Crawley Town v Crewe Alex 23/24 Play-Off Final - Underdog vs Underdog

I never in the wildest dreams thought I'd be writing about Crewe Alex going to Wembley this season. Trips there are rare. Some clubs go decades without ever reaching this fabled game. Some never manage it.

So for the Alex to make it there for the 3rd time in 13 years is incredible. The Alex are 1 game away from promotion and standing in their way are Crawley Town. So, can the Alex pull off one last big performance or will they fall painfully short at the final hurdle? Here is my final preview of the season:

Underdog?

It's rare that you see a final between 2 teams that have an equal share at the underdog title. The Alex will feel they deserve that tag after being predicted to be in the bottom 6 at the start of the season, their ridiculous injury crisis and poor form heading into the final.

Yet Crawley will argue they have an even better case. They were tipped to finish bottom by almost everyone after a fire sale of their better players last summer and their signing of players nobody had heard of before the games even started. Scott Lindsey has probably pinned all those predictions up on the dressing room wall all season. Yet here they are, 1 game away from L1, which in itself is a stunning achievement.

So who is actually the underdog and who is the favourite? Both sides will be claiming the former whilst throwing the latter on their opponent. Which is a rather unusual situation to be in.

6 points

Do you read anything into the fact that the Alex took 6 points off Crawley this season? Probably not, but it does make for interesting reading. The win back in October was arguably where the Alex's troubles began, given they would lose Joel Tabiner, Jack Powell, Chris Long and Zac Williams to long term injuries in the week that followed.

But the win back in February might be a better reflection of the 2 sides. Only Luke Offord will be absent from the squad that beat Crawley on that day, so hopefully that is a good sign for how the 2 sides will match up.

Rampant

That being said, Crawley are a good side. They utterly destroyed MK Dons over 2 legs by a 8-1 margin. They have threats all over the team in Danilo Orsi, Klaidi Lolos, Ronan Darcy and others being capable of scoring or creating. They have been very dangerous on the road all season and will be going into this one with zero fear and a style of play the Alex might find hard to combat.

One More Push

For the Alex to get over the line, they'll need to channel every bit of the spirit and togetherness that seems to follow them on the road. The togetherness that has seen them lose just 7 times in 28 games this season in all competitions away from home. They know the prize. Visits to Birmingham over Bromley. Huddersfield over Harrogate. Charlton over Cheltenham. Forget form, forget past results or anything else for that matter. This is a cup final, where all that matters is who shows up on the day. Do that and the Alex will be on their way to L1.

Omens

This is very wishy washy I know, but the last time the Alex played a team with the initials CTFC at Wembley, they won both the regular season meetings and won 2-0 at Wembley. And also, the last 2 times they were at Wembley, their fans were allocated the east end of the stadium and that has happened again this time. Their last 2 promotions were also under managers who had previously played for the club and then went on to take charge of them and get them up. Is Bell going to join Steve Davis and Dave Artell in that list?

The omens are good for another Crewe win. I know that probably doesn't mean much, but I thought it was notable all the same.

Compelling stories

It's easy to root for either side in this one. Either you favour Crawley and their discarded manager who assembled a rag tag group of players, a mix of L2 cast offs and non-league gems, a team that went from relegation favourites to the play-off final, humbling so many teams in their shock run.

Or you favour Crewe, with their homegrown talents, injury ravaged squad and local home grown manager who hails for only a few miles away from the stadium and was part of their academy and playing staff before moving up to management.

Both stories are easy ones to enjoy and back. Both overcame adversity and teams around them with far bigger budgets to reach the final. And 1 of them will be playing L1 football at the end of this game.

Their stories should be an inspiration for any smaller L2/NL club that promotion to L1 doesn't have to be about money or fan base sizes. This might not be the biggest L2 final. But it will be the most L2 of finals. And that's something which should be celebrated. May the best team win.

Ref Watch

Ben Toner

Toner, as I always say, has one of the best and most appropriate names in football. Why on earth a family with the surname Toner would name their son Ben is beyond me, but that's another story. Toner has been around for a few years now and there is good and bad news about him.

Bad news is, the Alex don't often win when he is in charge of 1 of their games. The good news though is that he's taken charge of Crewe v Crawley before. That was back in 2017, when the Alex won 3-0 and Toner sent off 2 Crawley players. More of that in this game would be appreciated.

2023/24 Record: 33 games(6 Championship, 15 League One, 9 League Two, 1 League Cup, 1 EFL Trophy, 1 FA Cup)

Last Game: Derby County 2-0 Carlisle United, League One, 27th April 2024, 1 yellow

Crewe Alex Record: 2-7-5, 17 yellows, 1 red

Injuries/Absences

Crawley Town

Crawley will be sweating on the fitness of Harry Forster and Will Wright, both of whom were withdrawn through injury last Saturday against MK Dons. Harry Ransom has been out since mid-March, but aside from him and the 2 mentioned above, it seems like they will be pretty healthy heading into this game.

Crewe Alex

The Alex will again be without Jack Powell, Owen Lunt and Luke Offord. We will have to wait and see if Zac Williams can get himself fit after missing last Friday's game. The other big question is over the back up keeper. Does Miki Lenarcik go back onto the bench and leave out an outfield player? And if so, who? They are looking healthier, but you never want to take these things for granted.

Team

Do you go with the same starting XI that got you to Wembley? Did any of the players who didn't start at Doncaster do enough to deserve to come in? And if so, who for? It's a really tough decision for Bell, as he'd have to be confident in whoever he starts. Personally, I'm still calling for the 4-3-3 with an extra man in midfield.

I don't think starting Rowe, Long and Tracey behind Nevitt is wise, as I fear Tabiner and Thomas getting overrun in midfield, especially with both lacking match fitness. I know it's a risk, but I'm starting Austerfield to give them that extra presence in midfield. And whilst it might sound harsh, I'm dropping Tracey and starting Rowe and Long on the wings either side of Nevitt.

Score Prediction

I genuinely think this is a wide open final, with any sort of result possible. I won't try to reverse jinx this. I'm going to say the Alex get it done. It's going to be a tight and nervy game, which I think benefits the Alex more than Crawley. If they can get the first goal and keep it tight at the back, then I think they can win.

Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Crawley Town