May 2, 2026
Today was the final day of fixtures in the regular League Two season, and Crawley and Salford both had something to play for. Crawley started the day 3rd from bottom, so were fighting against relegation to the National League, whilst Salford City were in 4th place and still in with a chance of automatic promotion to League One.
Salford were already assured of a place in the promotion play-offs and sat one point behind third placed Cambridge United. With an inferior goal difference, to be automatically promoted Salford needed a win today and hope that Cambridge United failed to win at Crewe Alexandra.
The situation at the bottom was a lot more complicated. Five sides could still go down, and bottom side Barrow had to win at home to 4th bottom Newport County, and hope both Harrogate and Crawley lost, and in the process make up an 8-goal difference with Crawley, to have any hope of staying up.
Harrogate were level on points with Crawley but had a worse goal difference, so Crawley needed to match their result at home to Barnet, or if both sides lost, Crawley needed to lose by no more than four goals more than Harrogate to stay above them. Crawley would also need Barrow to fail to trounce Newport.
If Crawley drew, they needed one of Tranmere ( at home to play-off chasing Grimsby ) or Newport to lose, or Harrogate to fail to win.
If Crawley won, they would stay up if Tranmere or Newport failed to win, or Harrogate failed to win by 4 more goals than Crawley. Simples !
The day before kick-off Crawley had announced that the tickets for home supporters had all been sold but there was unlikely to be a capacity crowd of 5,567 as Salford had not yet sold out their allocation of 1,419 tickets.
Crawley Update
A lot had changed at Crawley since Fatbear witnessed their 2-2 draw at home to Oldham Athletic in December. The January transfer window saw 13 new players brought in, 8 permanent signings and 5 on loan, including the return of Wembley promotion heroes Ronan Darcy, Klaidi Lolos, Danilo Orsi and Kellan Gordon, none of whom were fit to play today. 11 players either left the club or were loaned out.
However, despite the board sanctioning the recruitment of virtually a new squad, the strict adherence to a 3-5-2 formation didn’t lead to any improvement in results, resulting in manager Scott Lindsay being sacked after a 0-1 defeat at Fleetwood Town.
The appointment of Colin Kazim-Richards was a bit of surprise. Although coaching youth teams at Arsenal, Kazim-Richards had never had a main managerial role, although a playing career with 18 clubs in 8 countries, and 37 caps for Turkey suggested a lot of experience.
Early in his career CKR was dubbed the “Coca-Cola Kid” following a competition run in 2005 by the soft drinks company whereby the winner would win £50K for the club he/she supported to sign a player. The winner was a Brighton fan, and struggling Albion used the winnings to sign Kazim-Richards from Bury Town. CKR subsequently went on to play for Sheffield United, Fenerbache, Toulouse, Galatasaray, Olympiakos, Blackburn Rovers, Feyenoord, Celtic, Derby County as well as having spells in Brazil, Mexico and back to Turkey.
Kazim-Richards enjoyed a new manager bounce with 2-0 victories in his first two games, at home to Gillingham and at Newport County, but since then defeats were suffered at the hands of Grimsby ( H 0-2 ) and Bristol Rovers ( A 1-3 ), although the last two matches were drawn, at home to Shrewsbury Town ( 0-0 ) and at Accrington Stanley ( 3-3 ), where Crawley showed fighting spirit to come back three times after falling behind.
Salford City
Salford were founded in 1940 as Salford Central. The club’s nickname is the Ammies after having changed their name to Salford Amateurs in the 1960s, before changing to Salford City in 1989.
Salford spent most of their life bobbing between what would now be known as non-league steps 2 to 4 ( levels 6 to 8 in the pyramid ) until they were taken over in 2014 by “the class of 1992”, namely Phil and Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, with Singapore businessman Peter Lim being the majority shareholder. David Beckham purchased a shareholding in 2019, then in May 2025 the club was acquired by a group fronted by Beckham and Gary Neville, leading to Butt, Scholes, Giggs and Phil Neville no longer being shareholders but still having active roles to play inside the club.
With the backing of the Class of 1992, Salford worked their way up from the Northern Premier League Division One North, to the NPL Premier Division, National League North to the National League before winning promotion to the Football League via the play-offs at the end of 2018/19, beating AFC Fylde 3-0 in the final. In doing so they had achieved four promotions in five seasons.
However, Salford appeared to have plateaued at League 2, having spent the last 6 seasons at this level, although the promotion play-offs were reached in 2022/23, where they lost out in a penalty shoot-out to Stockport County in the semi-final.
Home is the 5,106 capacity Moor Lane, which for sponsorship reasons is now known as the Peninsula Stadium. Salford’s first choice colours are red shirts with white shorts and socks.
Salford City Squad
Ex-Shrewsbury and Wycombe Wanderers Nigerian striker Daniel Udoh was the Ammies top league scorer with 9 goals. Ex Wycombe Wanderers, Bristol Rovers, Plymouth Argyle and Accrington Stanley midfielder Matt Butcher and ex-Fisher, Chelmsford City and Barnet centre-back Adebola Oluwo were next on 5 goals each. Italian forward Fabio Borini ( 1 cap ), previously with Chelsea, Liverpool, Sunderland, Roma and AC Milan had found the net on 4 occasions
Keeper Matt Young was a current England Under 20 and was on loan from Sunderland, right-back Ollie Turton had played for Crewe Alexandra, Blackpool and Huddersfield, and Congo born left-back Rosario Longelo was ex-Accrington Stanley and Swindon.
Centre-back Brandon Cooper was a Welsh Under 21 international and numbered Swansea City, Newport Country, Forest Green Rovers and Leyton Orient amongst his former teams, whilst left-back and captain Luke Garbutt won 11 England Under 21 caps whilst at Everton and had loan spells at Cheltenham Town, Fulham, Oxford United and Ipswich before joining Blackpool.
Midfielder Josh Austerfield started his career at Huddersfield and had loan spells at Harrogate, Morecambe and Crewe before joining Salford, midfielder Jorge Grant joined from Hearts of Midlothian, having previously played for Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Lincoln City and Peterborough, and Irish winger Ryan Graydon joined from Fleetwood Town and was no relation to Ray !
Defender Alfie Dorrington was on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, forward Princewill Ehibhatiomhan was on loan from Southampton, whilst midfielder Nicolas Siri was on loan from Montevideo City Torque !
Tanzanian defender Haji Mnoga ( 14 caps ) featured in these diaries for Aldershot at Oxford City in 2024.
Notable members of the Salford squad missing today through injury included ex-Cardiff, Brentford and Sheffield Wednesday striker Kadeem Harris, who appeared in these diaries whilst playing for Ukrainian side Metalist Kharkiv in 2021, ex-Liverpool midfielder Ben Woodburn had 11 caps for Wales and had also played for Oxford United, Hearts and Preston North End, whilst Sierra Leone right-back Callum Cesay had played for Wealdstone at Oxford City in a game covered by these diaries in 2024.
Salford’s Head Coach was Karl Robinson, who had previously been in charge at MK Dons, Oxford United and Charlton Athletic.
Previous Meetings
Prior to today the two sides had meet on 11 previous occasions, with Crawley holding a 4-4-3 record. On the positive side for Crawley supporters, they had won four out of five home meetings, although the one defeat was in the most recent meeting at the Broadfield Stadium, 0-1 in January 2024.
In the game earlier this season, Crawley had led 3-2 with 5 minutes remaining but contrived to lose 3-4 with Austerfield and Cesay scoring late goals for Salford.
Matchday Information
The distance between Salford and Crawley is 250 miles and according to AA Route Planner should take 4 hours 14 minutes, although the usual traffic chaos on the M25 would add at least half an hour to that today. Four supporters’ coaches were leaving Salford at 6.45am.
Officially 610 Ammies fans had made the trip to support their side, many in fancy dress for the last game of the season.
The weather at the 15.00 kick-off time was sunny with the temperature around 21 degrees but rain was forecast for later in the game.
I was able to park in the K2 Sport Centre car park, which was free, but with the large crowd expected, an overflow carpark was in operation, and there was only about 6 spaces left after I parked up at 13.50. From there it was 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, which hopefully wasn’t an ominous sign !
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. A printed programme produced by the Supporters’ Club was available for £2.
Bet365.com made Salford 19/20 favourites, with Crawley at 13/5 and the draw at 5/2.
Salford were in a change kit of all white whilst Crawley were in their usual all red.
Salford made one change to the side that beat Bromley 2-0 last week with Ehibhatiomhan replacing Grant in midfield.
Crawley made two changes to the side that drew at Accrington Stanley with Arsenal loanee Louie Copley coming in for Max Anderson, and Jonny Russell replacing Lewis Taylor at left-back.
Match Report
The ground was rocking at the kick-off, which Salford kicked straight into touch in the fashion of Paris St-Germain. In the early stages, the ball spent more time in the air than on the ground, but Salford were the quickest to settle and Longelo got to the byline to cross, but Ehibhatiomhan’s volley was appalling and went off for a throw-in.
However, the Southampton youngster was seeing a lot of the ball early on and looked to be a lively threat for the visitors.
A goal-kick from Crawley keeper Jacob Chapman went all the way through to his opposite number, but it was debatable if it counted as a shot on target !
Langelo made another strong run down the right-hand touchline but his dangerous looking low ball was well cut-out by Crawley centre-back Scott Malone.
Crawley’s first attack saw Copley play a nice pass to find Louie Watson in space but the shot from a tight angle struck the legs of keeper Young and bounced off for a corner. Charlie Barker’s header from the corner lacked power and Young made an easy catch, but then went down with an injury, to give the game its first tactical break with only 9 minutes on the clock.
Salford’s Turton played a low ball toward the Crawley 6-yard box, but Russell hurriedly hoofed it out of play for a throw instead of allowing it to go through to his keeper. When Salford were able to play the ball back in to the area, Graydon and Barker had a wrestle at the back post which the referee saw nothing wrong with, and Graydon’s header went well wide for a goal-kick.
When the ball hit the referee, Salford were awarded the drop ball, which was crossed first time towards the far post, but the unmarked Cooper could only volley over the bar from 6 yards. It was a great chance wasted.
Ehibhatiomhan made a good run into the Crawley area, but Udoh took the ball off his toes and fired into the side netting. The flag was raised for off-side, so Udoh would have been better off leaving it to Ehibhatiomhan !
With 17 minutes played, Russell was penalised for a soft foul on Longelo just outside the Crawley area. Garbutt’s free-kick went straight into the defensive wall but the referee ordered the kick to be retaken and showed a yellow card to Barker, presumably because the wall had encroached ? It was to be the only yellow card of the match.
Garbutt’s second attempt wasn’t much better and deflected off Ade Adeyemo for a corner. A scramble ensued when the corner was played into the 6 yard area, but Turton was penalised for handball as he slipped whilst turning to shoot.
At this point Newport and Harrogate were both losing, so Crawley were 4th from bottom in the “as it stands” league table.
At the next Salford corner, Crawley left three players on the half-way line, forcing Salford to leave three back and another mid-way inside the Crawley half, which was a tactic Crawley were to use for the rest of the match. The corner was punched away by Chapman but Copley went down injured, leading to another drop-ball to Salford mid-way inside the Crawley half, which this time came to nothing.
Shortly after Ehibhatiomhan got past Ade Adeyemo on the left-wing and crossed for Graydon to head goalwards, but Malone was in the right place to head off the line. The loose ball reached Butcher just outside the Crawley and his left-footed effort crashed back off the crossbar, but the referee stopped play to award a free-kick to Crawley, presumably for offside.
Udoh then played Ehibhatiomhan into space inside the Crawley area, but the left-footed shot lacked power, and Chapman made a regulation save.
Copley’s injury was such that he was no longer able to continue, and was replaced by Taylor Richards, who nearly had an instant impact, making a strong run and passing to Harry Forster, whose shot on the turn was blocked.
Shortly after, Cooper deliberately blocked Tobi Adeyemo to prevent the Crawley forward chasing a long ball, and when Adeyemo pulled back the Salford defender, Cooper fell to the floor holding his head. The referee awarded a free-kick to Salford but wasn’t conned by the acting. A minute later Oluwo ran across Adeyemo to block another run, but this time the referee awarded the free-kick to Crawley.
Watson’s delivery in to the penalty area was headed away, and when Crawley reworked possession, Watson’s pass released Richards, who could only shoot into the side netting.
Crawley were starting to enjoy their first good spell of the game, and Russell surged down the left wing, passed to Forster, but was unable to keep the return pass in play. Jay Williams then spread play to Richards, who cut back inside onto his left foot but could only blaze across the face of the goal and well wide.
Six added minutes were signalled, and after Tobi Adeyemo held the ball up well, Watson was fouled near the left-hand touchline. Watson’s free-kick was aimed towards the far post, but the header from Williams was weak and an easy catch for keeper Young. Watson then teed up Dion Pereira but the Antiguan’s shot was blocked. Another Watson corner was headed away at the near post by Austerfield, after which Watson and Richards combined to set-up Pereira to shoot left-footed over the bar.
The scores were level at the interval but after Salford had looked the better side for most of the half, the way Crawley finished would have given them confidence for the second half. Tranmere were now losing, so Crawley had risen to 5th from bottom on goal difference, with 4 sides now on 40 points in the “live” table.
Crawley took a similar approach to the kick-off, with Barker sending a kick bouncing into touch by the corner flag. In rugby it would have been a superb 50:20 and a five-metre line-out, but in football, the throw in was taken at 15 yards further forward than from where the ball left the field of play. All sides do this, but a simple way to prevent this would be to give the linesmen a can of spray the referees use to mark the 10 yards distance for free-kicks, and mark the point from which the throw must be behind when taken.
Crawley won possession from the Salford throw, and a cross from Pereira needed to be punched away by Young.
Cooper then did well to cross from the left wing to beyond the far post where Graydon headed back across the goal, but Malone did well to clear the danger with a sliding clearance. When Salford reworked possession, Longelo shot into the side netting from a tight angle.
The low goal-kick from Chapman was skillfully flicked on by Williams, enabling Forster to run in space, but after cutting back inside on to his right foot, his shot was abysmal and flew at least 20 yards wide.
A Salford long throw bounced inside the Crawley area, and the ball fell to Oluwo, but his snap-shot was saved by Chapman with his legs and bounced away for a corner, from which Ehibhatiomhan headed high and wide.
Ehibhatiomhan then won a corner off Ade Adeyemo, but a foul was awarded against Salford when the corner was played into the penalty area. In the next Salford attack in the 57th minute, Graydon made a good run down the right-hand channel, but then spoilt his work with a poor low ball across the goalmouth to no-one in particular.
Crawley then produced a nice move involving Ade Adeyemo, Pereira and Watson, which led to Williams being teed up to shoot from 20 yards, but the effort was blocked.
Austerfield robbed Williams and ran towards the Crawley area and passed towards Udoh, who went down after being challenged by Barker. The Salford striker appealed for a penalty, but the referee wasn’t interested and waved play on. The highlights suggested that Udoh had a strong case !
Both sides started making changes as heavy rain started to fall, and with a hole in the roof of the stand, drops of rain were falling on Fatbear !
Salford substitute Kelly N’Mai was quickly into the action, first winning a corner, and then delivering a good cross that was well claimed by keeper Chapman.
At the other end Ryan Loft laid back to Williams, whose 30-yard piledriver flew inches wide. It was the closest Crawley had come to scoring so far.
In the 76th minute Loft ran clear, and with the option of playing a square pass to two unmarked team-mates, the Cambridge United loanee went for glory and blasted a shot at the keeper.
The visitors came close to opening the scoring two minute later when a downward header from Oluwo bounced and looked to be heading into the top corner, but Chapman athletically got a hand to the ball to push onto the bar and over.
Salford came even closer in the 80th minute. N’Mai’s low ball from the left reached Udoh three yards out, but the Nigerian striker somehow put the ball wide. It was an incredible miss and a huge let-off the home side.
Crawley were awarded a free-kick on the half-way line a minute later, and Russell, spotting Young well out of his goal, audaciously went for goal, but Young was able to back-pedal and catch the ball under his crossbar.
Newport were now beating Barrow, Tranmere had equalised against Grimsby, but more importantly Harrogate had fallen behind to Barnet after having got back to 1-1. Crawley were now third from bottom and looking increasingly safe as Harrogate would now need to score twice and Crawley to concede. Not than any home supporter felt that !
Cambridge were still level at Crewe, so a goal for Salford would give them automatic promotion.
Salford surged forward in search of the winning goal and after a cross into the area was punched away by Chapman, a scramble in the area led to the ball falling to Borini just outside the area, who shot over the bar.
With three minutes remaining, Udoh went down in the area again, but this time there looked to be nothing to suggest a foul, and play continued. Another Salford corner was headed away by Williams, and when the ball was returned into the mixer, Chapman made the punch and Russell smacked the ball off a Salford player for a Crawley throw-in.
With 90 minutes on the clock Chapman made a confident catch to calm the home fans’ nerves, but a minute later their hearts were in their mouths as from our angle it looked like a header from Cole Stockton had crept inside the post, but the result was a corner, presumably having been deflected into the side netting !
Seven added minutes were to be played and Salford continued to surge forward, but Malone, Barker and Williams were bravely heading away all the crosses. Graydon played in Dorrington, but Forster made an important block at the expense of a corner. Chapman made another impressive catch when the ball was played into the 6-yard box.
Richards and N’Mai scrapped for a loose ball mid-way inside the Crawley half, which ended with a free-kick to Salford, and although the referee spoke to both players, his cards stayed in his pocket. Garbutt wasted the free-kick with an ambitious defence splitting pass that went off for a goal-kick.
In the 6th added minute Udoh ran into the Crawley but Malone made a great block. When the referee blew the final whistle shortly after, the Crawley players celebrated as if they had won the league, and a celebratory pitch invasion followed. Harrogate’s defeat was confirmed, so Crawley had survived by one point.
With Cambridge drawing 0-0 at Crewe, Salford missed out on promotion, and now face the lottery of the play-offs, where they will first face Grimsby Town. However, they will need to be a lot sharper in front of goal if they are to achieve promotion to League One.
Highlights : https://www.skysports.com/football/video/30998/13539376/crawley-0-0-salford-league-two-highlights
Crawley Town : Chapman – A Adeyemo ( Odimayo ), Barker, Malone, Russell – Pereira ( Anderson ), Williams, Copley ( Richards T ), Forster – Watson, T Adeyemo ( Loft )
Salford City : Young – Turton ( Stockton ), Oluwo, Cooper ( Dorrington ), Garbutt – Longelo ( Borini ), Austerfield ( Cesay ), Butcher, Ehibhatiomhan ( N’Mai ) – Udoh, Graydon
