Ron Spraget has supported Crawley Town since 1958 and he is now looking forward to his first ever trip to Wembley to watch his beloved Reds. We chatted to Ron about his love for the club, his favourite players and the job Scott Lindsey has done
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00:00 My name is Ron Spraggett and I've been a Crawley fan since 1958, before many of you were born.
00:05 And how are you feeling right now because Crawley, they're going to Wembley for the first time ever,
00:12 it's incredible isn't it? It's absolutely wonderful. I thought my lifetime memory
00:16 would be going to Old Trafford. We went to Old Trafford and we almost made it,
00:20 the last kick in the game and we just missed out. So I thought that was going to be my
00:24 lifetime memory but now I never thought we'd be there but we are, we're going. And have you got
00:31 your ticket already? No I haven't got a ticket yet. Well unfortunately I've got a big family
00:36 and they all want to go so we're looking for about 20 tickets so hopefully we'll get them all together
00:42 and we'll make some noise. Can you remember the first game you saw and what made you fall in love
00:47 with Crawley Town Football Club? I don't know, I mean it was at the Old Town Mead which was a dump
00:51 as you know and we stood on a muddy bank you know. There was a little stand but it was all moth
00:56 eaten and golden, there was woodworm and everything. But I always remember in those days we played in
01:01 red and white hoops and I remember the only one I can remember was a bloke called Randall.
01:06 I think he was centre forward but you know I think it was way before Johnny Mags and things like that
01:11 you know but yeah I think that's my first memory of Crawley Town and we went from Longlea right
01:18 through the Southern League and all those sort of places. It's been wonderful, it's been
01:23 a wonderful experience coming here to this ground you know it's a lovely ground. We could do a new
01:28 stand over there of course, that's where I sit over on the east stand over there but
01:33 we've got a lovely view and hopefully these owners will put a bit of money in there, let's hope so
01:37 anyway. Yeah absolutely, I mean it's been an incredible season from the start, I mean considering
01:42 what happened last season. At what point did you think we're going to do something special this
01:47 season? We could get to Wembley. To be honest, I hope the club don't reveal it, I mean all season we've been up and
01:54 down to be honest we have. We've saved our best performances, been away games plenty enough
01:59 and I only started to realise we may do something when we went to, where was it we went to, before
02:05 the Wrexham game, Mansfield, that's the one, that's when I thought hello I don't know something
02:10 might happen here. And when we came Grinsby last week you know I saw a group I thought this is a
02:15 different team, this is a different team and for the first time ever I haven't got a favourite player.
02:22 Really? No they're all wonderful, I mean the goalkeeper frightens me at times, oh he does
02:27 frighten me but what a character you know and Horsey Green, he's all blimmin' Horsey Green, but I mean
02:33 I always remember the past of Danny Bormans and all though, the players like that and John, but
02:38 now I think they're all good and the only good, the real strong thing about this side now, when
02:43 they make changes the players that come on are just as good as the one that got off and I can
02:48 understand why they're disgruntled and not picked in the first place but Scott's doing a wonderful
02:54 job, he's done a wonderful job for us and I just, I laugh at when Swindon to be honest because I
03:00 don't know if you remember but when we got Scott from Swindon they all said good riddance, good
03:06 riddance and you're tough, you're cruel, you're gonna suffer under him and I just think so God
03:10 help you Swindon, where are you now and where are we? He's just, the relationship he has with the
03:15 fans is incredible. That's the thing, that's the secret, I don't think we've ever had a manager
03:20 that's related to the fans like he has, I mean yeah they come round and do a little bit but no
03:25 Scott is, you can see it's genuine, it's not put on, it's genuine, he loves those fans and we love him.
03:31 Yeah absolutely. I haven't met him unfortunately, I'd love to meet him but no I haven't met him.
03:37 Come Sunday, walking up to Wembley Way, up to Wembley, what will that mean for you? Everything,
03:44 I've got 20 of my family coming with me and friends, they're all coming with me and I think
03:50 we'll be a colourful sight hopefully. Realistically what are Crawley's chances of winning do you think
03:55 on Saturday? Well when this first happened we all said if we get the Wembley that's the day up
04:03 for us, we don't care what happens then, we thought we get the Wembley and that's it because we were
04:07 expecting to play in Dongster Rovers and we should have been playing, I mean they blew it,
04:12 they threw it away but now we're playing Crewe, all right we've never been in Crewe and all that
04:18 but there's always a first time and I think we're going to be favourites now. The way we,
04:22 I mean we didn't just play Dodgers, we tore them apart, we embarrassed them, I mean 8-1
04:28 and we were unbelievable, we didn't recognise them. I mean a word about Danilo Orsi,
04:34 he got the hat trick on Saturday, he's been great all season. He's been great all season,
04:37 he hasn't always got the service he deserves but that's the way it goes, you can't have everything
04:42 but as I said I don't want to pick a favourite because they've all done well and when you
04:47 consider most of that team were non-league last year, what it must have meant to them,
04:52 I mean they were playing on small little grounds last year, here they are, they're going to go to
04:57 Wembley, what must it mean to them? What did you think over the summer when you saw the signing
05:02 Scott was making, there were a lot of names a lot of people didn't know about, were you fearing the
05:07 worst? Yes we were, yes we were because all the star players went to Gillingham, but the only one
05:14 I'm very sad to see go to Gillingham was Glenn Morris, I was so sorry he went there, I mean as
05:20 I say the goalkeeper, what a character, he frightens the life out of us, he does, but he's obviously
05:26 playing to a plan though, it's obviously Scott's plan. Yeah absolutely, I mean that moment in the
05:31 first leg when the ball came up and he touched it, it was incredible wasn't it? Yeah excellent,
05:36 so how long have you lived in Crawley your whole life? No, we moved down in 1958, I was born in
05:43 Burma in London, so of course my other team is Millwall, but yeah I was born in Burma in London
05:50 and my father, when the war was declared, my father moved us down to Carshawton in Surrey,
05:56 and I lived at Carshawton until I got married, I married a lovely girl and we're still married now
06:01 and 68 years this year. Really, it's Sylve is that right? Sylve, that's right, she's lovely,
06:06 yeah got a lovely family and thanks to her she's brought them up well, I didn't do it, she did it,
06:11 we still got the family and they're all very close which is nice. And are they all Crawley
06:15 Town fans? Oh yeah absolutely, well they're all going to be at Wembley, I've got to tell you this,
06:20 my middle son lives in Spain now and when we got to the playoffs he immediately booked his seat
06:28 to come over for Wembley, he was so confident he booked his plane ticket. Really? Oh yeah,
06:33 oh wow, what's his name sorry? Peter, yeah he booked the plane ticket, I thought oh
06:38 we're going to go to Wembley, oh well never mind, so he's booked it, he's always so confident,
06:43 so he's coming home from Spain, we're all going to Wembley. Oh wow, it'll be an amazing experience.
06:48 It'll be fantastic, it will be, I still can't believe it really, but it'll be lovely. I mean
06:55 if we don't win, we don't, but what a wonderful day out and then the team, my worry is I'm not
07:01 going to keep the team together and keep Scott, we've got to keep him because they'll all be
07:06 after him now, I mean everyone will be after him now. Yeah, yeah absolutely. But we just got to
07:11 go home, but enjoy the day. Enjoy the day. Exactly, enjoy the day. Excellent, brilliant,
07:16 thank you very much for talking to me. You're very welcome. Cheers.