The Emergence of Crawley Town

Crawley Town supporters had little to celebrate apart from a couple of fourth-placed finishes in the Southern League Division One South before long-serving goalkeeper John Maggs took over as manager.

Maggs was a highly rated keeper who was good enough to be an England Schoolboy international.

He first signed for Crawley in 1963 and went on to set the West Sussex side's all-time appearance record with over 700 to his credit.

After retiring as a player, he stepped up to manage the Reds in 1982/83 and stayed at the helm for thirteen seasons, combining his duties with those of chairman towards the end of his tenure.

After over 30 years with Crawley, Maggs (right) moved on to Horsham, where he spent the next eleven seasons, leading the Hornets to two promotions and the FA Cup's Second Round in 2007.

Financial issues arising from the sale of the club's former Queen Street ground eventually led to Maggs' departure and the start of a two-year spell at Crawley Down in the summer of 2011.

He went on to be general manager at Conference South Tonbridge Angels and then, in August 2013, returned to the dug-out as manager of Hastings United.

The previous March he had been awarded a Football Association medal for his services to the game.

Crawley finished seventh in Division One South in Maggs` first campaign in charge, but supporters could see a really useful side being put together at Town Mead.

Finishing third in that 1982/83 season was RS Southampton in their first season in the league after their ambitious application to join the Southern League was sensationally accepted, despite no history whatsoever of playing Saturday football.

But they had a strong side, managed by Peter Price, and it was they who prevented Crawley from winning the title in 83/84 as they finished as champions of the South Division by a nine-point margin.

Crawley`s success that season was built around a really solid defence which only conceded 28 goals in the 38 league matches.

Only Hillingdon Borough, who finished seventh, conceded fewer.

The defence was built around big Steve Breach and Bob Glozier as centre-backs.

Breach signed for Crawley in November 1977 after being on Arsenal and Brighton`s books as well as Dover and Canadian side London City.

He went on to play for Town for ten years and became something of a `legend` at Town Mead, making almost 500 appearances and having a testimonial against Chelsea in May 1987.

Glozier was the much older of the pairing, having started his career with his local side West Ham United in 1966.

He went on to play 57 games in the Football League for Torquay United before going non-League with the likes of Guildford City, Dartford, Dover, Maidstone United, Gravesend & Northfleet and Hastings United before signing for Maggs in 1983.

He went on to make 182 appearances for Crawley in three successful seasons.

Goalkeeper for 1983/84 and then for the start of 84/85 was former Sutton United, Horsham and Redhill man Rick Collier, who was back for a second spell.

Former Gillingham and Luton Town forward Brian Gregory enjoyed a fantastic 83/84 campaign, scoring 45 goals in 55 appearances, including 31 goals in 38 league games.

He scored 52 goals in 72 games in total after joining from Dartford in 1982.

Maggs strengthened his squad ahead of their first campaign as a Southern Premier Division club.

The most significant signing was that of diminutive striker Terry Robbins to replace Gregory.

Robbins was 19 at the time of joining Crawley, having been on the books at Tottenham Hotspur and Gillingham as a youngster and then Maidstone United.

He went on to score 31 goals in 84/85 in 52 games – 24 in 37 in the league.

His total of 60 goals in 84 games had the scouts flocking to Town Mead but he went to Conference side Welling United for an £8,000 fee in 1986 and went on to win 6 caps for the England semi-professional international side (England C) and play over 300 games for the Wings, scoring 139 goals, before taking over as their player-manager in 1993.

Former Tonbridge, Gravesend and Dartford midfielder David Myers, Alan Lester, signed from Fulham, and the long-serving Cliff Cant made up the usual midfield line-up.

Cant (left) was a former Arsenal and Fulham professional who joined the Reds in 1982 and made 450 appearances during two spells with the club and is Town`s record appearance holder, with Lester not far behind with 438.

Crawley`s first game as a Premier Division outfit was a 1-1 draw at Town Mead against Corby Town, with Jeff Wood scoring the goal in front of a crowd of 416.

A 4-2 defeat at Gloucester City was followed by a 2-2 draw at home to Welling United before Bedworth United became Town`s first victims in the higher division – Steve Breach, Rick Fitzgerald and Wood earning a 3-1 win.

Cliff Cant and Mark Simpson scored the goals that won the first away points at Alvechurch and by the end of October 1984, Crawley had lost two, won three and drawn three of their eight league games.

An excellent run from December to February 9th 1985 saw Crawley top the table.

Amongst the run of five wins and two draws was a 4-4 thriller at Folkestone in which Terry Robbins netted a hat-trick.

That was followed though by a run of games in which saw Maggs` side lose four out of nine games up to the end of March, with two others drawn – a run which ultimately cost them the title.

But five successive wins over AP Leamington, Alvechurch, Hastings United, King`s Lynn and Shepshed Charterhouse put them right back in the frame.

However, despite finishing on a high with three more wins on the trot against Fareham Town and home and away to Witney Town, the relentless form of Cheltenham Town and King`s Lynn saw Town finish in third place, three points adrift of the Robins and just one of the Linnets.