Crawley Town Defy the Odds

Crawley Town have defied the bookmaker’s odds and become the first non-league team for 17 years to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup. They will probably be delighted with being drawn away at Old Trafford as well. Taking out their third FA League team on the road Crawley put pay to League two Torquay with a 1-0 victory. 

Chief Executive said that they hadn’t set a budget for the FA Cup in this year’s proposals as they haven’t won an game in eight years, but this year they expect a fleet of busses to travel from the south coast up to Manchester. 

An optimistic Manager, Steve Evans said, “If there is any non-league team of beating Manchester United, it’s Crawley Town. He conceded that they had probably got the tie that everyone else would be glad to avoid “It was just a surreal moment.” He admitted. 

Another clash that was worthy of the romance of the FA Cup will see Leyton Orient playing host to London rivals Arsenal. Orient’s Chairman, Barry Hearn said, “We’re in danger of breaking even this year. I don’t know what’s happening with football these days.”

Bookmakers shouldn’t be worried by Crawley or Orient’s chances but the other matches that may throw up some surprises are West Ham United v Burnley, Notts County or Manchester City v Aston Villa, Stoke v Brighton Hove Albion, Birmingham v Sheffield Wednesday, Everton or Reading v Chelsea and Fulham v Bolton Wanderers or Wigan Athletic.