The Reds host Port Vale on Saturday afternoon in their first game of the 2017-18 Sky Bet EFL Two season at the Checkatrade Stadium (3pm).
Harry Kewell’s men kick off their league campaign against the Valiants, and will be looking to build on plenty of positives following last weekend’s narrow defeat to Portsmouth.
Michael Brown’s men will be starting their season in the fourth tier following relegation from Sky Bet EFL One last year.
The Opposition:
Michael Brown’s men drew 1-1 at home to West Brom on Tuesday evening at Vale Park – Tom Pope’s late equalising goal cancelled out Hal Robson-Kanu’s early opener to mean the spoils were shared.
Summer arrivals include former Dundee United defender Gavin Gunning, and the loan capture of Marcus Harness from Burton Albion and Rekeil Pyke from Huddersfield Town.
Former Red Tyrone Barnett also made the move to Vale Park this summer from AFC Wimbledon – but will miss the game against his former club this weekend through injury.
Here is a quick preview from the pre-match interview with Michael Brown, as he gives his thoughts on coming up against Crawley #PVFC pic.twitter.com/MQKOdOAV9W
— Port Vale FC (@OfficialPVFC) August 3, 2017
The Previous Meetings:
The Reds have taken Port Vale on a total of six times, coming out on top on twice, losing three and drawing one.
Just as we face the Valiants on the opening day of this season, we did so six years ago too, almost to the day.
It was Crawley’s debut season in the Football League and the first meeting between the two sides. The honours were even that day in August 2011 at Vale Park, as a thrilling game ended 2-2.
The most recent encounter was in March 2015 at Vale Park, and was a game to remember for Reds fans. After trailing Port Vale twice during the game, Richard Wood popped up with the winner for Crawley 20 minutes from time, with the match finishing 3-2.
🗓#ThrowbackThursday
— Crawley Town FC (@crawleytown) August 3, 2017
Richard Wood's 69th minute header gave us a 3-2 win over @OfficialPVFC when we last faced Saturday's opponents... 🔴 pic.twitter.com/4wZ7HQmKhB
The Officials:
Charles Breakspear will take charge of the game – he refereed the Reds three times last season.
Find the details on both him and his assistants for the afternoon by clicking below.
📝
— Crawley Town FC (@crawleytown) August 2, 2017
Charles Breakspear will take charge of Saturday's game against @OfficialPVFC... 🔴
👉🏻 https://t.co/giV8skTtcr pic.twitter.com/7iOp3VLSpv
The Ticket News:
Plenty of tickets remain for the game and fans can find all the information on how to buy by clicking here.
Follow it live:
iFollow Crawley subscribers can listen to the game live with Harry Maynard – and fans can follow all the action minute by minute on the club’s official Twitter account.
Team news will also be available both there and on Facebook – with half time and full time updates.
Instagram users who follow the club ‘@crawley_town_fc’ can go behind the scenes throughout the afternoon.
After the game, the full match report will be online, with all the reaction available on iFollow Crawley and online.
Fans can sign up to the service for free by clicking here – live commentary of the game against Port Vale, and all matches throughout the season, will be available to paid subscribers only – and monthly passes for the service are just £4.49 a month.
Find all the subscription options by clicking here.
