Crawley Town Football Club held its Awards Evening at Lingfield Park Racecourse on Sunday, April 28. Seven awards were given out including Players' Player, Crawley Observer Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season.
Here are some of the highlights including Scott Lindsey, general manager Tom Allman and club captain Ben Gladwin
Here are some of the highlights including Scott Lindsey, general manager Tom Allman and club captain Ben Gladwin
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00:00 I did have a small speech planned but after yesterday's events most of it was chucked
00:07 out the window. Equally I am violently hungover so I'll try and keep it quick. Thank you
00:12 Tim. Both on the field, over the last nine months we as a club have pretty much seen
00:16 it all. From being written off before a ball had even been kicked, to league debuts, international
00:21 pull-ups, early goals, late goals, onside and offside, you name it we've probably been
00:26 part of it. Off field we've seen the continued growth of the fan base with the average home
00:31 attendance continuing to rise, summed up by the record crowd at the recent 2-2 fixture
00:36 against Doncaster Riders. Last week's away trip to Sarn also saw a record following in
00:40 the league with over £1,000 to make the journey to South London. In and amongst these stories
00:46 of success and reaching the playoffs, for me the overarching achievement of these last
00:50 nine months remains a sense of pride that has seemingly been restored to the football
00:56 club. We've seen a group of players and staff fighting for one another week in, week out,
00:59 up and down the country. We've seen boys become men and have a group that fans can resonate
01:04 with and are back to the hill. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank this group
01:08 of players, Scott, the technical staff for what they've given us this season and to making
01:11 us dream.
01:13 Talk to us about the work you've done, the importance you've put since joining the football
01:18 club, engaging with the work that Dan's talking about there, the work in the local community.
01:22 Saturday afternoon matters most, but there's other parts to the job that you guys do, right?
01:27 Yeah, definitely. I think growing up, I've always wanted to be a professional footballer
01:31 and kind of looking up to heroes and idols and always said to myself if I was lucky enough
01:36 to get in such a position, I would always try and give back to the community and give
01:39 back to these young kids who look up to us. So, I try and do it when I can and these guys
01:43 have been great all year.
01:44 How has next season been for Scott?
01:47 Yeah, no, it's been great. He's out there scoring goals, doing his celebration and earning
01:53 additional money for the foundation as well. So, let's hope again next season he's out.
01:57 How do you feel about the security work?
02:02 Yeah, I'm happy, so I think.
02:06 [No audio]
02:12 [Music]
02:19 Well, that's it. We'll cut it there. Let's give it up for Scott.
02:23 [Applause]
02:28 What are some goals you may ever score?
02:33 Yes, but how much do you enjoy that?
02:35 Oh yeah, very enjoyable. Yeah, I'm part of the order of ways where you go to this sort
02:42 of stuff, so I'll just keep it short and sweet. I appreciate you lot.
02:47 [No audio]
02:50 One of the most iconic, momentous goals in the club's recent history. Totten tearing
02:55 it up and down the left-hand side. Made his 100th crawly appearance this season. Put your
03:00 hands together for Nick Cerugna.
03:02 [Applause]
03:10 [Music]
03:31 Bucker again, Charlie Lodoss. Talk us through the goal, mate. Firstly, you must be proud
03:35 of that one. That was a good hit.
03:37 Yeah, it was a good goal. I'd like to thank my scout friend for this. It's the cause of
03:45 three moments for Dick.
03:50 One thing in your mind as he sat up?
03:53 No.
03:54 Would you like to say a crotchet party?
03:55 Not really. Just, yeah.
03:59 [Applause]
04:01 And the next one, sir?
04:02 Yeah, it's brilliant. Good time out, mate.
04:04 See you everyone. How much do you enjoy helping lead this group? Everything that's been achieved
04:09 this season, I know you've been coaching as well, helping push the side forward.
04:13 Probably going to need some crack on that pitch. No, no, it's been brilliant. I'm so
04:18 proud of the lads. They're fantastic. I mean, I wasn't expecting pre-season, but this is
04:23 where we are now. It's incredible. Staff, players, everyone behind the scenes has been
04:27 so great. It's incredible.
04:29 The group getting increasingly younger? How big a part in being...
04:36 Every day they tell me how old I am. I'm 31, so I'm not that old yet. Yeah, they make me
04:42 feel really, really old. They're incredible, what they're doing at a young age. The expectation
04:49 of starting the season now is amazing. And the fact that you've got a whole football
04:53 club connected and moving in one direction is unique, actually. It's not something you
04:58 get all the time.
04:59 Who gives you the biggest headache?
05:02 Cardi.
05:04 [Laughter]
05:05 I just need a mental.
05:07 Lunez! Lunez!
05:09 Yeah, he's a mind-justice.
05:11 Like you see, the boys have got so much ability, but I love Man City. I like everything really
05:16 clean. He likes Liverpool, smashed the ball forward and caused chaos, so we're not aligned
05:22 on that particular thing, but I think he's got a massive future ahead of him.
05:26 [Applause]
05:36 See, you would get up here. You would get up here eventually.
05:40 [Laughter]
05:42 How much does it mean that the lads are going to be in this award tonight?
05:45 I mean, first of all, thank you for saving me from embarrassment.
05:48 [Laughter]
05:50 No, but yeah, I really appreciate it. I mean, everyone's fine. I mean, thank you for just
05:58 putting my name in there.
05:59 Thank you.
06:00 Yeah, it's rewarding because it takes a lot of hard work when you're down there and you
06:05 don't know whether you're going to jump back up and sort of thing. And yeah, I'm just glad
06:09 that it's going to happen.
06:10 [Laughter]
06:13 It's got us to this point where we can now keep the team where we're not, and keep trying
06:19 to get out of it. We'll celebrate all this obviously when the actual season's done, and
06:23 hopefully it will be after Wembley when we've had a good night.
06:26 [Applause]
06:30 Enjoy last night? Enjoy yesterday? How much did that moment, that the full-time was for
06:35 me to you, to your staff?
06:38 Yeah, it meant a lot because I know the work that's gone in, especially from the players,
06:44 they've been unbelievable. And especially from the staff as well. You know, there's
06:49 been a lot of work put in. So to get to that final position is incredible. We're now, there's
07:00 no point being in it if we're not doing it right. So we now need to go and get to work
07:04 again Monday morning. We've achieved so much but we're not there yet. It fuelled us really,
07:12 it really did. There was a lot of media platforms that had written us off, football had been
07:20 kicked in, factors to be focused to go down. And later on in the season, I remember one
07:28 platform, the real EFL they were called, they even made a comment in February about, "Oh
07:35 they'll finish me at table."
07:36 I resented that actually.
07:38 Yeah. So yeah, so no, thank you. Thank you for fuelling us because we like comments like
07:48 that. You know, I think now the four teams who are in the play-offs, we're probably bottom
07:55 of the list of the ones that people think will get promoted. The betting numbers look
07:59 like we're at the ones list to get promoted. But we're good, that's what we want because
08:04 that will help us. We're not supposed to be there, we're not supposed to win, but we will.
08:09 You've been to Emily before, there's a lot of lads wondering if being in the club hasn't
08:11 been, what a prize.
08:13 Yeah, yeah, I've been to Emily before in a play-off game and won. I've had that experience
08:21 with the team, it's a really good experience. It's great. I've said to the lads, for a long
08:27 time now, that I back us against anybody over two games in the semis and I back us at Wembley
08:32 against anybody because of the way we play. I truly believe that. I truly believe that
08:39 we will get there and I truly believe that we will get promoted.
08:48 Tom, first season, how proud are you of the contribution that you've been able to give
08:53 to the staff?
08:54 Yeah, definitely. I've been coming in this season, I've been able to play games, I've
08:57 been able to score goals. Thanks to the boys, the staff, Larry, Gafford, Dave, everyone
09:02 that's helped me do it. It's not just don't hit the ball up the right basket, I've been
09:05 able to tap it in even from two yards out. So, my credit's really got to go to the boys
09:09 and everyone around us on a daily basis.
09:11 The fans are going to do this, how much does that mean?
09:14 Yeah, it's massive. They're the ones who pay their hard-earned money to come and watch
09:17 us play and travel up and down the country. For us to give them the opportunity now to
09:21 come and support us in the playoffs and the semi-finals, no doubt. Wembley is a fantastic
09:25 achievement. It's made history. We should say while you're up here, 21 goals this season.
09:31 That means you're the Great Town's Golden Blue.
09:34 [applause]