Crewe Alex Are Chasing Defensive Records in 2024-25

Crewe Alex and records don't often go hand in hand. Not unless you're talking about how many losses they've incurred or goals they've conceded. Throughout their history, they've always had a leaky back line and keeper. It's just part of their DNA. The list of famous and remembered defenders and keepers at this club is a short one. However, in 2024-25, things are very different at Gresty Road.

Because whilst they are in the middle of a promotion hunt in back to back seasons, this Crewe Alex side are chasing records for defensive prowess. 3 of them in fact. I know, we truly do live in strange times. Let's break down the records they are chasing and see how likely they are to breaking them.

Clean Sheets

The first and second records they are chasing is for clean sheets, 1 individual and 1 team. The record for an individual keeper for clean sheets as far as I could find was from the 2002-03 season. That season, Clayton Ince kept 16 clean sheets. He did that in 43 starts, keeping a clean sheet in 37.9% of his appearances.

Fast forward to this season and loan keeper Filip Marschall already has 9 to his name, in 20 starts. He's averaging a clean sheet in 45% of his appearances, so well above the threshold needed to break Ince's record. That assumes Aston Villa don't recall him in the next few weeks, as they have done Louie Barry at Stockport. At his current pace, he'll finish with somewhere in the region of 20 clean sheets and is only 7 off Ince's record right now.

Then we have team clean sheets, because they aren't just a goalie stat. Again, the 02-03 season takes the record. On top of Ince's 16 that season, Ademola Bankole added 1 of his own, taking the team's grand total to 17. That gave them a clean sheet percentage of 37%. Again, the Alex so far are above that level with the aforementioned 45% earned by Marschall.

If we're talking the pace of the clean sheets they kept in 02-03, after 20 games they had just 8. So Marschall and the team are above the water line. Keep going at the pace they're at and they'll break both records by Easter.

Goals Conceded

The third record they are in the hunt for is the number of goals conceded in a full 46 game season. Again, 02-03 is the season to beat in that regard. That season they conceded just 40 goals. (I don't know if it will blow your mind or not, but that was also the only full season where they conceded less than a goal a game. The next lowest total they conceded was 47, which they did in 1974-75 and and 1996-97). In 02-03, they conceded 0.86 goals per game.

This season, they have conceded 16 goals in 20 games, the lowest tally in the league both in terms of the raw total and in terms of goals conceded per game. The total of 16 equates to 0.8 goals per game. So, again, they looking good in that regard, as they're on pace to let in just 37, which would be 3 below the record of 40.

Looking at how many they'd let in after 20 games in 02-03, they were on 17. So, they're slightly ahead of that pace this season.

Can they do it?

The question is, can they maintain this pace and can they break the 3 records? Well, let's do a deep dive into the defensive stats to find.

The first stat to look at is that they've given up 237 shots. That puts them at 15th in the fewest shots conceded table. Compare them to the next 3 lowest conceders in Wimbledon(1st), Barrow(3rd) and Gillingham(11th), and it raises a concern. However, that is offset by the fact only 63 of those shots have ended up on target. That's the 3rd fewest across the league. So thankfully, even though they concede a few too many shots, a lot of them aren't ending up finding the target.

But by far the biggest indicator that they can keep this run going is in their xG against. They have conceded just 16.4 xG, which is incredible. It's 1.9 xG better than the 2nd placed team, Doncaster. It shows that of the few shots they do give up that end up on target, they aren't clear ones that should be ending up in the back of the net.

Couple this with the pragmatic and defence minded style Lee Bell preaches currently and most of the indicators are that the 2 records are very much in reach for them. Obviously promotion remains the number 1 aim and if there comes a point when their defensive stability needs to be compromised for more attacking play, then so be it. But if they could combine a promotion and 2 defensive records at the same time, then this really would be a historic season in more ways than 1.