Whilst not his most cringe worthy moment, perhaps the most telling quote of Richard Keys’ interview with new employer talkSPORT was his assertion that “with success comes envy”. In the context of his predicament, writes Jamie Cutteridge, this was a claim that did not seem relevant, and was instead more telling of his increased paranoia.
It does not make his statement false, however. In the aftermath, nobody came out to say Keys was wrong, simply that he missed the point. Success does breed envy, and this is no more evident than in the case of Crawley Town.
As I previously argued in my ‘Is Football the New Punk?’ piece, Crawley are the anti-punk of the non-league. They are Ben Elton snuggling up to the Royals, they are Eminem advertising cars, they are Dave Grohl. The question that one must therefore ask is this: what is wrong with that?
Punk was never designed to be the answer to every question. It was never to everyone’s taste, and if punk took on the nature of hegemony then it would cease to be ‘punk’ and would instead become part of ‘the system’. Perhaps we can now reflect on punk and see that it had its place, and made valid points, but at the time the majority dismissed it as anarchy and trouble. If we transplant this social landscape into the dialogue that has surrounded Crawley this season, there seems a juxtaposition in where the hegemony sits.
Whilst Crawley seem counter-cultural to the non-league game - the level of the sport that itself takes on that ‘punk’ role compared to the upper echelons of the game - their structure and way of doing things would sit very nicely at higher levels. Now clearly Crawley are not punk, but neither is mindlessly agreeing with the rest of the internet in slagging them off. To gratuitously over-extend the talk on hegemony, hatred of Crawley seems to have become the ruling idea amongst the Twitter and blogging community, but there is nothing ‘punk’ about nodding one’s head. So here, in a move that may lead to mass alienation, is my defence of Crawley Town.
So much of the criticism of Crawley comes from the seemingly limitless budget they operate on, the money being poured into their running costs, the seemingly short-term nature of this spending and how it dwarfs the teams around them.
Teams taking this approach, whatever the level, have become unpopular (Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Manchester City, Boston United) and whilst such feelings are understandable, they target the wrong group. Crawley are not the problem, merely a symptom of the money-driven, short-term business that football has become, and, whoever the people and backers behind the club are, they have found an opportunity to tap into this and take a club from non-league obscurity into the league.
Yes, they are spending far more than their rivals, but football over the past 20 years (or at least since Sky Sports invented it) has shown us that this is close to being necessary in order to be successful. Crawley, like every other club, exist within this paradigm and hence are forced to operate by the same loose rules as other clubs and under the presupposition that money leads to success.
Disliking Crawley for tapping into this model is like aiming one’s abuse about the state of the music business at some X-Factor no-mark like Joe McElderry rather than the Simon Fullers and Simon Cowells.
Are we not actually guilty of hypocrisy if we castigate Crawley for existing within a system that we may not like, one driven by money and greed, all whilst existing and seeking to thrive within our capitalist system? Do not blame Crawley for Sky Sports, for multi-millionaire footballers, for overpriced tickets and for the erosion of community. They may be symptomatic of this, but the blame lies with us. We have bought the tickets, the Sky subscriptions, and we’ve been willing to watch this happen to our game. Crawley are the inevitable ending of our own decisions.
Another party subjected to blame for the distaste fans have for Crawley is their outspoken manager, Steve Evans, a man with a face for radio, a voice for TV, and an annoying habit of pushing his way to the forefront of both.
He’s arrogant, not particularly likeable, and though these only help add volume to his critics, they are not the main reasons for his lack of popularity. During Boston United’s Football League heyday at the beginning of the 21st century, Evans was their manager. He got them promoted and kept them there, at least for a while. It emerged that the club, and Evans, were guilty of publishing false contracts for players, for tax reasons, and that Evans was profiting from this.
Our hero was fined and banned from football for 20 months, but with just a suspended jail sentence. He returned to the club and despite pledging his commitment to Boston he resigned soon after they were relegated from the Football League. He has since landed at Crawley and finds himself equally dislikeable and arrogant thanks to his club’s riches.
But doesn’t he deserve a shot at redemption? He didn’t arrive at Crawley knowing he would be put in a similar financial position, he arrived looking to work his way back into the League, and, to this point, looks like achieving that this season. He has taken an unremarkable team and turned them into FA Cup giant-killers and non-league heavyweights.
Yes, his team has money, and yes he has been convicted in the past, but if sport allows us one thing, it is the chance to redeem ourselves. On the other side of the pond, America has been gripped this season by the story of Mike Vick, the Philadelphia quarterback who served a jail term for dogfighting. Since leaving jail he has been rehabilitated, is back to starring for a team, and his life outside of football has turned around.
Vick has spoken of how crucial sport was in this change, and why should we deny Evans the same opportunity? There are few more compelling stories in life than those of redemption; our great religions seem to be based upon them, our great films thrive on them, and yet we, the football supporting community, seem willing to sacrifice the chance to observe a remarkable turnaround because of some long-held grudge against a man and team existing within the system we ourselves have built.
Even if we lay all this aside, it has been widely reported that many non-league fans hope to see Crawley take a battering at Old Trafford in the next round of the Cup, an attitude that seems to prove Keys’ claim that success leads to envy.
Surely as non-league fans we can only empathise with Crawley fans. After years of mediocrity, this is their moment, a chance they most likely will never get again. We’re British, we are supposed to favour the underdog, not hope they get destroyed; and yes, they are the underdog. Despite their riches, their budget, the quality of the playing staff is still put into frighteningly sharp perspective by what is going on at Old Trafford, the home of a team assembled from across the globe for a sum of money enough to fill many a brown envelope.
Manchester United operate no more within their means than Crawley. In fact, it is clubs like United that have led to clubs further down the league system following suit. If this fight was on a global stage it would be the 1960s and you would all be hoping Russia beat Cuba senseless. Manchester United have been, still are, and will be far closer to the root of the issues with football than Crawley will ever be. Perhaps our problem with Crawley is that we see in them the damage that has happened to the top of the game, sliding slowly down the leagues.
So good luck Crawley, I say. The Twitterati may not be behind you, but they’re about as punk as Enya.
Tags: Crawley Town, Steve Evans
I think this is a debate worth having, but it’s worth adding that I’m yet to meet a non-league football fan that dislikes Crawley who is not capable of talking with reasonable eloquence about the reasons why.
As for the envy, you’re right, there probably are some people envious of them. But when you’ve got once-great names like Wrexham and Luton scrapping for promotion in the Conference this season, and a team like AFC Wimbledon in the mix too, who run their affairs with admirable transparency - the fact that Crawley are probably going to trample all over this promotion race with a squad built on extremely mysterious money just seems to render the whole thing slightly pointless. For me, that’s not envy, that’s just having your spirit crushed by - and here’s another Keys reference for you - dark forces.
If Crawley win the Conference my reaction will not be “I’m so jealous of those bastards”, it will be simply “meh”.
I work with 75 Crawley Town fans. Actually, it was only 8 before they drew Manchester United in the FA Cup, but 75 of ‘em are hopping on a coach to Old Trafford. I shall be laminating copies of this to dish out them as they board.
Splendid work Jamie Cutteridge, splendid work.
I think for most people what you say resonates with how they feel. It is a sense that the sport is lost, the challenge of competing has been taken away by a club with such out of kilter resources. It isn’t Crawley that are seen as the problem but they are clearly, at the moment and at this level, the manifestation of it.
There has always been some imbalance of resources, Manchester United have always been a bigger club than say Nottingham Forest, but the gap has been close enough that it can be filled by gifted management. The system has changed that and you are right to point that out and our culpability within that system as fans, but as fans we will focus on symbols of our frustration and Crawley have become a key one.
I would love to see Crawley beat Manchester United as I loved seeing them beat Derby, but in the day to day life of the league they are taking away from, rather than adding to, the competition they are a part of.
Everyone hates these clubs until the become one of them themselves. I’m sure Man City fans were jealous of Chelsea until their knight in Arabian armour came along and did a Chelsea on their team. Suddenly the only reason they dislike their London rivals is because they’re rivalling them for fourth spot.
Why does everyone hate Manchester United? Because they’re rich and successful. And anyway, there’s more than one promotion spot to aim at in the Conference so put away all that bitternes and aim for second place eh?
“Yes, his team has money, and yes he has been convicted in the past, but if sport allows us one thing, it is the chance to redeem ourselves. On the other side of the pond, America has been gripped this season by the story of Mike Vick, the Philadelphia quarterback who served a jail term for dogfighting. Since leaving jail he has been rehabilitated, is back to starring for a team, and his life outside of football has turned around.”
I’m not sure this quote is really relevant as Steve Evans (or Richard Keys for that matter) have not really made any public acts of contrition or even honestly admitted the errors of their ways. In essence they’re both only sorry they got caught. This is really why they are both reviled (at least for now). Otherwise, a very good read.
This is the problem with the internet.
Even with something as blatantly wrong as this there is always somebody trying to be controversial and taking the opposite view just to get a few hits.
It’s as pitiful and ineffectual as Evans’ suspended sentence.
As a Crawleyite, is is difficult to be neutral in this.
However, he committed the crime and did the time.
Nobody died.
Nobody was maimed.
Steve Evans didn’t decide on his punishment(s).
Overseeing bodies did.
I do question whether the ban was long enough but that’s not for me to decide.
I didn’t have access to everything that the committees had access to - the ones who decide on guilt/innocence and punishment.
I would ask the question whether Crawley and Steve Evans would be equally vilified had the financial irregularities not occurred. My hunch is that the financial irregularities would have made no difference. I believe that they are a straw man, a red herring.
However, I accept that having unnamed backers would reasonably make others feel unease given the club’s and Evans’ recent history. However, it would be the height of foolhardiness to try similar stunts again, having previously been caught out. I would be more concerned about those clubs which haven’t been caught.
Another thing I would ask is whether people would be so concerned about either Crawley’s or Evans’ recent past if Crawley had spent loads of money and were languishing near the foot of the table.
Just a little food for thought there.
I’m not after a war of words.
Just asking if people want to take a longer look at themselves rather than pointing fingers elsewhere.
P.S. I will be at Old Trafford on the 19th.
I expect to see Crawley stuffed.
We can dream though, can’t we?
It’s a conversation worth having, and there are some good points here.
Let’s move on from this nasty, Thatcherite ‘envy’ argument though. Within five years, there are two likely outcomes for Crawley Town. One, administration and a hefty punishment, perhaps being demoted several levels a la Boston. Two, liquidation. I don’t know anyone who envies that.
At best, you’re looking at a Rushden-type scenario, where the club ultimately survives somehow, albeit dropping back into non-League, after the owner realises his vanity project is unsustainable.
Poor article, twofootedtackle.
Steve Evans received a suspended sentence and a fine for cheating his way to a championship. Boston United were deducted four points from a season in League 2 after cheating their way to two championships. Evans was banned from football before being reappointed to a club still benefiting from the position he had illegally obtained for them. He therefore continued to benefit financially and in terms of status and reputation from the crimes he committed.
When Boston went into administration and relegation, caused, in no small measure, by Evans himself, he jumped ship to the only club crooked enough to take him, Crawley Town, at that point trying to exist as a full-time club on crowds too small to sustain it. Whilst Boston fans were forced to take trips to Long Eaton United and Leigh RMI in the Northern Premier League, Evans was taking Crawley to the brink of folding. How has any of this justified considering him forgiven?
All that’s changed is that Evans has been given several times the resources of any club in the Conference and is now merrily spending it with no concern for its origins or legitimacy. In other words, he hasn’t learned any lessons. He has only ever seen his career flourish due to his fraud. And the plaudits he is currently receiving should be an insult to law-abiding football managers.
Top trolling!
I would like to voice that I, also, share “God Almighty’s” concerns about Crawley Town’s future a few years hence.
I feel very uneasy that the club appears to have become a plaything of the anonymous rich.
My biggest hope is that the the person’s (people’s) anonymity is an indication that they are not interested in personal glory for themself(ves). Presumably this would mean the the financial plug wouldn’t be pulled if things didn’t go so well on the pitch.
A recent possible parallel could be what happened to Leeds United.
I do wonder if the money supplied is a loan or a grant. Of course it could just be some spare money that someone has and would rather give it to the town’s football club rather than the taxman.
It’s the sort of thing I might do myself if I had a few million that I wouldn’t miss. However, I would like to think that I would share it around more and use such money to promote football (and other sports) at grass roots level and give the kids a chance.
I was quite happy watching Crawley at the old Town Mead ground bouncing between Premier and first divisions of the old southern league. It just seemed to have more magic to it. There was even some controversy way back then because I think they escaped relegation due to one of the promoted clubs not having a good enough ground for the higher division (memory may be flawed on this).
At least you knew the game was much less money orientated then. Many of the players played for a bit of extra money on top of their other work and I think some of them may have been amateurs - playing because they enjoyed it.
Much more fun and they still managed to do Northampton (a league side) in the third round of the cup.
My god. This is awful. I sound like my dad
Fascinating watching these comments evolve, much like they did around the piece I did on here a week or so back about why not many neutrals had much love for Crawley.
That said, I don’t think it’s a bad piece (we wouldn’t have published it if it was), it’s just a piece that is a very different viewpoint to a lot of others. Including my own. Doesn’t mean it’s not valid, and there’s certainly a dispassionate argument for saying Evans has been dealt with under the law and deserves a second chance at rehabilitation.
This isn’t a viewpoint I necessarily subscribe to.
For me, there are a few points that are key with Crawley that others have touched on here.
1. Their spending is unsustainable in relation to their earnings, even if you take into account paying transfer fees up front (or especially, depending on which way you look at it). As Cod Almighty says, if there will come a point where the club is unsustainable unless the owner has bottomless pockets and limitless patience.
2. And on that note, the source of funding is of great concern. I think a lot of people would be an awful lot happier if we knew where the cash was coming from.
It’s not common or sensible to splash vast sums of cash at a lower level, unless you’re someone like Dietmar Hopp. So whenever somebody spends a large amount of cash on a team like Crawley in the lower leagues, questions will be asked. It’s a very strange place to plough money in and when the backers are anonymous… well, we’ve all seen enough of this to at the very least unleash the cynic, and at worst set off very large alarm bells. As long as the backers refuse to reveal themselves, doubts will remain, both about the source of the money and the long-term viability of the club.
3. Steve Evans is not a likeable man from his public persona. It is impossible to separate club from manager when he’s so intertwined with the club. There’s still a lot of ill-feeling towards Evans from football fans beyond just those who support Boston. Add in the touchline antics and bans and there’s something infinitely more dislikeable than somebody like, say, Neil Warnock or Graham Westley.
4. Envy has nothing to do with it. My club hasn’t played Crawley for a good few years. You don’t have to be a rival club of Crawley’s be to worried or find them hard to like.
But what few people mention in this is the genuine, old-skool Crawley fans. Some undoubtedly love the attention and cash. Others, not so sure. Either way, they are playing Man Utd in the FA Cup and you have to let them enjoy it without the pomposity or righteous indignation, whether it all goes wrong in years to come or not, they’ll take it right now. The 90 minutes of playing the Champions. Is it dancing with the red devil? Only time will tell. I have a lot of sympathy with these fans, none of it is their fault.
Gary Andrews: Just wanted to say that I appreciate you allowing write-ups on here even though they may conflict with your own personal views. Football can be a very emotive subject where people can get polarised very quickly (a bit like politics and religion). This can lead to very immature behaviour and posts - with resultant censorship.
So hats off to you for allowing free debate.
I don’t think it is envy, at least not in the strict sense. While every football fan wants to see their club do well, I’m not sure they want it to happen through financial doping (which is precisely what it is). In essence, of course, any victory achieved by such methods doesn’t really count, and yet it’s not like the promotion spot, if they get it, will do elsewhere.
I think the loathing of Crawley Town has been fueled, in part, by the ghoulish power of money appearing in the lower leagues; in proper football. The realisation that even in Arcadia, is money, is an affront to the values of lower-league football.
In any case, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to despise both the system that creates such opportunity, and the flash bastard who takes advantage of it. The City boy in the white-collared salmon shirt with the braying laugh and the perfect teeth waving the fifty-spot in your local is only there because society has determined that he is able to profit at the expense of others. Doesn’t make him any less of a wanker.
But boston fiddled the tax man, and evans and his co-conspirators got done for it. At the moment, crawley’s finances are questionable, but boston’s were illegal. As for evans, as someone else indicated, he’s continued to behave pretty disgustingly.
Andrew Thomas: “In any case, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to despise both the system that creates such opportunity, and the flash bastard who takes advantage of it. The City boy in the white-collared salmon shirt with the braying laugh and the perfect teeth waving the fifty-spot in your local is only there because society has determined that he is able to profit at the expense of others. Doesn’t make him any less of a wanker.”
Superb.