Message from CEO Michael Dunford
Chief Executive Michael Dunford has today thanked our fans for ensuring last night’s game passed off without a hitch.
A record League crowd of 5,680 saw Crawley beat League One leaders Wolves 2-1 to move up to 12th in the table.
Michael said: “I have only been at the club a short while but speaking to supporters afterwards they said it was among the best atmospheres we’ve ever had at the Stadium and the team certainly responded to the support they got from the stands and terraces.
“I would like to thank our fans for heeding our advice to get here as early as they could. We didn’t have significant queues at the turnstiles and everyone was in the ground by kick off time.
“There were no major incidents reported by the police on the night and from a logistical point of view the operation ran very smoothly thanks to the co-operation of supporters on both sides and the hard work of our own staff.”
Michael explained why there were quite a few empty seats in the Checkatrade.com East Stand despite the record League attendance.
“Our licensed capacity at the moment is 5,753. It would be 160 more at 5,913 but only when we build an extra turnstile at the south end to service the East Stand.
“The costs involved would be prohibitive for the time being. We would have to have seven sell-out matches to cover the cost of building an extra turnstile and it is not feasible at this present time so there will always be 160 empty spaces in the East Stand.
“In addition last night, more than 150 supporters who paid for tickets did not come to the game.”
Reds are back at home next Tuesday against FA Cup semi-finalists Sheffield United.
“We’re moving up the table and we have another big game to look forward to here next Tuesday. We hope in addition to our regulars to see a lot of the supporters who came along last night and hopefully enjoyed the performance of the team.”
For Sheffield United ticket information click here.
