Football Season Review

Crawley Town can be satisfied with their season as they finished in 14th place in the League Two table under head coach Harry Kewell. Kewell was a brave appointment last summer, who also showed courage in taking on his first managerial role with the Red Devils. Resources at the Broadfield Stadium cannot be compared with their famous namesakes at Old Trafford and one of Kewell’s biggest challenges was replacing the goals of departing leading goalscorer James Collins. He took a gamble on Dutch striker Thomas Verheydt from MVV Masstricht but he struggled to adapt to life in League Two and Kewell endured something of a baptism of fire as the side lost eight of their opening dozen league matches. A 4-0 thrashing away at Wycombe Wanderers saw fans calling for the head of Kewell but it proved to be a watershed as they suddenly found their form and surged up the league. They enjoyed eight wins in ten matches and excitement grew with the possibility of a play-off tilt. Alas the last third of the season matched the first and they won just one of their last dozen matches and had to settle for a mid-table finish. The gamble on Verheydt failed to pay off, partly due to injury but the addition of striker Karlan Ahearne-Grant on loan in January certainly did as he notched nine goals in 15 matches. Captain Jimmy Smith and winger Enzio Boldewijn had impressive campaigns and finished as joint- leading goalscorer with ten apiece. It was goalkeeper Glenn Morris who was voted as player of the season however after another stellar year between the sticks. The experience of this first season will be invaluable for Kewell and there is plenty of cause for optimism heading into the summer.

Player of the Season: Glenn Morris