QPR return to action on British soil on Tuesday night as they face another side that isn’t making many friends among football fans generally, Crawley Town at Broadfield Stadium.

Crawley Town v QPR

Pre-Season Friendly >>> Tuesday August 2 >>> Kick Off 7.45pm >>> Broadfield Stadium, Crawley

This particular match preview should be about a game between two clubs celebrating their respective recent achievements. QPR, triumphantly returning to the Premier League after a 16 year absence, travelling to Crawley, who will compete in the Football League for the first time in their history this season. We live in an age where Jordan Henderson costs £20m so for QPR to have made it back to the top flight playing in an 18,000 capacity stadium having spent only £3.5m on their team last season is a fine accomplishment. Likewise Crawley, Southern League mainstays for the vast majority of their existence, who now not only mix it with the likes of Bradford City but are hotly tipped to beat them and win the League Two title at the first time of asking.

But Crawley and QPR have something else in common too – highly controversial ownership and funding situations. QPR have the billionaire owners who have increased the club’s debt to almost three times its previous size by loaning in money for colossal wages and signing on fees that would otherwise have been beyond a club of our size (but not for transfer fees) and bankrolling a seemingly League One bound club into the Premiership. With television riches beyond our previous wildest dreams now pouring in strict budget restrictions have been put in place suggesting that the plan all along may have been to profit by loaning the club money until it’s in the Premiership and then withdrawing it all plus interest when the Sky payments arrive and selling the club as a Premiership side at a big mark up. In the meantime ticket prices have soared and manager Neil Warnock has barely hidden his displeasure at the tools he’s been given to work with this season.

Down at Crawley they’ve had their fair share of near misses in recent times. More details are to follow shortly but having gone into administration in 1999 and then come within an hour of liquidation in 2006 you could forgive fans of the Red Devils for being a little bit wary about money the club cannot possibly afford being chucked around. They won few friends on the road to promotion last season as they smashed Conference records for spending on players and created what was perceived to be an unlevel playing field at the top of the non-league pyramid. The suggestion from board member Susan Carter that “they’re only doing what every other club is doing” in spending more than is coming in is as depressing as it is arrogant.

Football fans are becoming increasingly aware of such issues of sustainability in football. Colin Schindler, author of Manchester United Ruined My Life, pays little attention to Man City these days. Manchester United fans set up a new club, FC United of Manchester, run with volunteers and paying its own way. Fans have watched Ilkeston, Chester and now Rushden and Diamonds go to the wall and worried they might be next - they’ve watched on grim faced at what’s been going on at Portsmouth and West Ham. There is a growing number of supporters who no longer simply want to turn up on Saturday at 3pm and watch their team win, and if they buy a £7m player to help them do that then who cares where the money comes from? Those fans still exist but they are derided by their supposedly more learned colleagues who hang on every word written by David Conn in the Guardian and pour over the accounts of their club fearing imminent disaster.

There are QPR fans who have said they’d rather watch a sustainable club competing at its level at the top of League One or the bottom of the Championship if the books were being balanced and the future of the club was secure. I’m not sure I believe them, especially as it would now require two quickfire relegations to get us there which I’m not convinced they would calmly sit through saying “well it’s probably for the best.” Likewise, for all their concerns, I can’t imagine there were too many Crawley fans solemnly shaking their heads and muttering about it all ending in tears as they celebrated promotion at the end of last season. Christ, some of the QPR fans who ran on the pitch after our last match even sang the name of Flavio Briatore, the man who has done more than most to make QPR a laughing stock and price out the common fans.

Both clubs also both have a pair of hot headed, controversial managers, widely disliked by fans of other clubs. While this may be a friendly on paper Neil Warnock and Steve Evans, both firm friends, should make for lively entertainment down in the dug outs. If you’re taking your kids, maybe stand on the other side of the ground for this one. Pity whoever is refereeing.

Five minutes on Crawley

Recent History: It’s funny how football often throws up little coincidences. While Crawley were moving out of the Conference in the right direction in a blaze of publicity, down at the other end of the division Rushden and Diamonds were slipping quietly away in a rather less high profile demotion.

The Diamonds finished midtable last season under the astute managership of Justin Edinburgh, who must now really be wishing he’d taken the Grimsby job when offered it six months ago, but were expelled at the end of the season because of financial problems, administration and an inability to fulfil their fixtures for the coming season. The end of season Conference board meeting is now almost part of the campaign itself for non-league fans, such is the frequency if demotions and expulsions that come from it. The knock on effects will reach down the A14 to Bishop Stortford who, to make up the numbers created by Rushden’s demise, will now compete in Conference North; a level higher than the ability of their players, and a division that will require trips to Blyth and Workington among others. Assembling a competitive squad and meeting travel and hotel expenses means Stortford could be the victims at next year’s meeting - such is life in the modern day non-league game in this country.

What does this have to do with Crawley? Well Rushden ten years ago were what Crawley are now - a small club bankrolled to a loftier status than it could ever hope to support by wealthy owners. Rushden was the amalgamation of two tiny non-league sides, dreamed up and paid for by Dr Martens shoe mogul Max Griggs who also built a fabulous new stadium and associated training facilities and youth academy. This initially went very well and QPR fans will recall, mainly because Gareth Ainsworth decided to run his own ‘Goal of the Century’ competition against them in 2003/04, that they made it up to the Second Division (League One) which is where many learned pundits expect Crawley to be this time next year. Griggs then lost interest, pulled his backing, and the decline since then has been painful. The state of the art Championship standard facilities at Rushden will now be used by Kettering, a club that is also in the midst of a financial battle and will therefore play home matches ten miles out of town as they no longer own their own stadium in Kettering. The same thing happened at Gretna – the perils of relying on rich owners to support your club into leagues it could not sustain by itself are there for all to see.

Crawley should be aware of these pitfalls more than most. They turned semi-professional in 1962 and were admitted to the Southern League First Division where they remained for 22 years barring one promotion up to the Premier Division and immediate demotion back again. They then won promotion into the Southern Premier again and stayed there for another 20 years until another promotion in 2004. That’s the best part of half a century spent knocking around the third and fourth tier of the non-league pyramid. A club clearly at its level. I remember Crawley being the regular pre-season opponents for the Met Police who my dad would occasionally take me through Bushy Park to see when I was a kid.

There’s a fine line between ambition and ideas above your station. Crawley were placed into administration in 1999 and recovered but found themselves mired in financial difficulties again as they climbed up towards the Conference National in 2006. The club was owned at this time by the controversial Majeed brothers Chas and Azwar. In June 2006 they placed the club in administration again claiming it owed them £700,000. More worryingly, it also owed HM Revenue and Customs £400,000 and carried a debt of £1.4m. Azwar was later jailed for tax fraud after taking £30m from his drinks business to fund a lavish lifestyle, Crawley meanwhile were pulled back from the brink by local businessman John Daly who later welcomed the current owners Bruce and Silpa Winfield onto the board. None of these people have an income capable of supporting what Crawley are currently doing – they brought in £2m from an FA Cup run that included the scalp of Derby and a trip to Old Trafford last season but had previously laid out £600,000 on players like Sergio Torres from Peterborough and Richard Brodie from York sparking resentment and jealousy among their rival Conference club.

In one of my former jobs I used to do a bit of work for Alfreton Town, editing their official website and writing about them for the local paper where I was a news reporter. Around that time Crawley came calling for one of Alfreton’s players – a robust England C international centre half by the name of Kyle McFadzean. He’d been released from Sheffield United’s academy as a youngster and since spent his time at the heart of the Alfreton defence – tough, uncompromising, and with the physique of a kebab shop owner. The offer that Crawley made to McFadzean, a player with no real experience any higher than Conference North, had to be seen to be believed. Alfreton thought it was a wind up at first. Wages of a League One level, with all sorts of signing on fee/hotel accommodation/company car add ons that would befit a player moving between Championship clubs. Alfreton shrugged their shoulders and wished him well, another club to add to the list of those grumbling about level playing fields.

The extra money is coming from an unnamed Far East consortium who the Winfields say enjoy football and want to invest at a level where money makes a difference rather than one where £16m buys you wingers who can only kick with one foot. The League has a fit and proper person test, but my step dad has a treadmill in his garage and that doesn’t get used either. So Crawley continue their ascent up the league ladder, spending money they don’t have on players they can’t afford thanks to directors nobody knows the identity of. A tidy microcosm of modern day football.

The Manager: Crawley’s ability to win friends and influence people knows no bounds it seems, because the man chosen to lead the revolution in this part of the world is the most hated manager in British non-league circles – Glasgow born Steve Evans.

Now I hate to read articles about Neil Warnock (some of which I may have been guilty of writing myself in the past) that focus on his disputes with Graham Poll and others before actually mentioning that the man has won six promotions in his career. So to avoid falling into that trap here let me start by saying that Steve Evans clearly knows what he’s doing as a lower league football manager. His tactics, knowledge of the transfer market, and man management skills have brought him at least one promotion with all three sides he has been in charge of. At Stamford, in his first job after a journeyman playing career spent mostly n the lower Scottish divisions was cut short by injury at 28, he won the United Counties League to promote them into the Southern Division. That was enough to attract the interest of nearby Boston who were rewarded for their faith in him with a promotion into the Football League in 2002 after he’d first led them out of the Southern League in 2000. Crawley have now enjoyed similar elevation, and that’s clearly no coincidence – Evans has a record 99% of non-league managers could only dream of and it’s not by accident.

However, and it’s a big however, Evans has been a highly controversial figure during his managerial career. Boston’s promotion into the league nearly didn’t happen at all. At the time they were moving onwards and upwards I lived in rural Lincolnshire and would journey down to York Street occasionally to watch Evans’ exciting team that included perennial Conference winning striker Daryl Clare, formerly of Grimsby, and veteran former Barnet man Ken Charlery. But all was not as it seemed. Boston were, at that time, involved in a colossal tax fiddle instigated and implemented by Evans and chairman Pat Malkinson. The pair would agree contracts with players on vastly smaller payments than they were actually receiving, and make up the remainder in cash payments. So while Charlery was, according to the contract submitted to the league and HM Revenue and Customs, earning a lousy £120 a week to play for Boston in reality he was being paid £660 a week.

It transpired that the tax they avoided paying through this technique amounted to more than £400,000. The club was allowed to retain its Conference title and the promotion it brought, deducted points for the following Third Division season, much to the annoyance of Dagenham who stood to profit had the punishment been applied to the season when the crimes were committed. Both Malkinson and Evans were heavily fined, and banned from football for two years, but escaped jail. Remarkably Evans walked back into his Boston job when he returned from his ban but he couldn’t stop them sliding back into the Conference in 2007 amid a wave of financial collapse which would eventually see the club refused admission to the Conference National and instead forced to play in Conference North. They finished midtable at that level in 2007/08 but further financial difficulties meant they were actually relegated again. Evans had, by this stage, left for Crawley.

He hasn’t made much of an effort to stay out of the limelight since then either. After being sent from the dugout six times during the 2007/08 season for abusing match officials he then showed supreme arrogance at the subsequent FA hearing. On the first two offences he received a four game touchline ban which he successfully appealed. On the final four incidents he was given a suspended sentence, an unduly lenient punishment it seemed but one that Evans still appealed. The result was an angry backlash from the authorities who reversed their previous decision and instead imposed a ten game ban from all football, which meant he wasn’t able to be at the ground or speak to his players for two hours before or after a match and at half time.

As Alan Partridge may have said though, needless to say he had the last laugh.

Three to Watch: Although prior to the start of last season the big money purchase of Richard Brodie from York was the headline grabber, Brodie actually struggled to make the Crawley starting 11 for much of the campaign owing to the form of Matt Tubbs – himself a £70,000 buy from Salisbury City. Tubbs spent seven years at Salisbury, save for a brief loan spell in the league with Bournemouth when City were in administration and desperate to cut costs, and he scored more than 100 goals for them. He won two promotions while at Salisbury, eventually ending up in the Conference, but once picked up a six match ban from all competitions for picking up four red cards in a season. He scored 41 goals in all competitions for Crawley last season and was unsurprisingly named in the Conference team of the year as a result. He has already started this season in fine form, scoring against AFC Wimbledon in a 3-2 League Cup win on Friday night.

With Brodie spending this season on loan at my tip for the Conference title Fleetwood one would think Tubbs is likely to be partnered in attack this season more often than not by John Akinde, a summer signing from Bristol City. His size and physique, and the sheer amount of clubs he has clocked up in his career so far, make it easy to forget that Akinde is still only just 22 and although he struggled in the Championship he’s likely to be something of an asset in League Two. Akinde initially came to the attention of scouts at Ebbsfleet United under the guidance of manager Liam Daish. He progressed out of their youth set up and quickly attracted attention from elsewhere. This was around the time that Conference football was shown prominently on Setanta Sports and I saw a good deal of Akinde in those days – he looked very, very raw to me and it was a surprise when City paid £140,000 for his services. A deal unanimously approved (and who can blame them) by the MyFootballClub shareholders of Ebbsfleet in an online poll.

Akinde moved to Ashton Gate under Gary Johnson at the same time as our old mate and former Harrow Borough winger Albert Adomah but while Adomah has adapted an flourished at the higher level Akinde never looked capable of making an impact and subsequently spent time on loan at Brentford, Wycombe (twice), Bristol Rovers and Dagenham without ever really doing very much (ten goals in 46 appearances across the five spells). Crawley say they fought of competition from Dagenham, Gillingham, Wycombe and Bournemouth to sign him so it may be that this is a Scott Sinclair situation and a previous drifter is going to flourish when finally given a permanent contract and first team football somewhere. If not expect him to descend back from whence he came.

There was some talk earlier this summer that Crawley were ready to make our own Hogan Ephraim the most expensive player in League Two history. Instead they’ve pulled off an equally big coup, signing Everton trainee Hope Akpan on a permanent deal. I thought he was one of the better Hull City players at Loftus Road last season, where he made two appearances as part of a loan spell, and it surprises me that he’s dropped as low as League Two following his release from Goodison Park. He started his Crawley career with a goal and a red card against Wimbledon on Friday but is likely to form a midfield partnership with Argentinean Sergio Torres, who I still remember seeing completely dominate a game at Grimsby in his Wycombe days, that is far above the standard they’re currently playing at.

Looking through the Crawley squad list it looks League One in quality already.

This Tuesday

Team News: After a diverse pre-season campaign that has taken in games everywhere from the South West Peninsula League mainstays Tavistock to Serie A new boys Atalanta, Rangers have just two first team friendlies left to hone their fitness before the big kick off. This is the penultimate game, a less than appetising trip to Luton next Friday is the final one. Take a hard hat for that one. In theory this means we should start to see something more like our starting 11 take shape. Jay Bothroyd, Kieron Dyer and Danny Gabbidon were all behind the rest of the lads in training when they joined but should now be up to speed. Akos Buzsaky has nursed a calf strain through most of the summer but played at the weekend. Heidar Helguson has also sat out the majority of the action so far but should return this week. Whether Danny Webber will be given a further chance after missing both Italy games injured while on trial remains to be seen. QPR have also been giving trials to Bruno Perone, who did not impress in Italy, and goalkeeper Brian Murphy who will sign a two year deal this week. Left back Pa Saikou Kujabi scored at Harrow earlier this summer but has been out injured since. Rangers were apparently keen to sign him prior to that so we’ll see if he appears again this week.

Crawley continue to include Scottish midfielder Willie Gibson in their squad despite the homesick midfielder wanting to return to Scotland. Full back Jamie Day and Pablo Mills are the only injury absentees. Hope Akpan was sent off against Wimbledon in the cup on Friday but is free to play here.

Form: Crawley have had a decent pre-season campaign, including a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace who they will now meet in the League Cup later this month. They lost 2-1 at Portuguese top flight side Olhanense and then returned home to beat a young Chelsea XI 6-1 at Broadfield. Bognor Regis Town and East Grinstead were beaten, they secured a 1-1 draw with Dartford and Championship new comers Peterborough beat them 4-2. They start their league campaign on Saturday with a trip to Port Vale.

QPR’s first team routed Tavistock and Bodmin in the South West and secured a very narrow, last minute 1-0 win at Plymouth as part of a tour of Devon and Cornwall. Since then they have lost 1-0 to Serie A side Cesena, drawn 1-1 with Serie B champions Atalanta, and beaten last season’s Europe League finalists Braga 1-0. Prior to that they won 1-0 at Harrow Borough. The first team pre-season concludes this week with games against Crawley and Luton before the season opens at Loftus Road on August 13 against Bolton.

Directions: Head for Gatwick airport basically. By car that’s junction seven of the M25 onto the M23, and then follow that down to junction 11, just before it becomes the A23. Turn right at the end of the slip road heading along the northbound A23 into Crawley and the ground should appear fairly shortly on the left. Post code RH11 9RX.

By train there is a fast service from London Bridge at 1747 which takes just over 35 minutes, otherwise journey time is one hour direct or 45 minutes with a change at East Croydon. Direct, slow trains leave at 32 minutes past the hour. Coming back all services require a change at Three Bridges – 2145, 2201, 2214 and 2303 look the favourites with journey times of 45 minutes to one hour. An off peak day return is £15. Failing that you can go from Clapham Junction where the service is more frequent, faster and cheaper. Tickets are £11.20 return, trains come from Victoria from where it is £15 return again. Same trains as above to return after the match.

From the station take a number 10 bus (every ten minutes) to the ground or walk the mile to the ground by coming out of the station left, walking to the t-junction and going left again into Brighton Road, walk for a good three quarters of a mile until the road ends and then turn right from where you should be able to see the ground and access it through an underpass under the A23.

@loftforwords for live Tweets from the Broadfield Stadium tomorrow night, full match report can be read here on Wednesday.

Photo: Action Images

Elliott42 added 20:04 - Aug 1 I live in Salisbury so know a lot about Matt Tubbs. He is a goal scorer and whatever center backs we put out, he will give them a run for their money. I'm not sure how strong our line-up will be tomorrow night, but it will be an interesting game. Good chance for players selected to prove a point.
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hoops_legend added 13:33 - Aug 2 I want to see fringe players stake their final claim for places: Murphy Connolly - Gorrkks - Shittu - Hall (No choice) Ephraim - Buzasky - V. Moen - Cook ------------------Smith------------------------ ----------------Agyemang----------------- Subs: Rowlands, Gabbidon, Helguson, Clark Won't happen though. Would be interestesing
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Northernr added 14:56 - Aug 2 Interesting is one way of putting it, thoroughly depressing is another. You can give agyemang all the chances you like he'll still be bloody awful. If he's regularly involved this season we won't make it to ten points.
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