Crewe

Crewe Alexandra Football Club was formed in 1877 as an offshoot of Crewe Alexandra Cricket Club (established in September 1866 by Thomas Abraham and other workers at Crewe locomotive works), and named after Princess Alexandra. They were based at the Alexandra Recreation Ground in Crewe, adjacent to Crewe railway station, and played their first match against a side from Basford in North Staffordshire on 1 December 1877, drawing 1–1. In 1883, Crewe Alexandra's first match in the FA Cup was against Scottish club Queen's Park of Glasgow, losing 10–0. In February 1886, William Bell became the first Crewe player to win an international cap, playing for Wales against Ireland in Wrexham. In 1887–88, the club reached the FA Cup semi-finals, defeating Swifts, Derby County and Middlesbrough en route, before going out to Preston North End. In 1891, the football club split away from the cricket club—a step that was condemned by Francis Webb, chief engineer of the town's London and North Western Railway (LNWR) Crewe works, who was virulently opposed to professionalism in sport; following the schism, Webb and the LNWR said the company would "refuse to find employment in the Crewe Works for any professional football player". Consequently, "the football section of the Alexandra Club owed little to the LNWR..., despite the teams being closely linked to the local railway industry" (though one of Webb's successors as LNWR's chief engineer, Charles Bowen Cooke, was "less intractable" and "was President of Crewe Alexandra Football Club and the professional athletics meetings it organised").

On 5 March 1892, John Pearson became the first Crewe player to win an England cap, playing against Ireland in Belfast; he remains the only Crewe player capped for the full England side while playing for the club.

Crewe secretary J.G. Hall helped found the unsuccessful Combination (launched at Crewe's Royal Hotel in early 1889) and then the Football Alliance (1889–1892). When the latter merged with the Football League, Crewe were a founding member of the Football League Second Division in 1892, but lost their league status in 1896 after only four seasons—finishing third from bottom, fourth from bottom, then bottom twice—possibly due to a player budget that was a quarter of that of other clubs. The club left the Alexandra Recreation Ground shortly before the end of the 1895–96 season, and after playing at a number of different venues, including in nearby Sandbach, they moved to the first Gresty Road ground in 1897 (in 1906, the club's current ground adjacent to Gresty Road was constructed to the west of its previous site). Incorporated as a limited company on 29 May 1899, Crewe spent two further seasons in the second incarnation of the Combination from 1896 followed by three seasons in the Lancashire League, before competing in the Birmingham & District League for ten years. They also won the Cheshire Senior Challenge Cup in 1907 and 1910. The team spent the 1910s in the Central League, finishing second in 1913–14 and 1920–21.

Crewe rejoined the Football League in 1921; they finished 6th in their first two seasons in the Third Division North but did not finish as high again until 1931–32 and 1935–36. In October 1932, defender Fred Keenor's last Wales appearance marked Crewe's first international cap of the 20th century. Crewe's first major honours were Welsh Cup wins in 1936 and 1937; Crewe is not in Wales but English clubs, usually from border areas, participated by invitation. In 1936, Bert Swindells scored his 100th League goal for Crewe, going on to score 128 League goals for the club, a record that still stands, as well as goals in both Welsh Cup finals.

From the 1950s to the early 1980s, Crewe enjoyed only occasional success. Looking over Gresty Road, Michael Palin, in the 1980 BBC Great Railway Journeys of the World series, described Crewe as "like those other railway towns, Swindon and Doncaster, possessed of a football team which is perpetually propping up the bottom of the Fourth Division". Between 1894 and 1982, Crewe finished last in the Football League eight times, more than any other league club. On 25 December 1954, Crewe embarked on a sequence where they did not win away from home for 56 matches; the run ended with a 1–0 win at Southport on 24 April 1957. Crewe finished bottom of Division Three North three times in a row from 1955–56 to 1957–58, tallying just 28, 21 and 23 points from 46 games in each respective season. The club was placed into the newly formed Fourth Division in 1958–59.

All-time records were set against First Division Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup fourth round in 1960. A new record Gresty Road attendance of 20,000 saw Crewe hold Spurs to a 2–2 draw on 30 January. On 3 February, Tottenham convincingly won the replay 13–2, Crewe's record defeat. The following year, however, Jimmy McGuigan's Crewe side defeated another First Division club, Chelsea, 2–1 in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge on 7 January 1961. Chelsea's side included former Crewe player Frank Blunstone—who scored Chelsea's goal—as well as England internationals Peter Bonetti, Jimmy Greaves and Terry Venables. Crewe were then again drawn against the eventual double-winning Spurs side, who won 5–1 in the fourth round at White Hart Lane.

In 1963, Crewe secured their first promotion to the Third Division, winning the season's final game against Exeter City, with Frank Lord scoring the only goal in front of a crowd of 9,807 at Gresty Road. Lord holds the record for most hat-tricks for the club with eight. The club finished in third place, behind champions Brentford and Oldham Athletic, but were relegated back to Division Four the following season. In the 1964–65 season, Terry Harkin scored a record 34 league goals for Crewe. Managed by Ernie Tagg, the club achieved promotion for a second time in 1967–68, but again spent just one season in the Third Division.

From 1969, Crewe spent 20 years in Division Four, finishing bottom in 1971–72, 1978–79 and 1981–82, and not achieving a top half finish until 1985. In 1974, they came within two minutes of taking Aston Villa into extra time in a League Cup third round replay at Villa Park. In 1977, Tommy Lowry played his record-setting 475th and last game for the Railwaymen; he had earlier passed Peter Leigh's total of 430 appearances between 1960 and 1972. From February to September 1979, the club went a record 16 matches (15 league, one League Cup tie) without winning at Gresty Road. In December 1979, manager Tony Waddington signed the goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar who kept eight clean-sheets in his 24 matches played, and, on 5 May 1980, scored a penalty—his only professional goal—to seal a 2–0 victory over York City.

In June 1983, after Crewe finished second from bottom at the end of the 1982–83 season, the then club chairman Norman Rowlinson appointed Milan-born Dario Gradi as manager. Gradi looked to build an academy structure to develop players that could be sold to help fund the player development programme. Among his early transfer successes were Geoff Thomas and John Pemberton (both signed from Rochdale and sold to Crystal Palace, in 1987 and 1988 respectively), and former Manchester United apprentice David Platt, signed in 1985 and sold to Aston Villa for £200,000 in February 1988.

Under Gradi, and despite some Crewe fans' initial reservations, Crewe played attractive, technical football and gained a reputation for developing young talent. Steve Walters became Crewe's youngest player, aged just 16 years and 119 days when he played against Peterborough United on 7 May 1988. In 1989, Crewe won their third promotion, a 1–1 draw at Tranmere Rovers enough to take both teams into the Third Division. Meanwhile, on 7 January 1989, Crewe had hosted Aston Villa—and Platt—at Gresty Road in the FA Cup third round, taking a 2–0 lead before the visitors rallied to secure a 3–2 win, with Platt netting the winner but refusing to celebrate against his former club. A year later, on 6 January 1990, Crewe were again drawn away at Chelsea in the third round; Walters gave Crewe a first-half lead at Stamford Bridge before Chelsea equalised in the 82nd minute to force a replay which they won 2–0. In March 1990, Crewe defender Paul Edwards was sold to Coventry City for £350,000; he was later named in the 1989-1990 Third Division PFA Team of the Year, Crewe's first player to feature in the awards.

Crewe were relegated in 1991. However, despite further player sales―defender Rob Jones joined Liverpool for £300,000, then Craig Hignett was sold for a club record £500,000 to Middlesbrough―the club reached the 1993 Third Division play-off final but lost against York City at Wembley. Crewe then gained promotion in 1994 after a final day victory at Chester City. In the same year, Neil Lennon became the first Crewe player to win an international cap since Fred Keenor in 1932 when he was selected to play for Northern Ireland against Mexico. Crewe twice lost in play-off semi-finals, to Bristol Rovers in 1995 and Notts County in 1996, then returned to Wembley in the 1997 Division Two play-off final, securing a 1–0 victory over Brentford to put the club back in the second tier for the first time since 1896.

Crewe achieved their highest finishing position, 11th, in the 1997–98 First Division season. Gradi kept his team in the division until 2002, despite a matchday income on which many more lowly clubs could not survive. Boosting the finances, notable player sales included Lennon (to Leicester City for £750,000), Danny Murphy (to Liverpool for an initial fee of £1.5m), and Seth Johnson (to Derby County for £3m). Gradi celebrated his 1,000th game in charge of Crewe on 20 November 2001.

After one season in the Division Two the team were promoted back to Division One at the end of the 2002–03 season, having finished in second place—Crewe's first runner-up position—with Rob Hulse scoring 22 league goals, and being named in the PFA Team of the Year, ahead of a £750,000 transfer to West Bromwich Albion. Crewe retained their Division One place in the 2003–04 season, during which assistant manager Neil Baker took temporary charge between 22 September and 17 October 2003 while Gradi underwent heart surgery. At the start of the 2004–05 season, Crewe were rated one of the teams most likely to be relegated from the newly renamed 'Championship'. In the event, they put in a good showing in the first half of the season, but after selling Dean Ashton to Norwich City for £3 million in the January 2005 transfer window, Crewe failed to win until the final match of the season, when they defeated Coventry City 2–1 to avoid relegation on goal difference. However, they were relegated to League One (level three) the following season. Nonetheless, Crewe were named the "Most Admired Club" in the 2006 Football League Awards.

By the summer of 2007, Gradi was the longest-serving manager in English league football, having completed 24 years in sole charge of the club. Crewe announced that, from 1 July 2007, Gradi would take up a new role as the club's technical director while gradually allowing newly appointed first-team coach Steve Holland control of the team. Holland's first season was a disappointment as the club narrowly avoided relegation, finishing 20th with 50 points. Ahead of his second season, he spent half a million pounds on new signings, while striker Nicky Maynard joined Bristol City for £2.25 million. However, despite a positive pre-season, Crewe took only nine points from their first 16 games. The board sacked Holland as first team coach in November 2008, and re-appointed Gradi as caretaker manager.

On 24 December 2008, former Stoke City manager Gudjon Thordarson was appointed as Holland's successor. He made a promising start, and received the February 2009 Manager of the Month award (the first Crewe manager to win the award), but the team suffered a poor end-of-season run, not winning for 10 games, and were relegated to League Two. On 2 October 2009, after nine months in charge and another poor run of results, Thordarson was sacked, and Gradi was reinstated as caretaker manager. Despite lingering close to the playoff places for the majority of the season, another run of poor form saw the club finish 18th. Crewe improved to 10th in the 2010–11 season, during which Gradi won the January 2011 Manager of the Month. In November 2011, Gradi finally stepped down as manager and returned to his previous role as director of football focusing on youth development.

Steve Davis was appointed manager in the same month. Previously manager of nearby Nantwich Town, Davis had been appointed assistant manager in June 2009, replacing former assistant Neil Baker. Davis immediately led the team to a 16-match unbeaten run in early 2012 up to 7th position, earning the club a play-off place. Crewe defeated Southend United in the two-legged semi-final, extending the unbeaten run to a club record 18 matches and securing a play-off final against Cheltenham Town at Wembley on 27 May 2012 which they won 2–0; the goalscorers were academy graduates Nick Powell and Byron Moore.

Before the 2012–13 season, Crewe sold Powell to Manchester United, and on transfer deadline day captain Ashley Westwood joined Aston Villa. However, with new academy players coming into the first team, Crewe returned to Wembley to win the Football League Trophy, beating Southend United 2–0 in the final in April 2013. In the league, Crewe finished in mid-table; they ended the season by fielding a team whose starting line-up were all Crewe Academy graduates.

In March 2014, John Bowler, Crewe chairman since 1988, was honoured with the Contribution to League Football Award at The Football League Awards. Dario Gradi had earlier won the same award, in 2011. In the 2015 New Year Honours, Bowler was awarded an MBE for services to football; Gradi was presented an MBE in January 1998.

Crewe retained their place in League One in the 2013–14 season, but started the following season poorly, gaining four points from the first 11 League games. Some sustained runs of better results pulled the club out of the relegation places. The team needed at least a home draw against Bradford City to secure safety but lost 1–0 and had to rely on results elsewhere to ensure League One football for another year, finishing two points above the bottom four in 20th.

The 2015–16 season started in a similar pattern, with the team winning just two of their first 15 league games. They also crashed out of the FA Cup in the first round against non-league Eastleigh, forcing Davis to defend his position as the 'right man' for the job. Crewe's relegation to League Two was confirmed following a 3–0 defeat at local rivals Port Vale, with five games remaining. After an initially promising start to the following season, Crewe's form slumped in late 2016, and on 8 January 2017, Davis was sacked as Crewe manager.

Former Crewe defender and Academy operations manager David Artell replaced Davis. Artell maintained the flow of academy players and, as Crewe improved to 15th at the end of the 2017–18 season, he emulated Davis in selecting another starting line-up who were all Crewe Academy graduates.

After 36 years involvement with the club, Gradi, 78, announced his retirement from all positions at Crewe Alexandra on 7 October 2019. In February 2020, further changes to the club's board were announced with local businessman Stuart Whitby and former Nantwich Town chairman Tony Davison joining the board following a £1.75m buy-out of majority shareholder Norman Hassall. The Railwaymen Supporters Society also raised £250,000, to earn the right for a Crewe fans' representative on the club's new board.

On the pitch, Artell's progress since 2017 culminated in Crewe vying for promotion for much of the 2019–20 season, with the club top of the table (ahead of Swindon Town on goal difference) when the football season was suspended in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On 9 June, Crewe's promotion to League One was confirmed, but Swindon were crowned League Two champions on the basis of average points per game. Artell was selected as League Two Manager of the Year in the League Managers Association Awards—becoming the first Crewe manager to win such an annual award—and two Academy graduates, Perry Ng and Charlie Kirk, were named in the PFA League Two Team of the Year. Crewe finished 12th in League One at the end of the 2020–21 season – the club's highest finish since relegation from the Championship in 2006.

However, the following season was "one of the worst" seasons in Crewe's modern history; the club was relegated with four games still to play after a 2–0 defeat at Doncaster Rovers on 9 April 2022. Two days later, Crewe parted company with Artell; assistant manager Alex Morris was appointed interim manager, becoming the permanent manager on 28 April 2022. However, just over six month later, on 4 November 2022, Morris, winless in nine games, stepped down as manager "for compassionate reasons" and reverted to assistant manager. Lee Bell became interim manager and on 1 December 2022 was given the job on a permanent basis. Bell managed the side to 13th place at the end of the 2022–23 season, improving to 6th place the following season; in the play-offs, they beat Doncaster to reach a fourth play-off final, but lost 2–0 to Crawley Town at Wembley on 19 May 2024.

In July 2024, Crewe chairman Charles Grant wrote an open letter saying the club was seeking new investment to help it "rise up the pyramid".