Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Crawley Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Milton Keynes Dons in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Lewis Richards scored, was marked 7.85, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
1 for Jay Williams, marked 7.74, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
1 for Darko Gyabi, marked 7.81, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Crawley Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crawley Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Denzel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Scott Malone’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Crawley Town needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Crawley Town. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Crawley Town will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amin Nabizada is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Something was said to Darko Gyabi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Charlie Barker has his answer from Crawley Town; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Harrogate Town next, and one man in the Crawley Town dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Crawley Town will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Crawley Town. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Plymouth Argyle go through and Crawley Town go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Crawley Town are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Amin Nabizada falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Jay Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Andrew Roberts was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Crawley Town dressing room was either.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The offer went to Wrexham this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Taylor Richards and Crawley Town agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Jacob Chapman and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad3 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Crawley Town are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Crawley Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.