Football Season Guide

It has been a tumultuous four months for Crawley Town following the takeover by American Investment Group WAGMI United. They deal in data cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which is quite a difference from League Two football. They soon found themselves in the middle of a scandal when manager John Yems was accused of using racist language and engaging in racist behaviour, including racial segregation of players. He left the club by mutual consent in June and he has been succeeded by Kevin Betsy, one of the most-highly young coaches in the country. It is certainly a brave decision from the former Wycombe Wanderers winger to take his first step into management at the Broadfield Stadium in these circumstances. The only real departure of note is centre-back Jordan Tunnicliffe, who has opted for a move to National League moneybags Wrexham. He will need to persuade striker and leading goalscorer Tom Nichols to stick with him, however, following links with a move to Mansfield Town. The recruitment policy under the previous regime saw several young players with potential signed on long-term deals and it will be interesting to see how this evolves. In the meantime they have pulled off arguably the biggest shock of the summer so far in League Two: signing in demand striker Dominic Telford from Newport County. It is a real step into the unknown for the Red Devils but, if Betsy lives up to his reputation and the new owners leave him to do the job, they could spring some surprises this season.