Crawley Town fans excited by new era at Reds

His backing saw the Reds climb into Football League for the very first time and go on some terrific FA Cup runs.

Those memories will be etched in the history books, but now supporters are looking forward to a new era.

The Crawley Town Supporters Alliance said: “The CTSA Board would like to acknowledge the time and financial investment that was put into Crawley Town FC by the previous owners and directors.

“Without the significant investment by Paul Hayward we would not have enjoyed the cup runs and promotions, or become an established Football League Club.

“We now move on to a new era, with Mr Eren at the helm and we look forward to hearing his vision for Crawley Town and supporting him in achieving it.

“Once the takeover had been completed we were invited to meet with the club to discuss how we can work together, in the future. This is a positive step and we look forward to the meeting next week.”

Fan Gary Lloyd said: “I’m very pleased that the club has found a buyer after such a long time.

“I hope Ziya can push the club back in the right direction because it has clearly faltered in recent times, and regressed in terms of player quality and crowd sizes.

“Although Crawley Town seems like it should be a bigger club considering the big population, it’s always been very difficult to get people to go to games.

“It has to be a generational tradition, and that takes time - especially with ‘new’ towns.

“If it is possible for him to bring young players here to boost the team, I would be happy with that.”

Fellow supporter James ‘Savage’ Scott added: “When Paul Hayward first invested in the club it was an exciting and rollercoaster ride but by the end he’d clearly lost interest and the issue of accountability and subsequent banning of fans left a bad taste.

“Hopefully this is a new beginning and the club can kick-on its new investment and remain a football league club for many years to come - The non-league days were certainly a lot of fun but you’d be a fool to want them back.

“I like the fact Mr Eren has already been seen mixing with fans and he seems to be making the right noises - I’m optimistic for the future.”

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