Tomorrow at 1pm the Reds will discover their opponents for the First Round of the Carabao Cup, and since being promoted to the Football League in 2011 the side has picked up some impressive results in the competition.
In the 2011/12 campaign the Reds beat AFC Wimbledon 3-2 at home in the Preliminary Round before losing 2-0 away to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in the First Round proper – the Eagles, who were in the Championship at the time, triumphed through a Wilfried Zaha brace.
The following year Crawley beat Millwall 4-1 on penalties after drawing 2-2 in normal time in a memorable game at the Den.
Hope Akpan and Nicky Adams had twice put the Reds ahead, before the Lions fought back on both occasions to force extra time and then the shootout.
Gary Alexander, Dannie Bulman, Kyle MacFadzean and David Hunt all successfully converted their spot-kicks to send the away side through to the next round.
The Reds then beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at home, after the Trotters had just been relegated from the Premier League – goals from Billy Clarke and Nicky Ajose cancelled out Benik Afobe’s strike to seal an impressive win – at the time that was the side’s fifth win out of six against Championship opposition.
The cup run came to an end when Crawley lost 3-2 at home to Premier League Swansea City in the Third Round - goals from Josh Simpson and Hope Akpan weren’t enough to stop the Welsh side progressing at the Checkatrade Stadium.
A 4-3 loss away to Cheltenham Town followed in the 2013/14 season as the Reds bowed out in the First Round, before they beat Ipswich Town 1-0 at home at the same stage the following year through Izale McLeod’s extra time winner.
Their reward was a trip to Carrow Road to face Norwich City, but it was the Canaries who triumphed with a 3-1 win.
The Reds lost 2-0 away to Peterborough United in the 2015/16 season in the First Round, before exiting the competition at the same stage last season despite Enzio Boldewijn’s first goal in English football for the club, as Dermot Drummy’s side lost 2-1 to Wolves at Molineux.
You can watch the draw live tomorrow lunchtime - find all the details on how here.
