Crawley Town at Wembley: 'Phenomenal' Scott Lindsey deserves a lot of credit, says co-owner

The owners for there work on the recruitment, the people behind the scenes like Tom Allman, Clare James and Harry Maynard who give the ship steady and, of course the players who have produced the goods on the pitch all desefrve praise for their part in getting the club to Wembley for the first time ever.

But without taking anything away from them, there is one person who has been at the centre of it all – the manager Scott Lindsey.

Even if the EFL has not recognised his achievements this season, everyone involved in the club have. He has put together a coaching staff and a team every fan can be proud of, and is producing the kind any football fan would love to watch.

And a big fan of Lindsey’s is co-owner and co-chairman Preston Johnson, who had a lot of praise for the gaffer when we caught up with him this week.

Johnson told is: “We love him because last season he saved us. We always wanted someone who would play some football and bring an exciting approach to the game that's different to what you would typically see in League Two or even League One. That was one of the reasons we liked Scott but he just so confident and he demands such excellence.

"We love him and whether we win or lose on Sunday, and let me tell you we plan to win, Scott’s done a phenomenal job, he deserves a lot of credit."

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The recruitment in the summer, although it raised eyebrows initially, proved incredible, and Lindsey has been quick to give credit to Johnson and Co for all the data work they do in finding players.

The likes of Jay Williams, Klaidi Lolos, Harry Forster and Joy Mukena were all playing no-league last season but have been an integral part of the team’s success this season.

Johnson said: “We had to do a complete reset. We signed 17 players in the off season and 16 of them, the maths model and the data said they would be good enough even though some off them were from lower leagues

“Scott and the staff, I have to give them a ton of credit because they were bringing these new faces into the squad with some of the older ones and had to make sure they were going to fit and be developed so everything went to plan.

“A lot of the credit has to go to the maths model we built which analyses and assesses the impact of these players, and Eben Smith did most of the negotiating with agents and players.

“When Scott gives us credit, he is obviously being honest but everyone is trying to be humble and give credit to everyone else. But it really was a collaborative team effort this season which I think makes it more joyful and exciting for everyone.

"It’s like ‘without you, we wouldn’t be here’, ‘without you, we wouldn’t be here’ and so on.

“It’s brought this familial love and vibe around those who have worked on the football and recruitment side.”

This week’s Crawley Observer has an 8-page special celebrating Reds going to Wembley – you can order a copy here.