The king has had his coronation, now let’s have the Crewe summation…
Time to give THAT photo an airing
Saturday 24 June 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Huddersfield - Saturday 22 July, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Lincoln (in Spain!) - Friday 7 July, 4pm (Click here for our away day guide)
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Crewe supporters joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Saturday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
Our review of 2022-23 continues today with Crewe fan Nick Gibbs.
Today’s edition is sponsored by The Marple Plumber Ltd, who have a fantastic offer for The Scarf My Father Wore readers. They’re currently offering a full boiler check and service for just £65. Scroll down for further details, and if you have any boiler issues whatsoever, be sure to give Paul a call.
Enjoy today’s issue.
Des Junior
Charles is now king of the UK. But who would you choose to be crowned king of Gresty Road, and who would be locked up in the tower? You can pick anybody who’s had some sort of connection with the club this season.
King of Gresty Road would have to be our wonderful Daniel Agyei. An exciting and dynamic attacker, he finished the season on fire. Our chances of retaining his services look slim though (as is always the case).
He’s left the club now, but we’d have locked up Bassala Sambou in the tower on the grounds that, despite some affection from the stands, he really didn’t meet expectations – 43 games for us up front, and 2 goals!
Best moment of 2022-23?
For me, as an amateur goalkeeper/goalkeeping enthusiast, my favourite moment was James Beadle’s physics-defying double save against Rochdale back in February. We’ve been blessed with two fantastic loanee goalkeepers – Beadle and Arthur Okonkwo – this season who’ve been a joy to watch in an otherwise tepid campaign.
Worst moment of 2022-23?
The 3-0 defeat at home to Grimsby. That was arguably our lowest ebb, and I remember playing a 5-a-side game the next night in my Crewe shirt when the ref – a big Grimsby fan – came bounding up to me at the end to rub salt into the wound.
Funniest moment of 2022-23?
Bradford manager Mark Hughes squaring up to Chris Long after our fantastic 3-2 home win.
Four Four Two said you’d finish 17th. When Saturday Comes said you’d finish 14th. You finished 13th. Discuss.
I can’t really blame them as coming into the season I wasn’t much more optimistic. Our perennial low wages and need to move on our best players relies on us producing young talent, but it feels like a long time since we’ve had a really exciting prospect on the cards. Ultimately our home form saw us finish comfortably mid-table (and the poor quality of the bottom half of the table was handy). Let’s recruit well this summer and kick on.
County 2 Crewe 0 in December. Crewe 1 County 1 in January. Thoughts?
The game on Boxing Day can be summed by by two words: a pummelling! Paddy Madden looked as good as I remember him and we were lucky not to lose by more. 2–0 probably flattered us and that was only the start of our problems away from home.
As for the home draw, we played really well in the first half and looked as good as we did during our high point of last season, battling away on our awful pitch (that by the end of the season looked like something from a motocross track). Then we capitulated but the consensus was that it was a reasonable point. Very good away support as we’d expect.
Best and worst away days of 2022-23?
Shamefully, as I live up in the north-east now, I didn’t manage any away days. Train strikes scuppered my plans to go to Carlisle.
After decades travelling around the world, Sir David Attenborough’s most recent BBC documentary covered Great Britain. Let’s imagine David and his crew have been filming Crewe fans throughout the 2022-23 season. In that famous voice of his, how would he describe them?
“And here we have the lesser spotted Crewe Alexandra fans, or as they’re known by their less scientific name, the Railwaymen. Aiming a fervent current of banter at the away fans over in the so-called Ice Cream Van Stand, these young men stand proud in front of a now infamous banner that reads: ‘Born in Crewe, Live in Crewe, Die in Crewe.’ This rather dismal message, to the outsider, might read as a rather drab comment on this tight-knit pack’s myopic and defensive mentality but, if one spends time out in the coarse wasteland of Crewe, it really captures their pride and tribe solidarity. Dreaming of promotion and fearing a relegation that would hit their beloved Alex hard, these natives are weathered, disgruntled, but committed.”
With Wrexham up and MK Dons down, there’s a couple of teams coming into League Two who generally cause quite a lot of debate wherever they go. You’re on Moonpig.com buying a welcome card for both of them. What messages are going inside?
MK: “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the most derided team in the Football League! Your stadium might be fancy, but you’re down with the scrappers of League Two now. We look forward to showing you how to kick a ball around on your beautiful turf, and welcoming you to the trenches.
Wrexham: “Everyone’s watched the documentary series and witnessed the (extremely well-financed) miracle, but you’ll need to do more than just buy a big name striker to kick on in this league. Your wage budget might dwarf ours, but we’ve seen all this before with Salford, Crawley, and the like. Should be a cracking away day and, joking aside, it’s great to have you back!”
Click on the links below to read the previous 2022-23 reviews we’ve published so far.
Barrow / Carlisle / Colchester / Crawley / Gillingham / Grimsby / Leyton Orient / Mansfield / Newport / Northampton / Rochdale / Stevenage / Sutton / Swindon / Tranmere / Walsall / Wimbledon
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Today in SK
👀 Bingo 👀
There’s an afternoon of musical bingo at Bask (SK1) featuring dance-offs, penalty shootouts, conga lines and more! Prizes include VIP booths, shots, wine, gig tickets and loads more. 3pm. Tickets £5.
🥂 Food and drink 🥂
Head down to Petersgate Tap (SK1) for a refreshing pint of Newton Court Cider.
Bottomless Saturday at TRUNK (SK7). Bottomless lunch £35 per person (includes 3 tapas dishes) from 12pm till 4pm. T&Cs apply and 90 minutes of selected bottomless drinks.
🎤 Karaoke 🎤
Lee at the Nelson Tavern (SK1). 8pm - 1am.
🎶 Live music 🎶
Singer and musician Dan at The Dog & Partridge (SK2). 8pm.
90 Proof at The Armoury (SK3). 9pm.
The George & Dragon (SK7). 8pm.
The Scarf My Father Wore works closely with venues on a daily basis to bring you the most comprehensive guide to all of the best offers and events taking place across the whole SK region. Click on the links below for full details of everything taking place in your area over the next few weeks.
SK1 / SK2 / SK3 / SK4 / SK5 / SK6 / SK7 / SK8 / SK9 / SK10 / SK11 / SK12 / SK13 / SK14 / SK15 / SK16 / SK17 / SK22 / SK23
Photo of the day
Jimbo sporting one of our most popular ever shirts, a flavour of which can be found in next season’s home kit.
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