December 13, 2025
Today saw Fatbear’s first attendance at a regular season EFL game since the pre-Covid match between Oxford United and Blackpool in February 2020.
However, Fatbear did attended the 2023/24 League Two play-off final at Wembley when Crawley were victorious 2-0 over Crewe Alexandra to achieve promotion to League One. The report covered Fatbear’s previous history of growing up in Crawley and watching The Red Devils.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/05/crawley-town-2-0-crewe-alexandra-att.html
Unfortunately, the US owners of Crawley decided to cash in on their assets with nearly all the players that achieved the promotion being sold, but despite a good start to life in League One, manager Scott Lindsey decamped to MK Dons, and replacement manager Rob Elliott often looked like a rabbit in the headlights as his side would sometimes produce an occasional impressive victory, but more often than not subsided to lame defeats. Eventually Elliott was sacked, and replaced by the returning Lindsey, who in the meantime had been sacked by MK Dons, but despite an upturn in performances and results in the last two months of the season, it was too late to avoid relegation.
Crawley This Season
Most Crawley supporters had little idea as to whether their side would bounce back to be promotion contenders, or would have a fight to avoid relegation to the National League.
As it turned out, Crawley lost four of their opening 6 matches with just two draws, before the first win, 1-0 at Harrogate. This was followed by a 2-0 victory at home to Cheltenham, before another run of four defeats and a draw in the next 5 games, but their form improved with two home wins ( Bristol Rovers 4-0 and Fleetwood 2-1 ). Two draws then followed, an encouraging 2-2 draw at Gillingham, and 1-1 at home to Accrington Stanley. However, they then fell to a 3-4 defeat at Salford City after leading 3-2 with 5 minutes remaining, which was depressingly similar to so many late away defeats in the past couple of seasons.
On Tuesday evening, Crawley travelled to Bromley and despite taking an early lead succumbed to a 1-3 loss, which could have been greater. Crawley came into today’s fixture in 21st place with a 4-5-10 record, but 3-3-3 at home, and just one point clear of the relegation zone. The average home attendance so far was 3,373, with the highest being the 5,361 who saw the 1-1 draw with MK Dons in August.
Crawley’s participation in the FA Cup was pretty embarrassing, crashing out after a 0-3 defeat at National League Boreham Wood in the First Round, but the League Cup saw a fairly respectable 1-3 loss at Championship side Swansea City.
Crawley Squad
Ex-Swindon Town, Hibernian, Carlisle United and Bromley forward Harry McKirdy was the top league scorer with 4 goals, followed by Kabongo Tshimanga on 3 goals, who is fondly remembered for his 24 goals for Oxford City in 2018/19, and also played for Peterborough United, Boreham Wood, Chesterfield and Swindon amongst others. Ex-Bromley winger Harry Forster also had 3 goals to his name.
Goal-keeping duties were being shared between Ghanian international Jo-Jo Wollacott ( 11 caps ) who had previously played for Swindon, Hibernian and Charlton Athletic ( and could be facing England in the World Cup next year ! ), and Liverpool loanee Harvey Davies, who had previously had a loan spell at Crewe Alexandra.
Centre-back Dion Conroy was ex-Swindon, defender Charlie Barker had featured in these diaries playing for Wealdstone and was the son of former Crawley manager Richie Barker, and left-sided defender Josh Flint signed from Dutch top division side Volendam. Midfielder Max Anderson had appeared in these diaries playing for Dundee, and was with Inverness Caledonian Thistle prior to that.
Jamaican International forward Kaheim Dixon ( 23 caps ) was on loan from Charlton Athletic, and Albanian defensive midfielder Geraldo Bajrami was on loan from Burton Albion.
Captain and St Kitts and Nevis defensive midfielder Jay Williams left with manager Lindsey to join MK Dons, but re-signed in the close season, forward Louis Fowler was in Brighton’s youth teams and central midfielder Reece Brown had played for Birmingham City, Forest Green Rovers and Peterborough.
Winger Ade Adeyemo was signed from step 4 side Cray Paper Mills, striker Ryan Loft was on loan from Cambridge United and had previously played for Carlisle, Scunthorpe, Bristol Rovers and Port Vale, and Irish midfielder Louie Watson was ex-Charlton Athletic, Derby County and Luton Town.
Oldham Athletic
At the end of the 2021/22 season Oldham Athletic became the first, and only club, to have played in the Premier League to be relegated to the National League. Luton Town had risen from the National League to the Premier League, and had earlier played in the pre-Premier League Division One and went on to be relegated to the National League, so had completed the full circle between Levels 1 to 5, so to speak. Carlisle United had one season in Division One in 1974/75 before being relegated to the National League for the 2004/05 season but the Cumbrians only spent one season at level 5, until this season !
Oldham were founder members of the Premier League when Sky invented football for the 1992/93 season. Oldham’s place in the Premier league was confirmed with a 17th place finish at the end of the 1991/92 season in their first season in Division 1 since 1922/23, and Oldham stayed at the top level until relegation at the end of the 1993/94 season.
Oldham gradually worked their way down the leagues, spending three seasons at the second level Division One, as it was renamed, and then 21 seasons in the third level ( Division 2/League 1 ), followed by 4 seasons in the fourth tier League 2.
Oldham spent three seasons in the National League, finishing 12th, 10th and last season 5th to enter the promotion play-offs. Oldham were a revelation in the play-offs, thumping Halifax 4-0 at home and York City 3-0 away, before winning promotion with a 3-2 victory after extra-time over Southend United in the final at Wembley, watched by a crowd of 52,115, a record for the National League Play-off final.
Under manager Joe Royle, Oldham enjoyed, by their standards, unprecedented success in cup competitions in the early 1990s. As a second division side they reached the 1989/90 League Cup Final but lost 0-1 to Nottingham Forest. The same season they reached the FA Cup semi-finals, where they lost to Manchester United after a replay. A 3-3 draw had been played at Wembley but they lost the replay 1-2 at Maine Road.
Oldham again reached the FA Cup semi-final in 1993/94 and Manchester United were again the opposition at Wembley. After a goal from Neil “Dissa” Pointon, Oldham looked set to reach the final, until Mark Hughes scored an equaliser in the last minute of extra-time. Deflated, Oldham lost the Maine Road replay 1-4, and didn’t win again that season to be relegated.
Oldham Athletic play at Boundary Park, which now has a capacity of 13,560, and has a reputation for being the coldest ground in England. Joe Royle famously dubbed it Ice Station Zebra !
Oldham’s home colours are now two broad white stripes either side of a broad blue stripe, with blue shoulders and backs ( rather than their former all blue shirts ), with blue shorts and socks. Their most common nickname is The Latics, although many Oldham supporters refer to their team as The Owls.
Oldham Athletic This Season
Oldham began the season with four draws and two defeats before, like Crawley, getting their first victory of the season in their 7th game of the season with a 1-0 win at Cambridge United. This led to two more victories, 1-0 at home to Bromley and 3-0 at Cheltenham Town. However, after this Oldham went on a winless run of three draws and two defeats before winning 1-0 at Harrogate Town, drawing 0-0 at home with Crewe Alexandra and stuffing Newport County 3-0 at home. In their most recent away fixture, The Latics went down 0-1 at Accrington Stanley, and on Wednesday evening, Oldham hosted league leaders Walsall and fell to 0-1 loss in a game of very few chances
This result left Oldham in 17th place with a 5-8-6 record, and 3-3-3 at away. The three away losses had come at Notts County ( 1-3 ), Salford City ( 0-1 ) and Accrington. The draws had been in August, at MK Dons ( 0-0 ), Bristol Rovers ( 0-0 ) and Fleetwood ( 1-1 ).
Oldham’s average home attendance was 7,306, the 6th best in the division, with the highest crowd being 8,937 for the 0-0 draw with Crewe.
Oldham’s record of conceding only 14 goals was the best in the division, but only Bristol Rovers and Cheltenham had scored fewer than The Latics 16 goals. A low scoring match looked in prospect, unless Crawley’s leaky defence came to the rescue !
Oldham’s participation in the FA Cup ended with a 1-3 defeat at MK Dons in the 2nd Round after they had overcome League One Northampton Town 3-1 at home in the First Round. In the League Cup Oldham crash out at the first hurdle, going down 1-3 at Accrington Stanley
Oldham Squad
Oldham’s manager was the vastly experienced Micky Mellon, who had played as a midfielder for Bristol City, West Bromwich Albion, Blackpool, Tranmere Rovers and Burnley amongst others, and was appointed in October 2023, having previously managed Fleetwood Town, Barnsley, Shrewsbury, Dundee United and Tranmere.
Oldham’s top scorers in the League were ex-Sunderland and Tranmere midfielder Josh Hawkes, ex-Gillingham, Yeovil, Chesterfield and Forest Green Rovers Irish forward Joe Quigley, and on-loan Scottish forward Michael Mellon with 3 a-piece. Mellon, a Scottish under 21 International and the son of the manager was on loan from Burnley, and had also scored three times in the FA Cup.
Oldham’s overseas players included Australian right-back Reagan Ogle, who had played for Accrington, Hartlepool and Scunthorpe, ex-Forest Green Rovers, Tranmere, Walsall and Northampton Cameroonian centre-back Manny Monthe, Montserrat defender Donervon Daniels ( 7 caps ), who numbered Blackpool, Wigan Athletic, Doncaster Rovers, Crewe and Walsall amongst his former clubs, and Cameroonian striker Mike Fondop who has played for Oxford City, Wrexham, Chesterfield, Aldershot, Burton Albion and Hartlepool..
Ex-Dundee United, Lincoln City and Forest Green Rovers left-back Jamie Robson was Scottish, right-back Sam Caprice had played for Exeter City, Burton Albion, Tranmere and Leyton Orient, midfielder Tom Pett signed from Cheltenham having also played for Port Vale, Stevenage Borough and Lincoln, and midfielder Luke Hannant joined from Gateshead with Port Vale, Cambridge United, Colchester United and Dundee on his CV.
The regular keeper was Matt Hudson, who started his career at Preston North End, midfielder Kai Payne joined from Preston, and defensive midfielder Ryan Woods had played for Shrewsbury, Brentford, Millwall, Stoke City, Birmingham, Hull City, Bristol Rovers and Exeter City.
Defender Dynel Simeu had a spell in Albania with Teuta Durres, and also played for Carlisle, Tranmere and Morecambe, whilst Will Sutton was a product of Oldham’s youth scheme.
Watching Oldham Athletic
I had previously seen Oldham play on four occasions, all of them at Brighton and Hove Albion’s old Goldstone Ground.
In March 1972 my father took me to see a mid-week a fixture in what was the old Third Division. Brighton were doing well that season, and ended up getting promoted behind Aston Villa, but they were disappointing that evening and slipped to 0-1 defeat. From my biased childhood memory, Oldham scored from their only shot of the game !
The next match was in the 1986/87 in the Second Division when Oldham were again victorious, by 2-1 with Roger Palmer and Michael Cecere on target. Brighton were in the middle of a run of 12 games without a win and were relegated at the end of that season after finishing bottom. Oldham finished third but lost in the play-offs to Leeds United.
Two years later after Brighton had returned to Division Two and had a disastrous start to the season, losing their first six league matches, and 8 of their first ten, but Albion achieved their second win of the season by beating Oldham 2-0. Centre-backs Larry May and Steve Gatting were the scorers. Brighton recovered to finish 19th whilst Oldham were 16th.
The final time I saw Oldham was in the 1990/91 season when Oldham were 2-1 winners. Brighton ended that season by losing 1-3 to Notts County at Wembley in the Play-off final after coming 6th whilst Oldham were promoted as Champions ! Almost inevitably both of Oldham’s goals were scored by ex-Brighton forward Andy Ritchie, whereas centre-back Gary Chilvers scored Brighton’s goal. The Oldham line-up that day contain several players that were to become familiar in their Premiership and Cup campaigns, including Norwegian full-back Gunnar Halle ( 64 caps ), centre-back Earl Barrett ( 3 caps ), midfielder Richard Jobson ( not to be confused with the singer with The Skids ! ), striker Roger Palmer and wingers Neil Readfearn and Rick Holden.
Unfortunately, I was away when Oldham made their only visit to Oxford City, in April 2024 in the National League, and judging by the reports of the 0-0 draw I didn’t miss much !
Previous Meetings
These two sides had played each other 12 times, with Crawley winning 4, Oldham winning 6 and there had been 4 draws. Between 2012 and 2015 there were six meetings in League One, with the other 6 matches being in League Two between 2018 and 2022.
At the Broadfield Stadium, Crawley had a 3-2-1 record, with Oldham’s only success coming in April 2021 when they won 4-1. Crawley’s best win was in March 2020 when they beat the Latics 3-0. The last meeting in Crawley was a 2-2 draw in March 2022, and the last game between the two sides was a 3-3 draw in May 2022, in what was Oldham’s last match before being relegated to the National League.
Matchday information
The distance between Oldham and Crawley is 250 miles and according to AA Route Planner should take 4 hours 15 minutes. Supporters coaches were leaving Boundary Park at 8am. Officially 414 Latics fans made the trip to support their side. The journey from Fatbear Towers took 1 hour 30 minutes.
The weather at the 15.00 kick-off time was sunny with the temperature around 9 degrees,
I was able to park in the K2 sport centre car park, which was free, and had a five-minute walk to the ground.
In the Fan Zone, I had a pint of Red Devils Lager ( £6 ) from the Missing Link Brewery near East Grinstead. It was fine and went down well.
Crawley are one of the very few clubs were the OAP concession starts at the age of 60, so I was able to get a ticket for the East Stand for £17, whilst it is £22 for adults.
The East Stand is often referred to by home supporters as The Gazebo due to its temporary nature, and the low roof restricts view of high balls, but the view of the pitch was fine. The main stand is on the opposite side from the Gazebo, and there are two covered terraces behind the goals. The South Stand houses home supporters whilst the North Stand is for away fans, who also have a couple of blocks of seats in the East Stand.
Bet365.com made Crawley narrow 6/4 favourites, with Oldham at 8/5 and the draw at 12/5.
Both sides were in their usual colours, with Oldham in their blue and white kit and Crawly in all red.
Both sides made four changes to their sides from midweek. Crawley brought in keeper Davies, Conroy into the back three, and Dixon and Jack Roles into midfield. With Robson suspended, Oldham brought Ogle into their defence, with Caprice playing right wing-back, Payne in midfield and Mellon up front.
Match Report
Crawley started brightly with Williams sending a 35-yard effort high over the bar, then a flick on gave Dixon a chance to chase a ball beyond the Oldham back-line but keeper Hudson came out of his area to clear for a throw-in, but in his follow through he clattered into Hannett. After a four-minute delay, Hannett had to leave the field to be replaced by Jake Leake.
Once play had resumed, Barker ran onto a long ball down the right-hand channel. After his cross was headed out back to him, Barker crossed back into the Oldham area again, where Loft’s overhead kick went a couple of yards wide.
A minute later Mellon ran clear on the right, looking a couple of yards offside but the linesman waved play on, and his low ball into the Crawley 6-yard box was pushed away by the diving keeper as far as the edge of the area, where Leake shot high over the bar.
With 12 minutes played Dixon fouled Leask near the left-hand touchline. The free-kick from Woods was not convincingly dealt with by the Crawley defence but the flag was raised for offside.
Rather than playing a quick forward ball to put Forster in space, Dixon dithered near the half-way line, and his eventual pass was blocked. The rebound fell to Mellon who tried his luck from 25 yards, but his effort was straight at Davies, who made a regulation save.
The errors from Crawley continued as Adeyemo played an awful back pass under no pressure which Fondop intercepted, but fortunately for the home side, the Oldham striker put the ball wide from a tight angle.
Shortly after, Roles twisted on the edge of the Oldham area but his shot struck an Oldham defender, and with keeper Hudson wrong-footed the ball went a couple of feet wide of the post. The corner was headed clear, but Crawley reworked possession and sent a ball back into the mixer where a poor defensive header from Leake only sent the ball to Loft 10 yards out. A slightly mis-hit first time shot deceived the Oldham keeper, who remained motionless, as the ball nestled in the keeper’s right- hand corner. A Loft conversion so to speak, and Crawley led 1-0 after 18 minutes.
Oldham looked to immediately hit back and won a corner, from which Fondop was left unmarked 6 yards out, but his header went straight to keeper Davies, who made the catch. A yard either side of the keeper and it would have been a certain goal, and it was a great chance missed.
The game was now end to end, and Barker released Forster, whose cross from the right was met by Flint, but the deft back flick flew just wide.
Roles, who has a reputation amongst Crawley fans for shooting from anywhere, and missing the target, confirmed the stereotype, with a 25-yard effort the flew high over the bar. Barker then again found Forster in space on the right, but Monthe headed the cross away.
When Oldham won a throw in deep in the Crawley half, the home side brought everyone back to defend. Leake’s throw was headed on, and turned into the net at the far post by Pett. Despite having all 11 players inside their area, Crawley were unable to prevent the ball going into the net, but fortunately for them, the goal was ruled out for offside.
The frustrating nature of Crawley’s play was illustrated when Barker had the opportunity to play a simple ball down the touchline to Forster, but instead opted to turn and play the ball all the way back to his goal-keeper.
Oldham created a great chance in the 29th minute. A poor cross from Roles went straight into the hands of keeper Hudson, who immediately kicked down field. Mellon outjumped Adeyemo to win the header, and with most of the Crawley players still in the Oldham half after their failed attack, Pett ran clear onto the loose ball. He only had the Crawley keeper to beat, but his shot lacked conviction and Davies dived to make the save.
Loft then played a dreadful, casual pass as Crawley broke, and Caprice turned the tables with a strong run down the right-wing to win a corner. Woods’ delivery was headed high into the air, and Davies punched clear under pressure, and the referee deemed a foul had been committed on the Crawley keeper.
Mellon had another effort from outside the area as Williams bore down on him, but the ball apologetically went several yards wide.
Forster then had possession on half-way, but instead of looking to go forward, turned and played an abysmal back-pass that almost hit the corner flag, but went off for an unnecessary corner to the visitors. Woods’ corner took a deflection and hit Fondop, and after the ball sailed high into the air, Davies made the catch.
Crawley finished the half strongly. Forster made his way to the Oldham byline and pulled the ball back to Brown, whose shot from just inside the edge of the area was blocked by Hudson’s legs. Crawley regained possession and the ball was played to Dixon, who turned and shot. The ball deflected off a defender, but Hudson was able to change direction to dive and make the save.
Roles then fed Adeyemo but the 25-yard effort was held low down at his right-hand post by Hudson. Six added minutes were to be played, and Forster skipped past two defenders but slipped as he entered the Oldham area. Dixon then ran onto a through ball from Flint and played the ball back to Brown. Keeper Hudson was in no-man’s land after having initially coming off his line to get to the through ball and was stranded. However, Brown’s chip from 20 yards drifted over the keeper, and in what seemed to be slow motion, struck the crossbar and bounced back into play.
The final action of the first half saw Dixon get to the byline but his cross was headed clear by Monthe. Crawley then won a soft free-kick just outside the Oldham 18-yard line as Roles crashed to the ground. Forster’s free-kick pinged around the goalmouth until it fell to Roles, whose snap shot looked to be going in until it hit Ogle and bounced just wide.
Despite Oldham winning just about all the headers, Crawley deserved to be ahead at the interval and probably should have had more than one goal, although Oldham had also missed a couple of good chances and Crawley’s defence always looked like they had a defensive howler in them.
Oldham must have received a rocket at half-time as they started the second half at a blistering pace, whilst Crawley appeared to have had sleeping pills put into their half-time cup of tea.
A cross from the left was flicked on by Mellon but Woods couldn’t get to it. Flint then carelessly passed straight to Payne, but the Oldham midfielder’s effort was blocked by Conroy for a corner.
Brown then dwelt too long on the ball and Payne took the ball from him and ran into the Crawley area but his ball across goal was put out for a corner. The ball to the near post was cleared after a scramble. Oldham reworked possession to Mellon, who turned on the angle of the penalty area and sent a delightful shot across goal into the far corner. A peach from Mellon, so to speak, and it was now 1-1 with 50 minutes played.
It was a reward for Oldham’s fast start to the half, and Crawley didn’t seem to be at the races.
Monthe was then allowed to stride forward unopposed and his 35-yard attempted went inches wide of the Crawley goal.
Crawley briefly came to life as Adeyamo fed Brown, who sent a 20-yard shot just wide, after which Monthe went on another galloping run to win a corner for The Latics.
Ogle did well to keep a long ball in play and turn the ball back to Fondop, but the left-footed volley from the edge of the area went straight to Davies, who made the catch.
Leake then made a run into the Crawley area and although there appear to slight tug on his arm, the Oldham substitute fell dramatically to the floor. Referee’s these days are not inclined to award a penalty when the player’s fall has been exaggerated, and play here was waved on.
Flint then ran into the Oldham area after neat passing from Forster and Adeyamo but after a scramble Oldham were able to clear.
The first yellow card of the match belatedly came in the 67th minute when Leake pulled down Forster after the Crawley man had pushed the ball past him.
The next goal came shortly after. From an Oldham throw in on the right, Garner headed on for Mellon, who with his back to goal played a cute flick into the huge hole in the heart of the Crawley defence where ex-Banbury United and Solihull Moors striker Jake Stevens ran on with just the keeper, but the young Welshman kept his composure to finish well into the top corner for a deceptively simple goal. 1-2 with 68 minutes on the clock.
Despite falling behind Crawley were still bringing everyone back to defend set pieces, and Loft was looking increasingly immobile. However, it was Adeyamo and Roles who were sacrificed for Tshimanga and Antiguan International Dion Pereira ( 9 caps ) to enter the fray, and Forster to swop wings.
However, the initial impact of the substitutions was for Oldham centre-back Daniels to turn and shot from 20 yards into the arms of Davies.
As the game entered the final 10 minutes, Conroy sent a long cross-field ball to Pereira on the right-hand touch-line, and with virtually his first touch of the game the Antiguan slipped a pass behind the square Oldham centre-backs to put Tshimanga clear, and as Hudson came off his line, the Crawley striker slid the ball past the keeper and just inside the post for the equaliser. The two Crawley substitutes had made a dramatic impact, and the score was now 2-2 after 82 minutes.
Finally, when Oldham had a throw deep inside the Crawley half, Tshimanga stayed on the half-way line, and the visitors were forced to keep two players back to defend, and Crawley easily cleared.
Monthe then made a poor mistake, enabling Loft to find Tshimanga. Although the Crawley substitute was forced wide, he was still able to get a left-footed shot in, and Hudson was forced to make a vital diving save to push the ball wide for a corner.
Both sides were pressing for a winning goal, and after some more dodgy home defending the ball fell to Stevens, whose shot from just outside the area appeared to be goal-bound until it hit Mellon.
Watson then hoofed clear from the Crawley defence but Hudson was alert to clear before Tshimanga could reach it. A mystery free-kick was awarded to Oldham when a Crawley free-kick was sent into the Oldham penalty area, but almost immediately the referee levelled matters with a mystery free-kick to Crawley after and Oldham free-kick was played into the Crawley area.
Shortly after, Loft flicked a header on to Tshimanga who played Forster to run into the Oldham area. Similar to the incident at the other end earlier in the half, Forster went down after some contact, but he seemed to have gone down too easily, and the referee was consistent and ignored the appeals for a penalty. That said, it was in the category of “I have seen them given…….”
Stevens became the second Oldham player to see yellow for kicking the ball away at a free-kick, as a sign that Oldham were hanging on.
Loft then went down easily but was awarded a free-kick wide on the left, which was put out for a corner by an Oldham defender. Williams met the corner with a towering header, which Hudson parried away. In the frantic melee that followed the ball struck an arm, and the referee awarded a penalty to Crawley. My first reaction was that the ball had actually hit a Crawley arm, and the Oldham players furiously protested as Tshimanga got ready to take the kick. Unfortunately for the home side, the referee decided to consult with his assistant, and then reversed his decision. Flint was subsequently shown a yellow card, presumably for dissent at the decision ?
It would have been typical of Crawley’s season had Oldham gone down the other end and scored, but Crawley dealt with the final attack of the match and the game ended as a draw. The home fans predictably hurled heaps of abuse at the referee for reversing his decision and denying Crawley the chance to win the game.
With this result, both side’s position in the table were unchanged.
Highlights : https://www.skysports.com/football/crawley-town-vs-oldham-athletic/report/533447
Crawley Town : Davies – Barker, Conroy, Flint – Forster, Williams, Brown ( Holohan ), Dixon ( Watson ), Roles ( Tshimanga ), Adeyamo ( Pereira ) – Loft
Oldham Athletic : Hudson – Ogle, Daniels, Monthe – Caprice ( Stevens ), Woods, Pett, Payne, Hannant ( Leake ) – Mellon, Fondop ( Garner )
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