csconstantine.com

{ MAN UTD VIA GETTY IMAGES

Wayne Rooney swaps shirts with Crawley Town's David Hunt at the end of the match

The souvenir hunters were out in force at Old Trafford.

Anything not nailed down was quickly hoovered up. Signed shirts, pictures and programmes were carefully packed away while one tourist from the Blue Square Premier took away a piece of grass to ensure he would remember Saturday 19 February 2011 for the rest of his life.

In fact, so much memorabilia was gathered to commemorate the biggest day in Crawley Town's history that they could have done with another coach to take it all back to Sussex with them.

Heaven knows where manager Steve Evans found space to fit the bottle of red he had been handed by Sir Alex Ferguson as a parting gift.

David Hunt, the midfielder on loan from Brentford, bagged the prized shirt of Wayne Rooney. "He [Rooney] was stood next to me. I'd got the whack in the face so I think the shirt was an apology," said the former Crystal Palace player.

Sergio Torres, one of the names to stand out during this season's FA Cup, was as inventive at the final whistle as he had been throughout Crawley's historic run. "When I was coming off I thought, 'I need to have a memory of this day', so I put a bit of grass in my socks," said the Argentine who has gone from shelf stacker at Boots to FA Cup hero. "I've put it inside my boots and now I'm going to frame my boots with the grass because I'm not going to wear them again."

Then there was the moment a member of Ferguson's back-room staff knocked on the visitors' dressing-room door at Old Trafford after the whistle.

The mood inside was sombre as realisation sank in that an adventure which had started in Wales four months earlier with a fourth qualifying round victory over Newport County had come to an end after a rare Wes Brown goal.

Yet the United official was the bearer of more gifts and the atmosphere lifted. "We've gone in after the game and a member of staff has come in and given us a load of signed shirts by all the big players – the Rios and Giggsys," said Evans. "I said to Sir Alex, they set the standards on the pitch because they're top of the Premier League, but they set the standards off the pitch as well."

But for all the keepsakes, mementos, blood, sweat and tears, it was Ferguson's body language at the end of the tie which Crawley's players should freeze-frame and store away in their memory banks as the United manager failed to camouflage his relief after an uncomfortable experience at the hands of the non-Leaguers.

"Some came in and didn't do themselves justice. No doubt about that," said Ferguson after his fringe players fluffed their latest audition. "We might have some players who don't understand what the FA Cup is all about."

For Bebe, in particular, it was a chance to put right all the wrongs following United's shambolic Carling Cup exit at West Ham. He failed. What now for Gabriel Obertan? The French player has had 18 months to blossom at United yet there were times when he looked out of his depth against opponents from the fifth tier. The presence of 17-year-old countryman and midfield talent Paul Pogba on United's substitutes' bench ought to tell Obertan he faces being left behind if he does not step up.

It says everything about United's performance that the most positive news for Ferguson was that André-Pierre Gignac, the in-form Marseilles striker, will not face United in the Champions League on Wednesday after suffering a groin injury.

To be fair, United did what was needed. They are through to the sixth round and a scrappy, disjointed, lacklustre performance against Crawley will be forgotten if Ferguson brings the FA Cup back to Old Trafford in May. But while United's focus now shifts to the Champions League, Crawley, denied a stoppage time equaliser when Richard Brodie hit the woodwork, must now lift themselves as their quest to win promotion to the Football League continues at home to Southport tomorrow.

Scorer: Man Utd Brown 28.

Subs: Man Utd Rooney 6 (Anderson, h/t), Smalling 6 (Rafael, 54), Fletcher 6 (Fabio, 69). Crawley Brodie 7 (McAllister, 63), Cook 6 (Gibson, 69), Rusk (Smith, 81). Booked: Man Utd Brown, Rooney. Crawley Torres. Man of the match McFadzean. Match rating 6/10.

Possession Man Utd 47% Crawley 53%.

Attempts on target Man Utd 4 Crawley 3.

Referee L Probert (Wiltshire). Att 74,778.

Agences de presses

Labels: Crawley, Independent, leave, prized, scalp, souvenirs, Trafford

{ Manchester United fans asking former Basingstoke Town star Sergio Torres for his autograph. Maybe they think it's Fernando. Welcome to live coverage of Manchester United's bye into the quarter finals of the FA Cup. It's United's third easy draw in a row, after a fourth-round tie at third-division Southampton, and a third-round match against a team selected by Roy Hodgson. This time they play Crawley Town of the Blue Square Premier League, and understandably confident of victory, so much so this time that they've picked Bebe.

Having said all this, United did draw 0-0 at Old Trafford with non-league Exeter City in 2005, and Wes Brown was on the pitch that day as well. So you never know. Except we do sort of know.

Manchester United: Lindegaard, Rafael, O'Shea, Brown, Fabio, Gibson, Carrick, Anderson, Bebe, Hernandez, Obertan.
Subs: Rooney, Smalling, Fletcher, Kuszczak, King, Pogba, Tunnicliffe.

Crawley Town: Kuipers, Hunt, Mills, McFadzean, Howell, Gibson, Smith, Bulman, Torres, Tubbs, McAllister.
Subs: Shearer, Rusk, Rents, Wilson, Cook, Napper, Brodie.

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire)

Kick off: 5.15pm.

The teams are out. Not a peep of that preposterous new anthem featuring Richie. That's got to be good news, yes? United are in their red shirts and white shorts, you knew this, while Crawley are in their white shirts and red shorts. There's nice. There are 9,000 Crawley fans in the crowd, 8,985 more than their usual away support.

And we're off! And it's a really confident start by the away side, McAllister tearing down the left and sending in a cross that skims off the top of Gibson's head. Let's hope that's not them shot their bolt already.

2 min: A couple of corners to United down the right. The first is hacked away by Hunt, the second sees Obertan fly a low ball right across the face of the six-yard box from the right-hand edge of the area. Any touch of that, by either attacker or defender, and we'd have seen the opener. A nice open start, but then did anybody expect anything else?

5 min: No other scares for Crawley yet, though. United are knocking it around at the back a lot, Crawley chasing after shadows. Eventually a long ball's pumped down the inside-left channel, catching Hernandez offside. "By all accounts the best advice to Crawley Town's players is simply to go out there and enjoy themselves," says Gary Naylor, who has scraped himself off the ceiling after Everton's win at Chelsea. "So will they take out some comfy chairs, plenty of beers, get some takeaways delivered to the centre-circle, try out Call of Duty Black Ops, perhaps a few hands of poker, before settling down with some racy DVDs on the wide screen TV towards the end of the evening?" Yes, this is what you've got planned tonight, isn't it? Shamelessly transparent.

8 min: Obertan flies down the left wing, looking extremely dangerous until he knocks the ball a wee bit too far ahead of him. McFadzean is over quickly from a central position to whip the ball off his toe and high into the stands. Great anticipation. "Hope Bebe doesn't embarrass us," writes United fan Gerry Nicholson. "I am very relaxed, so much so that I don't mind if Crawley win (mmm not sure I mean that), the FA Cup should supply some romance. Or Bebe gets a hatrick, ha ha I am in the groove today." A Bebe hat-trick? That's not so much in the groove as being lead trumpeter in the Count Basie Orchestra horn section.

11 min: A fantastic effort by Crawley's Gibson, who volleys towards the top-right corner of the United net from 25 yards out on the left! His dipping effort isn't too far away, either, floating just wide right, though Lindegaard had it covered were it on target.

14 min: Anderson slips Hernandez clear down the inside-right channel, but the striker's offside by inches. That's a slice of luck for Crawley, doubly so because McFadzean was all over Hernandez like a bad suit.

17 min: Crawley are looking to knock it around when they can. Smith, Torres and Gibson ping a couple of pretty triangles near the centre circle, but the cream rises, Carrick gliding in and making off with the ball. Gibson slides in and upends the Manchester United man in unceremonious fashion, and is probably lucky to escape a booking, showing studs as he was.

21 min: Smith, eight yards out, nearly gets his outstretched leg to a long throw from the left. United break through Obertan, but he's eventually harried in midfield and his pass out right to Hernandez removes all momentum from the attack. Crawley will be very pleased with themselves so far. Here's Linda Howard, who was in a wee bit of a hot funk at the state of Everton's stripy socks earlier this afternoon. "I'm still fixated on the darned socks," she begins, quipping furiously. "Crawley's red and white striped ones strike me as very Where's Waldo, which of course would indicate a tendency to disappear in a crowd. Or are they candy canes which means - wait for it - they will get licked? I need to get a life."

24 min: United, on the other hand, won't be particularly pleased. Crawley are getting decent ball time, McAllister in particular enjoying plenty of it. At one point he evades three challenges down the left, albeit heading in the wrong direction. Then he heads goalwards from ten yards, without much power, but still.

26 min: A corner from United's Gibson down the left. He can't clear the first man, for goodness sake, but gets another chance to deliver as the ball's shuttled back to him. This time he knocks in a dangerous ball to the far post, forcing Mills to turn the ball straight behind for another corner. This one's wasted, though there's a sense United have suddenly turned up the gas.

28 min: GOAL!!! Manchester United 1-0- Crawley Town. A beautiful ball from Darron Gibson, down the inside-left channel, frees Hernandez in the area. The striker pauses, the ball clanking between his feet, and allows McFadzean to poke behind for a corner. From which comes the first goal: after a bit of faffing around down the left, Gibson sends an inswinger into the heart of the box, Brown gently flicking the ball on, into the bottom-right corner, keeper Kuipers rooted to the spot. Well done, plucky United!

32 min: Old Trafford is very quiet, despite the breakthrough. "Shall we sing a song for you?" chant the away support. A fair point, made confidently in the knowledge that criticising the single-figure crowd Crawley took to Wrexham recently isn't as easily done via the medium of popular song.

34 min: Darron Gibson has been United's best player by a distance. Now he curls a lovely low pass down the inside-left channel to release Fabio. The full-back really should score, but clumsily flicks an effort well wide left.

37 min: Fabio's barged over in the area by McFadzean, who really is no nonsense. The referee's having none of it. A minute or so later, Fabio scoots down the left, his low cross poked wide by the lunging Hernandez. United are given a corner for free, and waste it.

38 min: Obertan bombs down the left, cuts inside, and belabours a shot straight at Kuipers. It's parried well. Then Darron Gibson has another dig from long range; the keeper's behind that one too.

40 min: Hernandez is caught 20 yards offside. Dear Lord. But he makes up for it a minute later with a lovely figure-of-eight spin down the left, his fizzing cross evading everyone in the middle. The ball breaks on the other side to Gibson, who sends the ball back in for Obertan to miscontrol while six yards out. "I for one think Bebe has done remarkably well for Man United if that picture of him is anything to go by," writes Sean Moore. "Give the lad a break - he's only got one foot, for heaven's sake."

43 min: Run of the match for Crawley by Howell, who zips down the left and sends a decent-ish cross into the centre. If McAllister was nine feet tall, he'd have got a head on that. Has Howell been watching Bebe?

44 min: Crawley are finishing the half strongly. First Torres steals the ball in midfield and feeds Gibson, who has half a chance to shoot from the edge of the United D but hesitates and lays a momentum-extracting pass out to the right. Then Smith isn't far away at all from clipping a reverse ball down the inside-right channel to set Tubbs free. Some nice football there.

HALF TIME: Manchester United 1-0 Crawley Town. Well, Crawley have done pretty well there, you would have to say. They're not out of the cup yet! Well, they sort of are, but you know what I mean.

And we're off again! A change by Manchester United, and one that's very flattering to the non-league side: Anderson is replaced by Wayne Rooney. The home side set the ball rolling again.

46 min: Rooney immediately bales down the right and lumps a cross into the side netting. A statement of intent.

47 min: This has started in end-to-end fashion. A couple of positive sorties by Crawley, Bulman and Smith causing some bother down the left, then a long throw into the box that O'Shea has to deal with using base skills. Then, up the other end, Obertan zips down the left and hits a low cross into the centre. Mills hacks clear before Rooney can get close.

49 min: The ball drops from the sky on the edge of the United area. Smith has time to hit a volley - though not much time, as Brown is right by him to block what looked a goalbound effort.

51 min: Gibson and Hunt combine well down the right, the cross swung in only just evading Tubbs in the centre. Then O'Shea and Tubbs come together in the United box as they chase a ball down the inside-left channel. A lot of cries from the away section, but that's never a penalty.

54 min: Torres steams down the middle of the park but lets the ball run too far ahead of him and clatters into Rafael as he lunges. He's in the book. It's the last act of the day for Rafael - he's not injured, he was going off anyway - as he's replaced by Smalling.

56 min: Fabio shoots from 25 yards, cutting in from the left. Kuipers is well behind it.

57 min: "You're supposed to be at home," crow the Crawley support, baiting an otherwise silent Old Trafford.

59 min: Bebe is still on the pitch, let's remember. Here he hits one of his special crosses, clubbing a dismal effort in the vague direction of the box. Kuipers wanders off his line to claim with no Manchester United player anywhere near.

61 min: Rooney drops a shoulder, 25 yards from goal, nudges the ball to the right and goes for the top-left corner. The effort's miles over the bar. United haven't done very much in the second half so far.

63 min: Richard Brodie, who cost Crawley £300,000, comes on for McAllister.

65 min: The Crawley crowd are really enjoying themselves now. Their team string a five-pass move together. It's not quite Leeds v Southampton from 1972, but the travelling 9,000 don't give a flying one, and start up with the '¡Olé!s. A slightly embarrassed home crowd spark up a chant of "Red army", but you can sense their heart's not really in it today.

69 min: Fabio goes off, Fletcher comes on. Meanwhile Willie Gibson departs, to be replaced by Jamie Cook - an ex-professional golfer.

71 min: Crawley's best move of the match. Tubbs creates space with a brilliant turn down the left. He sends Brodie away along the wing. When the big man reaches the byline, he sends a superb cross into the centre, where Hunt, standing on the penalty spot, steers a poor volley wide left. Finish apart, that was lovely football from the non-leaguers.

74 min: CRAWLEY OPPORTUNITY SPURNED! Cook twists and turns O'Shea down the right. That's very embarrassing for the United defender. He stands the ball up to the far post, where Brodie half-wins a header. The ball flies back into the centre, Tubbs bicycle-kicking over the bar from six yards. For a nanosecond, that looked for all the world like an equaliser. This is all Crawley at the moment!

77 min: FC Barcelona Crawley Town spend the best part of a minute stroking it around in the United half, the home side sitting - or are they being pushed? - back. Eventually Brodie finds space down the right, though his cross is too close to Lindegaard. They're enjoying themselves here.

78 min: A free kick for Crawley, 25 yards out on the right. Howell is charged with taking a potshot at goal, but sends his big chance of glory high into the stand behind. He even slips over as he kicks, sliding along the turf on his buttocks, a student of the John Terry school of dead-ball striking. Oh dear.

81 min: One last change for Crawley, Simon Rusk for Ben Smith. "This United performance is the equivalent of petrol station flowers on Valentine's Day," writes Niall Mullen, at the end of what may have been a bad week for him. "Just doing the bare minimum to get through a day of forced and ersatz romance."

83 min: Brown suffers the humiliation of slipping over with the ball at his feet, then being forced to handle the ball as he's on the floor, Brodie lurking with a view to running off towards goal. He's booked for his trouble. Tubbs hits the free kick like a thunderbolt, nearly 30 yards out, but can't keep it down. The ball's still rising.

85 min: United can hardly get hold of the ball here! I'd be interested to see the possession stats for the last 20 minutes or so.

86 min: Bebe breaks free down the inside-right channel and into the area. He rounds Kuipers on the outside, but misses the empty net, rolling the ball wide left. Luckily for everyone concerned, he was miles offside anyway.

88 min: Rooney is booked for a thoroughly frustrated shove in the small of McFadzean's back, one that sends the big defender tumbling.

90 min: There will be four added minutes of this.

90 min +2: CRAWLEY HIT THE BAR!!! Cook tears down the left. Smalling blocks the ball out for a throw. From the long throw, a McFadzean prod is deflected out for a corner. And from that, sent in from the left, Brodie loops a slow-motion header onto the bar from six yards with Lindegaard flapping! What a finish! The striker's shoulders fall, he knows what a chance has been spurned there.

90 min +3: Hunt curls a deep cross into the United area from the right. McFadzean gets his head on it, 12 yards out, but the effort is well high and wide right.

FULL TIME: Manchester United 1-0 Crawley Town. Well, United are through, but look at that scoreline. Everyone's happy, sort of, to some extent at least, except Steve Evans, who is dancing up and down the touchline in the hottest of funks, pointing at his watch. Who's he picked that up from?

Agences de presses

Labels: Crawley, Guardian, Manchester, United

* First half Brown goal the difference for United

* Crawley almost save tie in stoppage time (adds details, quotes)

By Mike Collett

LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Crawley Town came close to achieving one of the most memorable FA Cup results for years before losing 1-0 to Manchester United in a surprisingly even fifth-round tie at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Although Wes Brown’s 28th minute header ended their dream of becoming the first non-League side for 97 years to reach the last eight, Crawley left behind a performance that would not have disgraced teams much higher up the ladder.

Crawley, whose main claim to fame is being the nearest town to Gatwick Airport, almost equalised in stoppage time at the end of the match when Richard Brodie’s looping header hit the top of United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard’s crossbar.

A goal then would have been just reward for the way the non-League outfit from Sussex battled against the Premier League leaders and 11-times record FA Cup winners in front of almost 75,000 fans at United’s ‘Theatre of Dreams’.

About nine thousand of those supporters were from Crawley, whose average home attendance is 1,800 but who won themselves a lot more admirers with their battling performance.

Forward Sergio Torres typified their approach with a hard-running game and left with a clump of Old Trafford grass in his sock as a memento of the night.

They gained in confidence after being overawed at the start and could have equalised when David Hunt volleyed wide after 72 minutes when the ball fell on his less accurate left foot.

They also dominated for a long spell in the second half and maintained pressure on United’s goal with the post-match statistics revealing they enjoyed 53 percent of possession.

RARE CHANCE

A measure of Crawley’s resistance was that United manager Alex Ferguson, who described them before kickoff as “the best non-League side for quite a while”, brought on Wayne Rooney as a halftime substitute.

Ferguson, who went to watch Crawley play in midweek, made nine changes from the side that beat Manchester City in the Premier League at Old Trafford last week.

But many of the players given a rare chance to start fluffed their lines and were outrun and outfought by the visitors who could well gain promotion from the Conference (fifth division) to League Two of the Football League at the end of the season.

Rooney, and his illustrious team mates, were all outshone for once, with the England striker having little impact against a rugged back line of defenders. Apart from a shot just before the end, he never looked like scoring.

Crawley captain Pablo Mills, named Man of the Match, told ITV: “I thought we could have made their keeper work a bit more.

“The lads put a great shift in. If you have to go out, this is probably the best place. But we have lost to one of the best teams in the world so we can’t complain. It has been a week we will never forget.”

Striker Matt Tubbs, who went close himself with an overhead kick after 74 minutes, added: “Perhaps we gave them a little bit too much respect in the first half.”

Regarding Brodie’s header that hit the bar, he said: “It was just unlucky, on another day they can drop in and we’ve got an equaliser.”

Crawley were applauded off the pitch by fans of both teams at the end with the home side’s signature tune ‘Glory Glory Man United’ sounding rather hollow in the circumstances.

(Editing by Ken Ferris)

To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Agences de presses

Labels: Crawley, Manchester, Reuters, United

MANCHESTER, England (AP)—Manchester United advanced to the sixth round of the FA Cup but only after a narrow 1-0 win over minnows Crawley Town at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Wes Brown’s first-half header ensured there was no upset against a team that sits 93 places below them on the league ladder in the fifth tier.

However, the 11-time FA Cup winners struggled to impose themselves and Crawley almost snatched an equalizer in stoppage time when substitute Richard Brodie’s header came back off the bar.

Manchester United's Wes Br…
AP - Feb 19, 1:28 pm EST

Crawley will make over one million pounds ($1.6 million) from the tie via television rights and gate receipts from a sellout 75,000 crowd at Old Trafford.

The game amply illustrated the romance of the FA Cup: Alex Ferguson’s Premier League leaders hosting a team that was seeking to become the first non-League club to reach the quarterfinals of the FA Cup since World War II.

While United’s quest for a sixth triumph in the competition under Ferguson’s reign started last month, Crawley’s adventure started in October with a qualifying win in Wales against Newport County.

Victories over Football League clubs Swindon, Derby and Torquay have since followed but Crawley’s journey ended in a gutsy defeat in front of 9,000 traveling fans, almost twice the capacity of the club’s tiny Broadfield Stadium home.

United manager Ferguson must have done a double take when he saw the Crawley team sheet and seen the names Torres and Shearer staring back at him.

But instead of Spanish international Fernando and former England international Alan, it was Sergio Torres and Scott Shearer.

Crawley’s veteran keeper Michel Kuipers once served in the Dutch Marine Corps but if the 36-year-old was expecting to find himself in the firing line then he was pleasantly mistaken as United struggled to stamp their authority.

Former Arsenal trainee Ben Smith set the tone for what was to come when his speculative 25-yard effort in the 11th minute narrowly sailed wide of the target.

United were not at full strength. The likes of Edwin van der Sar, Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov were not involved.

But neither was this a weak team. Wayne Rooney started on the substitutes bench before coming on at the start of the second half while Michael Carrick and John O’Shea were also on duty.

Republic of Ireland international Darron Gibson delivered the cross for Brown to head the hosts into a 28th-minute lead—their first serious threat.

Fabio da Silva failed to kill the game off after the Brazilian fullback was sent clear by Gibson. Crawley’s players were expected to tire the longer the match continued, yet they seemed to get stronger.

After David Hunt had spurned one opportunity to equalise, Matt Tubbs, Crawley’s leading scorer with 28 goals, sent an overhead kick from four yards (meters) narrowly over the bar.

Finally, Brodie was denied by the woodwork on a day Crawley will never forget.

Agences de presses

Labels: Crawley, edges, nonleague, United

{

* Everton come from behind to stun Chelsea

* Man United secure narrow win to beat Crawley

* Birmingham and Stoke seal places in quarter-finals (Updates with Manchester United-Crawley)

Phil Neville scored the decisive spot kick to give Everton a 4-3 penalty shootout win over holders Chelsea after their FA Cup fourth-round replay ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Neville sent goalkeeper Petr Cech the wrong way after Chelsea fulback Ashley Cole blasted his penalty high and wide as Everton ended the Londoners' dreams of becoming the first club for 125 years to win the FA Cup three times in succession.

The fairytale run of minnows Crawley Town also ended although the non-League side left Old Trafford with their heads held high after only losing 1-0 to Premier League leaders Manchester United in their fifth round tie.

Crawley, bidding to become the first team from outside the League to reach the last eight for 97 years, fell behind to a 28th minute header by Wes Brown but almost equalised in stoppage time when Richard Brodie headed against the top of the bar.

Premier League clubs Birmingham City and Stoke City beat lower league opposition far more easily than United.

Birmingham, already through to the League Cup final against Arsenal later this month, reached the quarter-finals with a 3-0 win over League One (third division) Sheffield Wednesday with goals from Jean Beausejour, Obafemi Martins and David Murphy.

Stoke beat League One leaders Brighton by the same score with goals from John Carew, Jon Walters and Ryan Shawcross.

After the win over Chelsea, Everton captain Neville told the BBC: "I knew I was going to score, I knew where the ball was going to go -- and that's half the battle.

"We've been practising penalties all week. The manager just told us to hit them as hard as possible.

"My biggest worry was that there was a big divot in the penalty spot. Petr Cech looks really big but luckily he dived the wrong way." After a goalless stalemate in 90 minutes of end-to-end soccer, Chelsea took the lead in the last minute of the first period of extra time when midfielder Frank Lampard scored with a low volley from eight metres.

NO TORRES

With a minute of extra time remaining Leighton Baines equalised with a left-footed free kick to force the match into a shootout.

Everton trailed 2-0 on penalties after Lampard and Didier Drogba converted their spot kicks and Baines saw Cech save his penalty.

Phil Jagielka scored to pull Everton back to 2-1 before Chelsea's Nicolas Anelka, taking virtually no run up, had his spot kick saved by Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard and Mikel Arteta scored to make it 2-2.

Michael Essien and Johnny Heitinga made it 3-3 before Cole missed and Neville scored to give Everton their stunning victory and end Chelsea's hopes of emulating Blackburn Rovers, the last team to win the Cup three years in a row in 1884, 1885 and 1886.

Chelsea, playing without their recent high-profile signings Fernando Torres and David Luiz who were ineligible, started lethargically but created more chances and finally went ahead after 104 minutes when Lampard lashed in from close range.

Everton thought they had won the match in the last minute of normal time when Cech could only parry a long-range shot from Baines into Marouane Fellaini's path. Although Fellaini swept the ball home, he was marginally offside in the build-up.

Everton, on the fringes of the relegation battle, dominated the match territorially for long periods and eventually got their reward with barely a minute to play when Baines perfectly placed his free kick high and wide of the despairing Cech.

Everton now face Championship (second division) Reading in the fifth round at Goodison Park on March 1.

The most intriguing tie of the round was at Old Trafford where Crawley seemed to grow in confidence as the game went on.

United were never able to relax against the visitors who had already seen off three League teams on their way to this stage, and with a little more luck could even have forced a draw.

FA Cup action continues on Sunday when Manchester City face Notts County in a fourth-round replay while Leyton Orient host Arsenal and Fulham play Bolton Wanderers in fifth-round ties. West Ham United meet Burnley at Upton Park on Monday.

Agences de presses

Labels: Chelsea, Crawley, dreams, Eurosport, Yahoo

{ Crawley Town captain, Pablo Mills, leads his players in applauding the fans after their 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Manchester United. Photograph: Alex Livesey/Getty Images

What a week. There has never been anything like it in those 24 years: being asked to talk to a radio station in New Zealand, nonstop work, and by the time I had finished yesterday's match preview, about 10,000 words written on Crawley in seven days.

When the fifth-round draw was made, there were supporters in the club bar who had followed the club through thin and thinner for more than 30 years. There was more elation at the pairing with Manchester United than there had been 24 hours earlier after the fourth-round win at Torquay United.

It really has been nonstop. My paper, the Argus, is based in Brighton and has had the home-town club's exploits to report, too. We did a 20-page "FA Cup Fever" special on Saturday, covering both Sussex sides (it's the first time two from the county have made it this far) and we could easily have filled a 40-page supplement. It is strangely gratifying when you go into Tesco and see people devouring every word. It is a story that gathers its own momentum very quickly, though it can still upset some readers. The front-page splash the day after the draw was all about Crawley's £2m game, yet a few Brighton fans rang up to complain about unbalanced coverage.

This week was always going to be busy, but there was also a league game at Wrexham on Tuesday to fit in. The match ended 0-0 and fortunately there were no "injury heartache" stories – just a nice line instead about Sir Alex Ferguson being there on a spying mission. "A lot of people are talking about these boys – I thought I'd take a look for myself," he said.

We got back to Crawley at 2.30am on Wednesday and later in the day it was time to field a dozen or so calls from journalists from the national press asking for information and phone numbers. Then the news desk needed help tracking down fans from New Zealand, Hong Kong, the US and Canada who were coming over for the game.

Thursday was the club's press day and nearly 60 journalists, radio and TV crews, and photographers turned up. The players looked overwhelmed and who can blame them? Normally there are three of us covering the club home and away. But they seemed to revel in it, especially Ben Smith when he was asked to compare the cars the Crawley players drove with those of their United counterparts. The club organised it well and have coped with the past three weeks superbly, selling 9,000 tickets, shedloads of merchandise, organising 27 supporters' coaches and dealing with worldwide media interest. All with a full-time staff of four.

The Sun have their name on the shirts and enjoyed more access to the team as a result, but speaking to Steve Evans and the players throughout the past couple of weeks has never been a problem. When all the fuss is over, it will be back to the usual suspects watching Southport at home on Tuesday night.

And so to the big day. I get there way too early and feel a bit like a tourist wandering around Old Trafford for an hour before we can get into the ground. It is surreal watching players I am used to seeing perform in far more humble surroundings on one of the biggest stages in world football and playing with more belief than a few Premier League teams have at Old Trafford this season. The final whistle blows and reality bites: six pages to fill. Next away trip: Kidderminster two weeks on Tuesday.

Bruce Talbot is the Crawley Town correspondent for the Argus, Brighton

Agences de presses

Labels: after, Crawley, Guardian, Manchester, Southport, United

(corrects second para to make clear United have won the Cup a record 11 times)

By Mike Collett

LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Manchester United had to battle all the way to claim a 1-0 win over minor league Crawley Town who emerged as the moral victors from their FA Cup fifth round tie at Old Trafford on Saturday.

United, who have lifted the FA Cup a record 11 times, won with a Wes Brown header after 28 minutes but were never able to relax against the visitors, who are 93 places below them in the English League pyramid.

Crawley came close to equalising in stoppage time when Richard Brodie headed against the top of the bar after he had a good chance to score in the 72nd minute but volleyed wide.

Although Crawley failed in their attempt to become the first non-League side to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals for 97 years, they were applauded off the pitch at the end of a memorable evening that almost saw them leave Old Trafford with a draw.

(Editing by Ken Ferris)

To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Sign in to post a comment, or Sign up for a free account.


Agences de presses

Labels: Crawley, fight, Reuters, SoccerManchester, United

{

By Chris Wheeler Last updated at 8:21 PM on 18th February 2011

Nobody will be giving non-League Crawley Town a chance when they visit Old Trafford to face the might of Manchester United in the FA Cup. The Blue Square Bet Conference side are in the fifth round for the first time after knocking out Derby and Torquay, while their opponents have won the famous trophy a record 11 times. But United have been victims of several upsets over the years and here CHRIS WHEELER meets the players who have managed to leave the famous Red Devils with red faces.

Manchester Utd 1 Walthamstow Ave 1 (FA Cup 4th rnd, Jan 31, 1953)

Nobody gave the Isthmian League underdogs a chance when they arrived at Old Trafford to take on Matt Busby's English champions, even less so after United took a first half lead. But thermos flask salesman and England amateur international JIM LEWIS equalised (below) to earn a draw. Lewis, now 83, signed for Chelsea after scoring twice when United won the replay 5-2.

He said: 'We saw it as a day out because we didn't think we stood much of a chance. We'd never experienced playing in front of that kind of crowd before. There were 35,000 at Old Trafford and 46,000 at Arsenal (for the replay). Our average was about 5,000.

'Eddie Lewis gave United the lead but I remember at half-time we didn't think we were going to get thumped. We went out to give it our all. I equalised 10 minutes from the end. I was some way out and hit it straight into the top corner. It could have been the greatest upset ever because United keeper Ray Wood tipped my shot over, and Trevor Bailey, the England cricketer who sadly died recently, almost scored in the final minutes.

'I think of it when I see the likes of Crawley doing well. They'll think they've got a chance and you never know. It's one of those things that does the FA Cup so much good.'

Burton Albion 0 Manchester Utd 0
(FA Cup 3rd rnd, Jan 8, 2006)

Amazingly, United were held to a goal less draw by Conference opponents for the second year in a row before winning the replay 5-0.

Sir Alex Ferguson gambled with a changed line-up and his players laboured on a heavy pitch.

JON SHAW (pictured on Shaun Harrad's shoulders) went closest for Nigel Clough's side with a header that was cleared off the line.

The 27-year-old, who was on loan at Crawley in 2009, now plays for Gateshead.

Shaw said: 'It gave us a bit of hope when we saw the teamsheet but United still brought a strong side. Then, with half an hour to go, we thought our luck had run out when they sent on Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, but we held on. Phil Bardsley cleared my header off the line and we had a penalty appeal turned down.

'We had a good bunch of lads but we trained together only a couple of times a week. When I went on loan to Crawley they were a full-time outfit and they will surprise United with how direct, fit and professional they are. They've got a chance.'

Carlisle Utd 1 Manchester Utd 1
(FA Cup 3rd rnd, Jan 7, 1978)

United were the holders when they were drawn away to Third Division Carlisle. Lou Macari gave Dave Sexton's team an early lead but Ian McDonald headed an equaliser and United were forced to hang on for a replay after Brian Greenhoff was sent off.

Carlisle striker BILLY RAFFERTY (above) played in both games, scoring in a 4-2 defeat at Old Trafford. The 60-year-old lives in Cumbria and runs a corporate six-a-side league.

Rafferty said: 'There was a fantastic atmosphere because it was the only time Carlisle have played Man Utd. The town was buzzing. There were 25,000 inside Brunton Park and I remember running out and thinking it was going to burst at the seams. Macari's goal quietened them down but we battered United after the equaliser.

'They were all over the place when Brian Greenhoff was sent off. We had a feeling they were there for the taking but we couldn't finish them off. There were mixed feelings in the dressing room. We were elated that we'd played so well but disappointed we hadn't beaten them.'

Bournemouth 2 Manchester Utd 0 (FA Cup 3rd rnd, Jan 7 1984)

Ron Atkinson's side began the defence of their trophy with what looked like a routine tie against the Third Division strugglers and Harry Redknapp, who was three months into his first managerial job.

But Milton Graham stunned a United side including the likes of Frank Stapleton, Bryan Robson, Arnold Muhren and Norman Whiteside with the first goal (below) before Ian Thompson added a second.

Graham, 48, is a section manager for a boat and tractor engine company in Peterborough.

He said: 'Deep down I didn't think we had a chance but if there's one thing history has taught me about Harry Redknapp it's that he knows players. He just instilled the confidence in us to go out and play.

'I like to think that Gary Bailey didn't fumble the corner, but he did and I volleyed it in. Funnily enough, it wasn't until I saw it in the papers on Monday that I realised I'd scored or that it was so momentous.

'Ron Atkinson kept his players in the dressing room for an hour after the game. Ours was just crazy. Champagne everywhere. We poured a bottle over Harry's head. The chairman gave me ?200 for the team, which was hard to spend that night because everyone was buying us drinks.

'Later on, I played for Crawley manager Steve Evans at Stamford. Crawley should enjoy themselves because these games don't come around too often. To this day when I'm introduced to people at work, the first words are, "This is Milton, who scored against Manchester United in the FA Cup".'

Manchester Utd 0 Exeter City 0 (FA Cup 3rd rnd, Jan 8, 2005)

Sir Alex Ferguson put out a weakened team and then had to apologise to fans for what he described as 'the worst FA Cup performance in my 18 years at the club' as non- League Exeter earned a draw with the holders.

Former Old Trafford apprentice ANDY TAYLOR (right) twice went close to scoring against his old club but United won the replay 2-0.

Taylor, 28, runs his own business as a strength and conditioning coach, and plays for Truro City.

'That game saved Exeter and I remember the jubilation when we drew United because we could easily have gone out of business,' said Taylor.

'From a personal point of view it was nice to go back. I was in the year above Darren Fletcher at United but they discovered a degenerative knee problem and I was advised to retire at 19. I'd never played at Old Trafford before.

'There's no point going there thinking you'll get turned over, you just have to set your stall out to get a result. The noise our fans made at the end is a memory that will stay with me. Scholes and Phil Neville came over and asked how I was and the manager gave me a pat on the back. United gave us all a shirt or something after the game.'

Agences de presses

Labels: Crawley, daily, Donapost, little, Manchester, scare, United, write

CRAWLEY, England (AP)—They both are nicknamed the Red Devils and both have fiery Scotsmen as their managers. That’s where the similarities end between Manchester United and Crawley Town.

The gulf between the clubs could hardly be bigger ahead of their meeting Saturday in the FA Cup’s fifth round, a game billed as among the biggest mismatches in the competition’s history.

United, a world power with three European titles and famous players such as Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs, has a four-point lead in the Premier League as it tries for a record 19th English title.

Crawley has never played above the fifth tier of English soccer and, until this year, struggled to attract crowds of more than 500 to its non-league matches.

The tiny southeast club would become a household name if it wins Saturday at Old Trafford.

“It’s a dream come true for the club,” Crawley chairman Victor Marley told The Associated Press. “The opportunity to perform in front of 75,000 people is something that every player, every manager aspires to do. It’s also a fantastic moment for the people of Crawley, to go and see their team play the future champions of England. It’s what any non-league club would ever have wished or hoped for.”

Crawley became only the sixth non-league team since the end of World War II — and the first in 17 years—to reach this stage in the FA Cup after beating league clubs Swindon, Derby and Torquay.

It stands to receive “in excess of 1 million pounds ($1.6 million),” according to Marley, in gate receipts, television revenue and other add-ons from the United match.

The club was about to fold in 2006 under the tenure of brothers Chas and Azwar Majeed, then was rescued by a group of local businessmen.

Debts of more than 1 million pounds were wiped clear and new investors pumped more cash into Crawley to help build a squad of relative quality and depth, costing a reported 500,000 pounds ($800,000).

Crawley is now second in its division of the Football Conference, on track for promotion to League 2 next season—and league status for the first time since it was formed in 1896.

Crawley’s manager is Steve Evans, who hails from Glasgow, Scotland, and is known for having a short temper—just like Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.

Gone are the days when non-league giant killers had a construction worker at left back and a mechanic in central midfield. Unlike most other clubs at its level, Crawley has a roster of professional players, many with extensive league experience.

Players such as Argentine midfielder Sergio Torres, brought in from third-tier side Peterborough, and prolific lower-level forwards Richard Brodie and Matt Tubbs were signed for a combined fee of 270,000 pounds ($434,000) by Evans, helping improve the average attendance at 5,000-capacity Broadfield Stadium by 75 percent to about 2,000 this season.

“We have new investment in and that’s enabled the manager to purchase the players that have pushed us to the forefront,” Marley said. “But you can spend money and still not win the league, as has been seen in the past with other clubs.”

Agences de presses

Labels: Crawley, little, looks, United, upset

{ • Non-league side play league leaders in FA Cup on Saturday
• 'We know it will be tough, but we can dream of winning'

Sachin Nakrani The Guardian, Friday 18 February 2011 It's not quite Old Trafford, but Broadfield Stadium is home to Crawley Town, who are second in the Blue Square Premier League and are pictured before their departure for Manchester. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe for the Guardian

The Crawley Town manager, Steve Evans, has somewhat undermined his insistence that his team will go into their FA Cup fifth-round tie against Manchester United on Saturday with the serious intention of winning by taking them on a visitors' tour of Old Trafford.

Players and staff took in the sights and sounds of United's stadium on Thursday, shortly after arriving in Manchester. That Crawley, who sit second in the Blue Square Premier League, should prepare for their first game against Sir Alex Ferguson's men with a tourist excursion will only strengthen the belief that they are not genuinely geared up to cause what would arguably be the greatest FA Cup shock of all time.

However, Evans was adamant that the Sussex-based club are focused on testing the 11-times winners of the competition. "We are one of the teams that could go and get a positive result [against Manchester United]," said Evans, who took over at Crawley in May 2007. "We know it's going to be a tough afternoon, but we can dream of winning."

Crawley, who are 35-1 to overcome United, beat Derby County and Torquay United en route to becoming only the sixth non-league side to reach the FA Cup fifth round since the second world war.

Agences de presses

Labels: Before, Crawley, enjoy, Guardian, Manchester, Trafford, United

LONDON (AP)—A fan of a small English football team has been arrested for mocking the Munich air disaster which killed seven Manchester United players 53 years ago.

The 19-year-old male, who was not identified, was seen in a music video posted by Crawley Town holding up his hands to mimic a plane crash and later holding up his fingers to count one, then nine, then five, then eight— signifying 1958, the year of the crash.

Twenty-three people were killed when the plane, carrying United’s “Busby Babes” back to London after a European Cup match against Red Star Belgrade, ran off the runway while trying take off for a third time in snow.

Crawley Town is a lower-league professional team from southern England that has reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, regarded as the biggest domestic cup competition in the world. After beating Derby County and Torquay in the tournament, the team was drawn to play Premier League giant Manchester United on Saturday.

Sussex Police arrested the teenager Monday night on suspicion of causing harassment, alarm or distress. No charges were immediately filed.

“A 19-year-old man was last night arrested by police in Crawley following a complaint about the content of a music video produced to support Crawley Town Football Club in its FA Cup run,” police said in a statement Tuesday.

The man was released on bail until Feb. 25, police said. He has also been banned from attending Saturday’s game at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, and all other Crawley Town matches.

“We’ve called in the police to see if they will press charges and we have identified the idiot responsible and banned him from the club for life,” Crawley chief executive Alan Williams told the Guardian newspaper, adding the song was intended to be for charity. “He’s not welcome here now or ever again.

“This should be an unbelievable week for us, playing the biggest club there is, and if anyone thinks Crawley would deliberately insult Manchester United over something so sensitive, that is what gets to me more than anything.”

The video of “A Message to You, Rooney”—a Crawley Town version of the song “A Message to You, Rudy” by The Specials aimed at United striker Wayne Rooney—was originally put on Crawley Town’s website but has been changed for a new version that does not include the insult.

Crawley Town’s run to the fifth round is the first for a non-league club since Kidderminster Harriers in 1994. United has won the FA Cup a record 11 times, and reached the final 18 times.

Agences de presses

Labels: arrested, Crawley, insulting, United

{ Crawley: Set for trip to Old Trafford

Crawley Town boss Steve Evans could not hide his delight after being drawn against Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round.

Crawley are the only non-league club left in the draw, and after their win over Torquay on Saturday the Conference side were rewarded with one of the best draws they could have hoped for.

And Evans admitted they were absolutely delighted to have been given the chance to face the Premier League leaders.

"It (getting paired with United) was just a surreal moment," he told Sky Sports News.

"We got the tie that everyone in the country wants. I suppose if you are Arsene Wenger or Alec McLeish you don't want that draw - but we did.

"We will approach the tie in a really positive nature.

"The only non-league club capable of beating Manchester United is Crawley Town as we stand today, miracles do happen.

"This is going to be the biggest day in our lives but we will give them the respect that Real Madrid gave them, the utmost respect."

Agences de presses

Labels: Crawley, delighted, SkySports

{

Daily Mail

Crawley delighted with draw SkySports Crawley Town boss Steve Evans could not hide his delight after being drawn against Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round. Crawley are the only non-league club left in the draw, and after their win over Torquay on Saturday the Conference side were ... FA Cup fifth round draw: Man United host Crawley, Arsenal visit OrientMetro Crawley Town draw Manchester United in FA Cup fifth roundThe Guardian Manchester United to host Crawley in FA Cup fifth roundBBC Sport Telegraph.co.uk -The Press Association -Goal.com all 537 news articles »

Agences de presses

Labels: Crawley, delighted, SkySports