Congratulations to Everyone at Crawley Town

Despite Tottenham losing 4-0 to Real Madrid I do have something to celebrate in the football world as Crawley Town have secured the Blue Square Premier Championship and in so doing also guaranteed their place in the Football League next year for the first time in their history. Not just that but Crawley now need just 3 wins to beat the highest points total ever in the Nationwide Conference (Currently 102) Obviously next year will be a tougher test for the reborn Crawley Town but the fact that it was in the end very comfortable (Winning with 5 games remaining) should take nothing away from the fans who have been there through all the hard times (Not just got interested after the Crawley- Man Utd game – in case your wondering I don’t include myself in either group as I maintain a consistent interest in Crawley Town which is well below the level of fan regardless of how they do.) Whatever is written about Crawley it should not at any point take away from the fact that they have had an impressive turn around, in fact their history has been quite remarkable ever since I started following them after moving to Crawley, First they won the last ever Southern League to enter the conference during the start of the big shake up of non league football, the first year they did really well but fell into mid table by the end of the season, this was followed by years of repeated financial instability which brought the club to the brink of extension on many occasions – in fact as I was a councillor on Crawley Council during this time I actually got to see at very close quarters how close this came, something many commentators do not seem to realise, now within a couple of seasons the team are heading to League 2, Next season may be a struggle, may be a season of mid table performances or it may be another blinding success as Crawley continue racing up the league pyramid the fact it is unknown, what we do know is that the Crawley Town are the best Non-League team in the country and that with a great squad and finally a stable management structure the future has never looked brighter for the red devils.

When will Crawley be a league team?

Waiting for the Champions League Quarter Final Draw starring Tottenham I thought I would spend five minutes running some calculations on Crawley Town and their push for League Status. Crawley currently sit top of the Blue Square Premier with 77 pts ahead of AFC Wimbledon with 71 but having played 5 less games and facing them on Friday night at home so things are looking very good, what I have decided to look at however is when Crawley can have the title wrapped up. With Crawley, Wimbledon and Luton (Currently in 4th) having 12, 8 and 11 games remaining respectively they each have a maximum possible points score this season of:
Crawley Town 113 (Previous Highest is 101 Aldershot 07/08 Season)
Luton Town 102 (Hence why I have included them in analysis)
AFC Wimbledon 95

Obviously anything can happen in football and so far all Crawley are guaranteed is to finish above 9th but that would take not just a catastrophic loss of form but also an incredibly unlikely turn of events that would see the worst case scenario coming up for Crawley in every match. But onto more optimistic matters.
Going forward if things go Crawley’s way then the following scenario can see the title (and by extension promotion) being secured in two weeks time.
Crawley are playing 5 games in the next two weeks (Actually 2 weeks and 2 days)
Home – AFC Wimbledon
Away – Eastbourne
Away - Gateshead
Home – Mansfield
Home – Darlington
Obviously a very challenging schedule however if they win all the games they will sit on 92 Points with only AFC Wimbledon (92), Luton (102) and Wrexham (93) able to beat them and AFC only on GD.
Wrexham’s next game is away to Fleetwood Town which is not an easy fixture but all they need is one loss from their 4 games in the next two weeks and their maximum will be 91, If AFC Wimbledon drop a single point (Assuming they lose to Crawley Tomorrow Night ) they will also be mathematically prevented from beating Crawley.
The least likely turn of events however is that for Crawley to wrap up the title on the 2nd April Luton will need to lose all 4 of their matches between now and then which is more of a stretch than Wrexham and Wimbledon losing one, or for my money Crawley winning the next five.
If Luton and Crawley both continue to win however then the title could instead be clinched 10 days later on the 12th April when Crawley Host Luton, perhaps this would be a better turn of events as it would make that one hell of a match.

Crawley Vs Manchester United

I tend to follow lots of teams usually due to geographical location, obviously Tottenham are my first team as I support them over any other team but I also keenly follow Crawley (My closet club), Brighton (The closest league side – until next year), Uxbridge (Home Town Team after Ruislip Manor Folded), Hayes and Yeading (From Working at Hayes), Reading (Just always liked the club), Sutton United (My Old Bosses favourite team), Brentford (Because it means a lot to my friends Dad) and Arsenal (Shocking to admit as a Spurs fan but as my Dad, Brother, Sister, Brothers in Law, Sister In Law and Nephews – Except Archie who is a Spurs fan!!! – Are all Arsenal fans it is hard to not like success that will bring happiness to so many people who matter to me, although I still love it when we beat them.)

But this year apart from Spurs it has all been about Crawley and their visit this Saturday to Old Trafford to face Manchester United, now the Manchester United message boards are full of talk of Alex Fergusson resting players and putting out a reserve side which I am sure will happen but I am sure you can expect to see the United bench full of Talent who can be brought on in case of the shock goal by Tubbs. Personally I hope that United do start with a weakened side as although I am sure for the Crawley Town players the dream is to meet Berbatov and Rooney on the field but if they are underestimated by United there is a real chance of an upset, well maybe real chance is a bit of a stretch but in the FA cup you never know. Win or lose this is Crawley’s year, the FA Cup tends to throw up one of these teams every couple of years who go on a cup run much further than their league position suggests and although Wembley is a long way off the effect that this tie has had on the club financially (This one game could easily make the club more money than it has made in some previous seasons.) and on the Town in general, suddenly everyone is proud to be from Crawley and come Saturday at 17:15 the entire town will be either in Manchester or Inside watching the game – Obviously this will not be true I know for a fact my Wife has no interest in watching it but it feels like it at the moment.

Sunday there is a very real chance that we will be waking up to just see the reality that although Crawley are favourites to end the year as a League Team even the most optimistic fan knows there is a massive gulf between the countries best League and Non-League team but that will not stop us dreaming.

Well Done Crawley Town & Premier League Predictions

Before I publish my Predictions for the next round of Premiership Games I need to reflect briefly on Crawley Town quite sensationally getting into the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in the clubs 114 year history. A feat made all the more remarkable for those of us who remember the repeated High Court appearances of 2006 – 2008 a period where it very much looked like the club would be wound up. I even remember the council having to look at options for the Broadfield Stadium as it appeared that HMRC would force Crawley out of business. Now under a new owner and with the Best team in Non-League football they first knocked out League 1 Swindon and then Championship Derby to set up a fourth round tie with Torquay the lowest ranked side since the first round – Already fans are talking of Crawley in the Last 16 and surely a real glamour tie if they can pull it off. It won’t be easy but even if they don’t make it then Crawley Town can be proud of what they have achieved just as the Town is sure to be proud of them.

Anyway, onto the predictions

Chelsea – Blackburn = Chelsea Win
Man City – Wolves = Man City Win
Stoke – Bolton = Stoke Win
West Brom – Blackpool = Draw
Wigan – Fulham = Draw
Liverpool – Everton = Liverpool Win
Birmingham – Aston Villa = Birmingham Win
Sunderland – Newcastle = Sunderland Win
Tottenham – Man Utd = Tottenham Win

Few strange stats, firstly very few of them have close Co-Effecients so not really a lot different than you would probably have picked if you were just guessing. The most risky one is Tottenham V Man Utd which I have down as a Tottenham Win which the figures back up but so far my calculations have proven particularly useless at picking the correct Spurs results so either my predictions are skewed by my personal bias and I have somehow coded in the particular way to give erroneous results – or Spurs just keep losing games they should really win.

A night of good results

As if Tottenham topping the group was not good enough Last night was also the night that Crawley Town booked their place in the Third Round thanks to two goals by Smith and an Own goal seeing off ten man Swindon in the Second round replay.

Crawley went 1-0 up thanks to Smith before finding themselves pegged back to 2-1 by the League opposition who were then reduced to ten men before an unfortunate own goal forced Extra Time, it was not until 28 minutes into the extra half hour that Smith struck again sending the Blue Square premier outfit through for the first time in their history.

So now they march onwards, however Championship Derby who will be visiting the Broadfield on the 8th January will be a different prospect altogether, but now is a time for celebration.

Christmas Craft Market

The Crawley Conservative Association and The Crawley Conservative Club are having a Victorian Themed Christmas Craft Fair and Fun Day.

There will be over ten stalls selling a variety of Craft Items and gifts just in time for Christmas.

We hope to see as many of you there as possible.

The Event is at the Conservative Club in Jubilee Walk, Three Bridges, RH10 1LQ from 12:00 - 16:00

Britain in Bloom

Last night was the award ceremony for the Royal Horticultural Societies Britain in Bloom, Crawley were one of the finalists due, as I understand it, to being crowned South & South East in bloom best Large Town/small city this was a great achievement for the town. As an outsider when I first came to Crawley I was immediately impressed with the street scene work, but have found that many of Crawley's residents take it for granted.

Crawley were victorious winning the silver gilt award and being crowned category winner, a massive achievement for amenity services and for the community groups that work hard to make the area a nicer place to live.

Crawley also picked up a community award, I am not sure if this was for an actual specific group or the work in the town generally, but for a new town that has been accused of lacking community, this is obviously pleasing either way. The overall champion of champions was the small Scottish town of Falkland in Fife, winners for the second year in a row.

Roll on next year!

Presentation to Former Members

I had intended to mention the gift I received as a former member, it is a rather large, and as I am typing this whilst walking home, heavy glass bowl - at least I would call it a bowl, it probably has a more correct name that my wife would know, but I am going for bowl.

Anyway, it is very nice and I am sure that before long it will be filled with dead twigs or glass beads depending on what takes my wife's fancy, but for now (halfway home) I can only really tell it is heavy.

Full Council Tonight

I have again come to full Council, this time it was for the presentation to former members which obviously includes me.

The meeting was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits after my election defeat, I am fairly sure that the debates lasted for several hours, although in truth it was under two hours. The debate was at one point described as simply a power struggle, a charge that Cllr Lamb (Northgate) stated he found that offensive, I am afraid to say however that from where I sat at the back this is exactly how it seemed. The same points were raised again and again obstinately regardless of the replies that were given.

Highlight of the meeting for me however, and accept this is politically biased, the Labour group asked, through Cllr Jones (Bewbush) why there was no Labour representation on the Joint Scrutiny steering group, it was pointed out that in fact this was because they were only 5% of councillors in West Sussex. A cheap shot but in a very drawn out meeting you need all the entertainment you can get.

Possibly the best thing in the meeting is that as I am no longer a councillor I could go home, so I have to admit, I didn't make the end of the meeting.

Full Council Meeting

Tonight was my first council meeting as a member of the public for over four years. I noticed 2 main things that struck me. Firstly the seats in the Public Gallery are really uncomfortable, it explains why the gallery empties quickly after the public question time is over.

Secondly the whole process seemed to be a complete exercise in futility, tonight's meeting was primarily to elect a new mayor and decide the new positions on the council committees and outside bodies. It was simply a secession of votes to decide if the Representatives should be Tory or Labour, every single vote was carried 24 to 10 in the Conservatives favour, yet still each position was voted on, perhaps a better way to have settled it would have been to each submit the answers agreed at group and then at 7:30 count how many from each side are there and that side wins. Could all be out by 7:45.

Anyway, the meeting was over quite quickly and we went to the reception afterwards which was good to catch up again with some people I had not seen for quite a while.

My final comment is that I would like to say congratulations to the new mayor and mayoress Lee & Ali Burke who I am sure will be a real asset to the roles.

Picard visits Crawley during General Election Campaign

Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) visited Crawley during the election campaign. This is news that would have filled me with joy were it not for the fact that he was here to endorse the Labour candidate.

I guess I will need to hand back my Model of the enterprise, Patrick Stewart has always been a hero of mine, not just as JLP in Star Trek but also as Professor X, his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and as one of Britain's greatest stage performers (Let's not dwell too long on Lifeforce)

Well I guess as an acting veteran with over 100 credits to his name, he is one of the few people who could have afforded another term of Gordon and his Economic Maladies.