Crawley’s FA Cup progress: magic or money?

In the tradition of giantkillings and Roy of the Rovers-esque exploits, minor league Crawley take on world beaters Manchester United, who have won the oldest cup competition a record 11 times, at Old Trafford and in front of live TV cameras.

Crawley Town are the first minor league team to make the fifth round since 1994 and, unlikely though it might be, they are bidding to be the first into the quarter-finals for 97 years.

But Crawley haven’t got part-time mechanics and cab drivers in their ranks as do their fellow non-league sides: all the players full-time. Nor have they progressed to the fifth round by freak circumstances, luck or divine providence. In fact, Crawley share more than Manchester United‘s nickname “Red Devils”, writes Keme Nzerem.

They are an expensivley assembled side, with wealthy, albeit anonymous backers, and possess a ruthless ambition to climb up the leagues and pick up silverware along the way, in double-quick time.

Two years ago, Crawley Town were facing bankruptcy. Now they travel to the "Theatre of Dreams" in the fifth round of the oldest football competition in the world.

New owners cleared their debts and persuaded some rich mates to get on board.

But who are these mysterious foreign backers? They are, in fact, British, one of their directors have told me, its just that they happen to be based overseas. But who are they? They're Keeping schtum.

So, Saturday's game at Old Trafford will be between a team owned by rich Americans who've laden the club with debt, and a team backed by rich emigres who no-one is willing to name.

Usually non-league teams on a giant killing FA Cup run can rely on collegiate moral support from other non-pro sides, but not Crawley.

While their management insists they're well run and the very model of financial rectitude, they're just doing a Man City, bemoan their semi-pro compadres; they're buying, not winning, sucess.

Non-league football finance has begun to clean up its act in the last few years. Overall debt is down, but many clubs struggle to get by. Its likened to the accident and emergency ward for the fully pro game, where clubs go to be nursed back to viability, or indeed where they just resolve to get by without realistic long-term ambitions of promotion.

Just yesterday the Chairman of the Football League, Greg Clarke, warned the parliamentary inquiry into football governance that lower league football is sitting on a 'precipice' of debt. Uefa is introducing new financial fair play rules that should stop clubs spending more than they actually make.

And into these straightened financial times waltzes crawley, who it's said this summer spent more on transfers than the entirety of clubs in League Two - the lowest rung on the fully professional game.

Crawley's plan is to be playing in League One within five years. They may well succeed. It's certainly given the club and the town - derided by visiting fans as merely a car park for nearby Gatwick airport - something to cheer.

But if they do make it up they footballing hierarchy, they might want to borrow a saying from Millwall Town FC. "No one likes us, we don't care!".

In fact, Crawley’s status as the Millwall of the Conference gained further traction this week with when one of their fans was arrested for posting an abusive song about the 1958 Munich disaster, forcing the club to issue an apology.

All that will matter not a jot to the players, however, when they achieve their dream of walking out at Old Trafford to face the most famous team in the land.

For the club’s owners, though, winning on Saturday is not Crawley’s real aim: they will pocket up to £1 million from the match.

“We’ve beaten three League sides (Swindon Town, Derby County and Torquay United) already and the club deserves a great tie,” said Crawley physio Mark Stein, who lost 4-0 to United when playing for Chelsea in the 1994 final.

“To be honest it’s unbelievable, it just gets better and better. Hopefully now we can go there and do alright.”