Crawley Green

Crawley Green FC is a non-league football club from the district of the same name in Luton, Bedfordshire, who are part of the Crawley Green Sports & Social Club. The football club was initially formed in 1989 through the merger of Sunday teams, Ramridge Rangers, Stopsley Harriers and The Wyvern.

Another club, Somerset Tavern came onboard in 1992, leading to the club becoming a Saturday side as the new clubhouse at the Sports & Social Club was opened by Luton Town manager David Pleat as the club secured a long term lease from the local council.

After a spell in local football, Green became members of Division One of the South Midlands League for the 1995-96 season before moving to Division One North in 1997-98 when the league merged to become the Spartan South Midlands League.

Following just one season the club dropped out to join the Luton & District League before Crawley Green re-entered Division One of the Spartan South Midlands League in 1999-00 under manager Alan Clark. This became Division Two from 2001-02.

The 2004-05 season saw the appointment of new manager Gary King as Green were crowned Division Two champions but were denied promotion owing to ground grading issues as the council denied permission for the erection of floodlights at their home ground.

Neil Tattersall arrived as manager in the summer of 2005. For the 2007-08 campaign a deal to play home games at the Sharpenhoe Road home of Barton Rovers was agreed. The team finished as league runners-up and gained promotion to Division One.

Darren Salton replaced Tattersall for the 2011-12 season, lasting just a few weeks until Mark Smith was appointed in his place. A Division One runners-up slot in 2015-16 secured promotion for the club to the Premier Division.

Their first campaign in the top level of the competition saw consolidation with a mid-table berth as Dean Bull took over as manager before the arrival of Chris Devane in his place halfway through the following season.

The 2018-19 season saw Green move into a new venue in Luton, while their reserves continued to play from their headquarters across town. The Brache, formerly the home of Vauxhall Motors (Luton) in the Isthmian League had been converted to an artificial hockey pitch when the team was disbanded.

Luton Town took over The Brache as their training ground and installed a new artificial pitch and floodlights, while the old wooden stand was repaired as Crawley Green upgraded the changing rooms and a refreshment point called ‘The Bunker’.

Craig Bicknell and Craig Meyrick took over the managerial reins as the team sat in tenth and then eighth as both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons were abandoned early owing to the Coronavirus pandemic.

My visit

Crawley Green 2 Ampthill Town 0 (Tuesday 6^th July 2021) Friendly (Att: 20 h/c)

This outing would certainly fall into the category of one of those adventures that tests your resolve as a groundhopper. Some of the mishaps along the way were my own fault, I hasten to add, but not helped by others.

Mindful that not all football clubs have provision for card payments I tried to use the ATM while waiting for the bus in Kingsbury High Road. Three guys took forever. When it was my turn, it turned out that it was not dispensing cash, but they could not read English.

Or so I thought. This seemingly innocent incident could well have led to my card being cloned and used a few days later. Fortunately, my bank detected fraudulent use and alerted me. It led to a lot of hassle as I embarked on a weeks’ tour, but better than seeing my account raided.

Anyway. Not to worry. Going back to my trip, I thought I’d use the one at Luton Airport Parkway station where my train from Hendon deposited me. Or maybe not as it as the machine had been removed.

The adjacent retail park had not one ATM, which I thought remarkable. I then got lost trying to find the ground entrance, first trying through Venue 360. Eventually I found it off Park Street after a bit of a walk.

The automatic sliding gate was locked with nobody answering the intercom. A club official was alerted by others pottering about. I was informed it was £5 admission and they only accepted cash. This was typical of the way my night was going.

I explained my problem. The gent kindly allowed me in after I said that I would contact the club and sort out a bank transfer. I messaged the club on Twitter the following as I know how vital every penny is at this level of football.

The match had kicked off at 7.30pm despite all sources saying it was a 7.45 start, meaning I missed ten minutes. Inside the tidy venue, I wandered along down the near side. I was told that everywhere else was out of bounds owing to C-19 restrictions.

In the end it transpired the meagre crowd saw a fairly nondescript game with a goal in each half, the second courtesy of a fine individual run and low curling shot.

The hosts changed all eleven players at the break, with the second half side playing in their away kit. Ampthill had their fair share of play but couldn’t find a finish. Play enhanced as ever on such surfaces as players can trust the bounce and first touch.

The early start offered the opportunity of an earlier train home though it took a proper walk and jogging effort. I must have looked a mess when I flopped into my seat, but worth it to secure extra kip before the 5.20am alarm call. Or so I thought.

I had to change trains at St Albans City. Despite no information from staff and the boards incorrectly stating that the service had arrived it transpired that the first one was cancelled and the second one wouldn’t be stopping before St Pancras.

This info was only gleaned after two walks to the gate barrier to ask the three staff huddled around their IPad watching the Italy v Spain Euro semi-final what the hell was going on. I’m not a fan of my job in the same industry, but I don’t leave customers guessing.

An atrocious effort all said. I eventually got in the door after a diversion via West Hampstead to see some Italians celebrating at Wembley. I apparently missed a cracker at Wembley, but I was still glad to have made the effort to attend somewhere different and see live sport.

The following morning I did get in touch with the club in an effort to make a payment. They thanked me and told me to "have this one on us". How nice.