and formalising respective early Crewe supporters groups, and supported by the national Football Supporters ‘ Association, the independent Railwaymen Supporters Society was established in 2018, and incorporated as a residential district profit society on 8 July 2019. [ 159 ] Initiatives have included a campaign, Project250, to raise £250,000 to invest in club shares and gain representation on the club ‘s dining table ( achieved in February 2020 ), [ 160 ] and the institution of an Ex-Players Association ( Gareth Whalley is its president ). [ 161 ]

repute [edit ]

Player development [edit ]

As an early professional club in the late nineteenth hundred, several Crewe players achieved external survival, peculiarly for Wales. During the twentieth hundred, however, Crewe had few stars. Welsh international Fred Keenor played his final league games for the cabaret and his last external cap was Crewe ‘s first of the century. [ 22 ] Some players started or developed their careers at Crewe before achieving fame elsewhere. For example, ahead Frank Blunstone played 48 League games for Crewe in the early 1950s before a move to Chelsea and five England caps, [ 162 ] Stan Bowles scored 18 Crewe goals in 51 games in the early 1970s and went on to play for Queens Park Rangers and England, [ 163 ] and goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar played 24 Crewe matches at the start of the 1980s before moving to Liverpool. [ 43 ] Crewe ‘s conscious investing in young players began in the recently 1980s when then director Dario Gradi and cabaret chair John Bowler got the local anesthetic council to contribute towards the costs of an all-weather pitch at Gresty Road. [ 164 ] This formed the start point for a youth coaching facility, which by the early 1990s was coaching 120 youngsters every week. [ 165 ] In 1995, Crewe leased a 20-acre web site at Reaseheath, near Nantwich, planning a £750,000 train and player development facility largely funded by transfer sales. [ 166 ] In 1996, Crewe received a lottery allow to develop a youth coaching facility in nearby Shavington. [ 167 ] By 2015, musician sales had generated over £20 million which had contributed to modernising Gresty Road and developing Crewe ‘s Academy, [ 168 ] making it the only club outside the circus tent two divisions to have a Category Two academy club. [ 168 ] Players who passed through the ranks since administration of the Academy include England internationals Geoff Thomas and David Platt, Wales international Robbie Savage, and Northern Ireland ‘s Neil Lennon and Steve Jones. These were all youngsters signed from other clubs, but the Academy besides nurtured Crewe ‘s own trainees – most notably England internationals Rob Jones, Danny Murphy, Seth Johnson and Dean Ashton, plus Wales midfielder David Vaughan. [ 169 ] [ 170 ]

sexual abuse scandal [edit ]

On 16 November 2016, former Crewe defender Andy Woodward revealed that he had been the victim of child sexual pervert by erstwhile football coach Barry Bennell ( convicted as a pedophile in the US in 1994 ) at the club in the 1980s. [ 171 ] [ 172 ] By the meter club president John Bowler responded to the revelations, on Monday 21 November, six other individuals had contacted the patrol, [ 173 ] with Woodward ‘s Crewe teammate Steve Walters alleging he was another of Bennell ‘s victims. [ 174 ] Woodward criticised Crewe for failing to apologise. [ 175 ] On 27 November 2016, a one-third early Crewe actor, Anthony Hughes, revealed that he excessively had been abused by Bennell, [ 176 ] as did Crewe trainee, subsequently Wimbledon and Northern Ireland international Mark Williams. [ 177 ] [ 178 ] Bennell was tried at Liverpool Crown Court in early 2018, and convicted of 50 offences of intimate abuse against 12 boys [ 179 ] ( and on 20 February 2018 was sentenced to 30 years in prison ). [ 180 ] After the guilty verdicts on 15 February, victims including Andy Woodward and Steve Walters read statements outside court. [ 179 ] Crewe Alexandra expressed its “ deepest sympathies ” to Bennell ‘s victims, saying it was not aware of any sexual misuse by Bennell nor had it received any complaint about intimate misuse by him before or during his use with the baseball club, [ 181 ] [ 179 ] though this has been disputed. [ 182 ] Walters accused Crewe of “ victim blaming “ in a bid to avoid compensation payouts. He and at least one other former Crewe musician have launched High Court damages claims of upwards of £200,000 against the club ; [ 183 ] an eight-week trial is listed to start in October 2021. [ 184 ] On 19 March 2019, the Guardian reported Crewe Alexandra planned to contest victims ‘ claims, [ 185 ] but late ( 27 March 2019 ), reported an apparent u-turn in Crewe ‘s approach ; it had agreed an out-of-court fiscal colony with one of Bennell ‘s victims. [ 186 ] Andy Woodward had unsuccessfully sued Crewe for damages in 2004. [ 187 ] Crewe were additionally criticised for not holding an independent inspection into how they dealt with historic child sex misuse allegations. [ 188 ] In March 2018, the said that, as it had fully co-operated with police investigations, it did “ not intend to commission a farther freelancer investigation, ” and the police ‘s reputation had besides been supplied to the FA review headed by Clive Sheldon. [ 189 ] This decision was criticised by local MP Laura Smith, [ 190 ] by MP Damian Collins, moderate of the DCMS choose committee, [ 191 ] by Crewe Town Council, [ 192 ] and by the Professional Footballers Association ‘s Gordon Taylor. [ 193 ] In his final report, Sheldon said he “ liaised with the Club and its lawyers with a scene to suggesting other lines of inquiry that could usefully be followed up by the Club. ultimately, the Club agreed to conduct those far enquiries, and provided me with a composition setting out its conclusions. ” [ 194 ] The FA ‘s 710-page reputation, [ 194 ] published on 17 March 2021, identified failures to act adequately on complaints or rumours of sexual abuse at eight professional clubs including Crewe. Considering whether elder Crewe people knew about Bennell, Sheldon concluded they had not received specific reports of abuse. however, directors had discussed concerns about inappropriate demeanor, and the club “ should have done more to check on the wellbeing of the boys ”. [ 195 ] Following publication of the report, Crewe Alexandra apologised to all survivors of Bennell ‘s misuse, expressing “ wholehearted regret ” about their ignorance of his crimes, [ 196 ] and Gradi besides apologised. ” [ 197 ] With Gradi “ efficaciously banned for life ” from football for safeguarding reasons, [ 198 ] there were besides calls for Crewe chair John Bowler to resign ; [ 199 ] Bowler announced his resignation on 25 March 2021. [ 200 ]

Honours [edit ]

Crewe Alexandra have never won a division title, and have only been runner-up doubly : in the Football League Second Division in 2002–03, [ 72 ] and in League Two in 2019–20. [ 111 ] Crewe ‘s highest complete league position was 11th in the First Division in 1997–98, the second tier. [ 11 ] Football League Second Division ( 3rd grade ) [ five hundred ]
Football League Fourth Division / League Two ( 4th grade ) [ vitamin d ]
Football League Trophy
In the major cup competitions, Crewe reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1888. [ 11 ] They have reached the third round of the League Cup ten times ( 1960, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1992, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008 ), [ 204 ] losing 1–0 to Aston Villa in a replay at Villa Park in 1974, [ 40 ] and taking cup holders Manchester United into extra prison term at Gresty Road in 2006 before losing 2–1. [ 205 ] While Crewe is not in Wales, English clubs, normally from edge areas, have participated by invitation in the Welsh Cup, which Crewe won twice, in 1936 and 1937. [ 23 ] The club won the Cheshire Senior Cup 19 times up to 1998, [ 23 ] and have won it a far three times, most recently in 2017. [ 206 ]

Records [edit ]

Crewe ‘s biggest league victory came against Rotherham United on 1 October 1932 in the Third Division North when they won 8–0. [ 207 ] In the FA Cup, their biggest win was 9–1 over Northwich Victoria on 16 November 1889. [ 208 ] The club ‘s heaviest kill was in the FA Cup in 1960 when they were beaten 13–2 by Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane on 30 January 1960, [ 23 ] a game watched by 64,365 : the largest push for a match involving Crewe. [ 209 ] In the league, Crewe ‘s worst performance saw them beaten 11–1 at Lincoln City on 29 September 1951 in the Third Division North. [ 210 ] Tommy Lowry made the most first team appearances in all competitions for Crewe : 482 between 1965 and 1977. [ 23 ] Bert Swindells holds the record for most Crewe goals : 128, scored from 1927 to 1937, [ 23 ] while Terry Harkin scored the most Crewe goals in a single season : 34 in 1964–65. [ 37 ] [ 23 ] Best catch return was five goals, scored by Tony Naylor in Crewe ‘s 7–1 league frustration of Colchester United at Gresty Road on 24 April 1993. [ 211 ] William Bell was the first Crewe musician to win an international hood, playing for Wales against Ireland in Wrexham in February 1886. [ 10 ] Clayton Ince, with 31 caps for Trinidad and Tobago, has won most caps while playing for Crewe. [ 212 ] Efe Sodje is the lone Crewe player to play in a World Cup Finals tournament, for Nigeria against Argentina, on 2 June 2002, and then against England on 12 June 2002, both in Japan. [ 213 ] Crewe ‘s most expensive player was Rodney Jack, signed from Torquay United in August 1998 for £650,000. [ 214 ] Crewe were reported to have received £3 million for Nick Powell when he moved to Manchester United on 2 July 2012, with options for the fee to grow to £6 million depending on appearances. [ 215 ] Crewe besides received £3 million for Seth Johnson ‘s 1999 be active to Derby County, [ 70 ] and for Dean Ashton ‘s move to Norwich City in 2005. [ 76 ]

Players [edit ]

As of 4 September 2021[216]

current squad [edit ]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

Out on loanword [edit ]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

former players [edit ]

In 2004 the BBC ‘s Football Focus asked fans of all professional football clubs in England and Scotland to vote for their cult bomber. For Crewe, Seth Johnson won with 59 % of the vote ; Danny Murphy came second with 33 %, and Craig Hignett third with 8 %. [ 217 ]

Full international players [edit ]

William Bell was the first Crewe player to win an international hood, playing for Wales against Ireland in Wrexham in February 1886. [ 10 ] On 15 March 1890, three Crewe players – Alfred Davies ( besides Wales captain ), Dick Jones and Billy Lewis – played in Wales ‘s 3–1 defeat by England in Wrexham ; [ 218 ] Lewis scored Wales ‘s finish, [ 219 ] the first international goal scored by a Crewe player. John ‘Jackie ‘ Pearson became the first gear Crewe actor to win an international cap for England, playing against Ireland in Belfast on 5 March 1892. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] He remains the lone Crewe player capped for England while playing at the golf club. [ 15 ] Donervon Daniels is the merely current Crewe player to have a full external cap ; he played for Montserrat in their FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifier against US Virgin Islands on 2 June 2021. [ 220 ]

management [edit ]

managerial history [edit ]

Since 1892, 26 men have managed Crewe. Dario Gradi holds the record for the most games : 1,359 first team games. [ 238 ] Two Crewe managers have been inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame : Gradi in 2004 [ 239 ] and Harry Catterick, posthumously, in 2010. [ 240 ] As of 26 November 2021.[238] Only competitive matches are counted.
1 As secretary-manager
2 John Bradburn Blomerley ( besides among the club ‘s first directors in 1899, [ 19 ] and, in 1902, president of the Cheshire F.A. ) [ 242 ] was secretary-manager to 1911 ; honorary secretary to 1925
3 As sole coach. Between 22 September and 17 October 2003, Gradi undergo affection surgery. Assistant coach Neil Baker took charge of the team for this period ( P6, W0, D1, L5 ).
4 As technical conductor
5 As first team passenger car
6 As caretaker coach

Coaching positions [edit ]

As of 3 April 2021.[2]

Notes and references [edit ]

Notes [edit ]

References [edit ]

Sources [edit ]

  • Crisp, Marco (1998). Crewe Alexandra Match by Match (2nd ed.). Nottingham: Tony Brown. ISBN 1-899468-81-1.
  • Hornbrook, Jules (2000). The Gradi Years. Crewe. ISBN 0953887707.
  • Morris, Charlie (2019). Generation Game. Goldford. ISBN 978-1-9160314-0-1.

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