Tonight's meeting with Crewe Alexandra will be the 15th between the two sides in the Football League, which have taken place in League One and Two.
Crewe have won seven, with three wins for Crawley and four draws.
Last season, Reds beat Crewe 3-0 at The People’s Pension Stadium. It was a somewhat flattering win for the hosts, with Crewe squandering some good first-half chances after Josh Payne had put us ahead from the spot. Joe McNerney and Dannie Bulman added goals in the last 10 minutes to secure three points.
The Railwaymen gained ample revenge in March. Ollie Palmer put Reds in front but we collapsed in an eight-minute spell when the hosts netted four times before going on to win 6-1. Ouch!
Crewe recorded the double over us during the 2017-18 season with a 2-1 win in West Sussex and a 3-0 victory in Cheshire. In our home match, it was 1-1 after just nine minutes when Jimmy Smith equalised following Perry Ng’s opener, but Harry Pickering scored after the break to win it for the away side.
A double from Chris Dagnall and a Callum Ainley strike saw Crewe win 3-0 at Gresty Road back in December 2017 in a game which saw both Jimmy Smith and Jordan Roberts sent off for the Reds.
The first league meeting took place in December 2011 when the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in Crewe. Matt Tubbs scored the Crawley goal, equalising after Will Fletcher’s opener. Shaun Miller was given a red card for the hosts.
The return fixture produced the same scoreline in front of a bumper crowd at the Broadfield as the East Stand was opened for the first time. Almost 5000 were packed in to see Gary Alexander’s late penalty cancel out Byron Moore’s first-half goal in a game between two sides going for promotion.
The next two fixtures saw the same scoreline – 2-0 – with both games being decided by a brace of goals. Laurie Dalle-Valle’s double at Gresty Road saw Crewe take the points in the first match, while Jamie Proctor’s two goals were enough for the Reds in the corresponding fixture.
Jamie Proctor heads home against Crewe in 2013 in a 2-0 win for Reds
In 2013-14, Crewe did the double over us for the first time as Chuks Aneke’s goal was enough for the hosts to win 1-0 at home, while goals from Uche Ikpeazu and Brad Inman saw them win 2-1 at Crawley, despite Jamie Proctor’s strike.
Our frustrating run of results against the Alex continued into the following season, as we drew twice – 1-1 at home with Izale McLeod scoring our goal, and 0-0 in Cheshire on Good Friday 2015.
It was in December 2016 that we picked up our first win at Crewe, as James Collins scored twice in a 2-0 win at Gresty Road. However, three months later, Crewe recorded a 3-0 win as James Jones, Jordan Bowery and Chris Dagnall all scored.
Main picture: James Collins scores the first of two goals on our only win at Crewe back in 2016
