Crawley Town at Wembley: Skipper praises the 'incredible job' Scott Lindsey has done to get Reds to play-off final

Lindsey was appointed manager of Crawley Town on the 11th January 2023 with the club facing relegation. A year and a half later Reds are now preparing for their first ever appearance at Wembley after beating MK Dons 8-1 across the two legs in the semi-final of the League Two play-offs.

And captain Conroy had plenty of praise for his manager who guided Crawley to the position they are in now.

He said: “The characteristics that we have as a team, like how we play, how we press, is all basically a reflection on him so he has been a great manager this season and obviously all the players want to win at Wembley but we owe it to the manager for doing such a good job this season.”

Lindsey was not even shortlisted as a nominee for League Two manager of the season, which shocked Crawley fans, and Conroy believes that his manager should have won it.

Conroy said: “He has done an incredible job here, at the start of the season we were favourites to be relegated. The job he has done here and I think people forget the job he done at the end off last season, he came in halfway through and we were struggling so he completely turned this place around.

“The size of the club compared to the others, he should have definitely won it in my eyes.”

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In the summer transfer window there was a complete changeover of players with a huge number of outgoings and incomings with the majority of the new signings having made their name in non-league. Everyone who was brought in suited Lindsey’s style which has allowed Crawley to fight for league one football next year.

Conroy said: “He’s got the people out the building who were not in that bracket and the squad that we recruited this year, everyone’s brought into what he wants to achieve and do as a team.

“The characteristics that we have as a team, like how we play, how we press is all basically a reflection on him so he’s been a great manager this season and obviously all the players want to win at Wembley but we owe it to the manager for doing such a good job this season.”

The central defender also spoke about Crawley’s style of play which has been seen so many times this season but was put in the spotlight in the semi- final when it was shown on Sky.

Even Conroy has been pleasantly surprised at times about this. “I didn't think we would be playing as good as we have been,” he said, “I think everyone was a bit surprised on how we played at MK Dons.

“We've played some unbelievable football that you wont think is played at this level at some tough places, had some amazing results so I think the gaffers shocked everyone with how amazing he has been.

“It is all credit to him and every single player has worked every single minute of every single day and really took on board everything he has laid out for us.”

Conroy, who has never played at Wembley, spoke about some of the thoughts around the club before the season even began.

He said: “At the start of the season a few of us were talking about this (playoffs) as we know how good the gaffer is and the players that we had so its not a complete surprise to a lot of us.”

He also added: “Its a great feeling, the gaffer deserves it, the team deserves it, its been a great year.”

This week’s Crawley Observer has an 8-page special celebrating Reds going to Wembley – you can order a copy here.