Crewe Alexandra F.C.
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| Crewe Alexandra | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Crewe Alexandra Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | The Railwaymen, The Alex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1877 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Alexandra Stadium (Gresty Road) Crewe |
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| Capacity | 10,046 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | John Bowler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  Dario Gradi |
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| League | League One | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | Championship, 22nd (relegated) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Crewe Alexandra Football Club are an English football team based at Gresty Road in Crewe, Cheshire, England and nicknamed The Railwaymen due to that town's links with the rail industry.
The club was formed in 1877 and reputedly named after Princess Alexandra (some suggest that the decision to form the club was actually taken in a pub named after the Princess and the club was named after the pub). They currently play in the Coca-Cola League One.
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[edit] Early years
Crewe Alexandra were formed in 1877 as Crewe Football Club as a separate organisation from the successful Crewe Cricket Club. Crewe Football Club played their first ever match, against North Staffs, the same year, the match ended 1-1. In 1884, Crewe Alexandra's first match in the FA Cup was against Queens Park of Glasgow, losing 10-0.
Crewe were one of the founding members of Division 2 in 1892, having previously been members of the Football Alliance, but became a non-league side after only five seasons. The following year the club managed to sign all their players as professionals. They rejoined the Football League in the 1920s, during which time a new record of 15,102 packed into Gresty Road to watch Crewe entertain local rivals Stoke City. The Potters won the game 2-0. Crewe earned their first honours by winning the Welsh Cup in 1936 and 1937, before being barred from entering (not least since they were not in Wales). In 1936, Herbert Swindells scored his 100th League goal for Crewe Alexandra. He would go on to score a record 126 goals for the club - a record that still stands today.
1955 saw Crewe embark on a sequence where they did not win away from home for 56 matches. The dismal run ended with a 1-0 win at Southport. One of Crewe's most famous matches took place against Spurs in the FA Cup. A new record attendance of 20,000 saw lowly Crewe hold Spurs to a 2-2 draw. Bert Llewellyn and Merfyn Jones scored for the Railwaymen. In the replay, Tottenham won convincingly 13-2 - still a record defeat for the club. Llewellyn and Nev Coleman scored for Crewe at White Hart Lane.
1961 saw Crewe's most notable win in their history, Jimmy McGuigan's side defeated Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge. That particular Chelsea side contained former Crewe player Frank Blunstone, Jimmy Greaves, Peter Bonetti and Terry Venables. The Crewe goals were scored by Billy Stark and Barrie Wheatley. Spurs won by a more modest 5-1 in the Fourth Round. In 1963, Crewe gained promotion for the first time in their history with a 1-0 win over Exeter City. Frank Lord became the local hero, scoring the only goal in front a crowd of 9,807. Lord also holds the record for most hat-tricks for the club - he amassed eight hat-tricks during his time at Gresty Road.
A year later, Terry Harkin scored a record 35 league goals for a season. 1977 saw Tommy Lowry play his record-breaking 475th and last game for the Railwaymen. 1979 would see manager Warwick Rimmer's most notable signing when Bruce Grobbelaar joined Crewe and played his first match against Wigan Athletic. During the season he would score from the penalty spot against York City and kept 8 clean-sheets in his 24 matches played. In the same year the club went a record 15 matches without winning at Gresty Road. The period from the 1950s to the early 1980s were generally not a successful time for the Alex, and few would argue with Michael Palin's comment, in the 1979 BBC Great Railway Journeys of the World documentary when, in a shot over Gresty Road filmed from the roof of the adjacent Rail House he described Crewe as "like those those other railway towns, Swindon and Doncaster, possessed of a football team which is perpetually propping up the bottom of the Fourth Division".
It is believed that Crewe's fans were the first to ever sing the famous football song 'Blue Moon'. The song was sung to represent the gloomy days at Gresty road during the mid-1900s. Since then Manchester City have copied the chant and it is often sung by their fans.
[edit] The Gradi era
In June 1983, Crewe appointed Milan-born Dario Gradi as manager. At that time, Crewe had again just avoided being voted out of the Football League. Gradi quickly gained a reputation for developing young talent, Gradi let Steve Walters become the youngest ever player to pull on a Crewe shirt: aged just 16 years and 119 days he played against Peterborough United on 6 May. Gradi's efforts paid off in 1989 when Crewe won promotion to the Third Division. They went back down two years later, but were promoted again in 1994. In the same year, Neil Lennon became the first Crewe Alexandra player to gain an International cap for 60 years when he was selected to play for Northern Ireland against Mexico. Gradi then led his charges to the unprecedented height of Division One in 1997, after victory over Brentford in the Division Two playoff final, and kept his team there until 2002, despite a club income on which many more lowly clubs could not survive.
After one season in the Football League Second Division the club were promoted back to Division One at the end of the 2002/03 season, having finished in second place (the first time Crewe achieved promotion from the runner-up position).
Although managing to retain their place in the renamed Championship in the 2003/04 season, at the start of the 2004/05 season they were rated one of the likeliest teams to be relegated. In the event, they put in a good showing in the first half of the season, but after selling Dean Ashton to Norwich City for a record £3 million in the January 2005 transfer window, Crewe failed to win any more games until the final match of the season, when they defeated Coventry City 2-1 and narrowly escaped relegation on goal difference, Crewe having a GD of -20 and Gillingham -21.
The following year they were not so fortunate. Despite a good run towards the end of the season, they were relegated to League 1 at the end of the 2005-06 season.
Crewe were named the 'Most Admired Club' in the 2006 Football League Awards, sponsored by The League Paper and FourFourTwo Magazine.[1]
Prior to their 3-0 home defeat to Bradford, the club learnt that their previous chairman, Norman Rowlinson, had died of cancer at the age of 83. The club then held a minute's silence for Rowlinson at their next home game, against Huddersfield Town.
[edit] Gradi legacy
As of June 2006, Gradi is still the longest serving manager in English league football; he celebrated his 1,000th game in charge of Crewe on 20 November 2001 - an away fixture at Carrow Road, the home of Norwich City F.C., and has now completed almost 24 years at the club, although assistant manager Neil Baker took temporary charge between 22 September and 17 October 2003 while Gradi underwent heart surgery.
During Gradi's control, the club has gained a strong reputation for its youth policy, and gained official status as an FA Youth Academy. By concentrating on developing its own players the club has remained profitable (a rare thing in lower division football at the time) by selling them on after they have gained experience with Crewe. The Academy is known to stress technical excellence, which accords with Gradi's aim to have his sides play attractive, passing football.
Players who have passed through the ranks at Crewe include the England international players Geoff Thomas, David Platt and Rob Jones, Welshman Robbie Savage, and Northern Ireland internationals Neil Lennon and Steve Jones (Platt was the most successful, totalling more than £20 million in transfers and captaining the England team). All these were youngsters signed from other clubs, but Gradi has also had considerable success in nurturing Crewe's own trainees - notably full England internationals Danny Murphy and Seth Johnson, under-21 England international Dean Ashton and Wales international David Vaughan.
[edit] Stadium
[edit] Overview
Officially known since 2000 as The Alexandra Stadium, the ground which has been occupied by the club since 1898 will likely always be known as Gresty Road to the fans.
The ground is comprised of four stands:
- The Air Products Stand (formerly the Railtrack Stand, before a change in sponsors) - built in 2000 at a cost of £5.2 million. It accommodates 6,776 spectators, together with the clubs' office accommodation.
- The Advance Personnel Stand, also known as the Gresty Road End, accommodates 1000 spectators and 4 disabled spectators.
- The Charles Audi Stand, also known as the Railway End, accommodates 645 spectators.
- The BMW Bluebell Stand, formerly the Pop Side, accommodates 1687 away spectators.
The pies that are available at Gresty Road are made by North-West firm, Holland's.
[edit] Getting there
[edit] By rail
Gresty Road is immediately adjacent to Crewe mainline railway station. Turn left when exiting the station, and Gresty Road is the next street on the left.
[edit] By road
From the North: Exit M6 at junction 17 (A534). At T-junction turn right for Crewe and follow A534 (signposted Crewe, Nantwich). After about six miles, at the third roundabout in the space of about a mile, you pass the Crewe Arms on your right and Crewe Station on your left. Gresty Road is the first left after the Station. Beware: on match days, you may not be able to take this left turn, and may be redirected to the next left (100 yards, South St, at traffic lights).
From the South and East: Exit M6 at junction 16 (A500). At roundabout follow signs for Crewe. After about two miles, turn right at roundabout (A5020) towards Crewe; left at the next roundabout (0.8m); straight on at the next (Rookery pub on right), passing the Brocklebank pub on the left; then left at the next - and final - roundabout, taking you into Nantwich Road, passing the Crewe Arms Hotel on your right and Crewe Station on your left.
Alternatively, from M6 junction 16, stay on the A500 beyond the A5020 roundabout for a further two miles until the B5071 roundabout (signposted Shavington); exit the A500 and at the T-junction (traffic lights) turn right, cross the A500 on the bridge, passing Crewe Alexandra's Soccer School on the left; follow the B5071 past the Cheshire Cheese pub; from the railway bridge the ground is less than half a mile - a large pay-and-display carpark is on the right hand side next to the stadium.
From the West: From Nantwich, follow Crewe Road, A534 (signs to Crewe Station, 4 miles), which will eventually bring you along Nantwich Road. Turn right into South Street (Domino's Pizza and Subway are on the corner), as the former right turn into Gresty Road is no longer permitted following the remodelling of the junction.
[edit] Honours
- Milk Cup:
- Premier section winners 1987, 1989
- Junior section winners 1990, 1998
- FA Cup:
- Semi Final 1888
- Cheshire Senior Cup
- Winner 1910, 1912, 1913, 1923, 2002, 2003
- Welsh Cup
- Winner 1936, 1937.
[edit] Current squad
As of 17 January 2007:
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[edit] Out on loan
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[edit] Notable former players
- Embolded players have represented their respective countries at full international level
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[edit] Managers
As of Nov 22, 2006. Only competitive matches are counted.
| Name | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||
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| P | W | D | L | ||||||
| W.C. McNeill | |
August 1892 | May 1894 | 50 | 12 | 10 | 28 | ||
| J.G. Hall | |
August 1895 | May 1896 | 31 | 5 | 3 | 23 | ||
| R. Roberts | |
January 1897 | December 1897 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| J.B. Bloomley | |
January 1898 | May 1925 | 169 | 56 | 44 | 69 | ||
| Tom Bailey | |
August 1925 | May 1938 | 578 | 223 | 113 | 242 | ||
| George Lillycrop | |
August 1938 | July 1944 | 45 | 20 | 7 | 18 | ||
| Frank Hill |  |
July 1944 | October 1948 | 102 | 45 | 19 | 38 | ||
| Arthur Turner | |
October 1948 | December 1951 | 149 | 56 | 39 | 54 | ||
| Harry Catterick | |
December 1951 | June 1953 | 74 | 31 | 11 | 32 | ||
| Ralph Ward | |
June 1953 | May 1955 | 96 | 25 | 28 | 43 | ||
| Maurice Lindley | |
August 1955 | May 1958 | 143 | 23 | 28 | 92 | ||
| Harry Ware | |
August 1958 | May 1960 | 100 | 36 | 22 | 42 | ||
| Jimmy McGuigan | |
June 1960 | November 1964 | 222 | 87 | 50 | 50 | ||
| Ernie Tagg | |
November 1964 | October 1970 | 273 | 105 | 69 | 99 | ||
| Dennis Viollet | |
August 1971 | November 1971 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | ||
| Jimmy Melia | |
May 1972 | December 1973 | 70 | 16 | 23 | 31 | ||
| Ernie Tagg | |
January 1974 | December 1974 | 48 | 13 | 12 | 23 | ||
| Harry Gregg |  |
January 1975 | May 1978 | 163 | 53 | 53 | 57 | ||
| Warwick Rimmer | |
August 1978 | May 1979 | 46 | 6 | 14 | 26 | ||
| Tony Waddington | |
June 1979 | July 1981 | 93 | 24 | 27 | 42 | ||
| Arfon Griffiths | |
August 1981 | October 1982 | 59 | 9 | 10 | 40 | ||
| Peter Morris | |
November 1982 | June 1983 | 33 | 8 | 7 | 18 | ||
| Dario Gradi | |
June 1983 | present | 1180 | 439 | 290 | 451 | ||
[edit] Famous fans
- Michael Crawford - Actor
- Dario G - local band named after long serving manager, Dario Gradi.
[edit] Trivia
- Crewe once fielded four "Jones" in the starting eleven (on 19 March 1960, versus Workington: Keith Jones (goal-keeper), Ron Jones (defender), David Jones and Merfyn Jones (both forwards)[2]
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Crewe Alexandra F.C. on BBC Sport: Club News - Recent results - Upcoming fixtures - Club stats
- Soccerbase.com's entry on Crewe Alexandra
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Blackpool | Bournemouth | Bradford City | Brentford | Brighton & Hove Albion | Bristol City | Carlisle United | Cheltenham Town | Chesterfield | Crewe Alexandra | Doncaster Rovers | Gillingham | Huddersfield Town | Leyton Orient | Millwall | Northampton Town | Nottingham Forest | Oldham Athletic | Port Vale | Rotherham United | Scunthorpe United | Swansea City | Tranmere Rovers | Yeovil Town edit |
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[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Crewe Delighted With Award CreweAlex.premiumtv.co.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2006
- ^ Crisp, Marco (1998) Crewe Alexandra Match by Match (Nottingham: Tony Brown)
[edit] References
Club Honours taken from:
