2007–08 Crewe Alexandra F.C. season

Crewe Alexandra

2007–08 season
Chairman	John Bowler
Manager	Steve Holland
League One	13th
FA Cup	Second round
League Cup	First round
Football League Trophy	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Maynard (11) All: Maynard (11)
Highest home attendance	6,771 (14 January vs Leeds United)
Lowest home attendance	2,862 (15 August vs Hull City)
Home colours Away colours
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 season of Crewe Alexandra Football Club's 84th competitive season. They competed in Football League One.

Events

This is a list of the significant events to occur at the club during the 2007-08 season, presented in chronological order. This list does not include transfers (which are listed in the transfers section below), match results (which are in the matches section) or awards (which are in the awards section).

2007

• 20 April: Dario Gradi announces that as from 1 July, would take up a new role as the club's Technical Director whilst gradually allowing first-team coach Steve Holland control of the team.
• 18 June: Crewe win the Bobby Moore Fair Play award for their outstanding conduct and discipline throughout the 2006/07 season.^[1]
• 11 August: The opening day of the season sees young striker Nicky Maynard fracture his fibula. He was diagnosed to be out for 3–4 months.^[2] Maynard returned as a 46th-minute substitute 112 days later in the FA Cup.
  11 August: Crewe end the day top of the league after their 2−1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.^[3]
• 15 August: Crewe are eliminated from the Carling Cup by Championship side Hull City after a 3-0 loss at home.
• 25 August: Crewe drop out of the play-off zone after a 2−0 loss to Leyton Orient.^[4]
• 4 September: Crewe are eliminated from the Johnstone's Paint Trophy by Cheshire-neighbours Chester City after a penalty shootout defeat in the First round
• 1 December: Crewe are eliminated from the FA Cup by League One side Oldham Athletic away from home. This result means that Crewe are eliminated from all cup competitions for the 2007–08 season.
• 3 December: Sky Sports confirm that Crewe's home tie with Leeds United will be shown live on TV. Ths kickoff was changed to 19:45 GMT on Monday 14 January 2008. Crewe lost the match 1-0.^[5]

2008

• 29 January: Crewe enter the relegation zone in League One after a 1−1 draw with Bristol Rovers.^[6]
• 9 February: Crewe climb out the relegation zone to 20th after a 2−2 draw with top-of-the-table Swansea City.^[7]
• 26 March: Michael O'Connor makes his senior international debut for Northern Ireland in a 4-1 win against Georgia.^[8]

Players

Squad information

N	P	Nat.	Name	Age	EU	Since	App	Goals	Ends	Transfer fee	Notes
1	GK		Williams	24	EU	2004	90	0	30 Jun 2008	Free
2	DF		Woodards	23	EU	2007	12	0	30 Jun 2010	£30,000
3	DF		B. Jones	24	EU	2007	0	0	30 Jun 2010	£65,000
4	MF		Roberts	20	EU	2004	81	7	30 Jun 2009	Youth system
5	DF		Cox (captain)	35	EU	2006	32	1	30 Jun 2008	Free
6	DF		Baudet (VC)	28	EU	2006	43	1	30 Jun 2009	Free
7	MF		Schumacher	23	EU	2007	1	0	30 Jun 2010	Free
8	MF		O'Connor	19	EU	2005	30	0	30 Jun 2009	Youth system
9	FW		Maynard	20	EU	2005	33	17	30 Jun 2010	Youth system
10	MF		Bopp	23	EU	2007	0	0	30 Jun 2010	Free
12	MF		Rix	23	EU	2001	103	4	30 Jun 2009	Youth system
13	GK		Tomlinson	22	EU	2001	11	0	30 Jun 2008	Youth system	On loan at Burton Albion until 21 Mar 2008
14	DF		McCready	25	EU	2007	61	17	30 Jun 2009	Free
15	FW		Pope	21	EU	2005	6	1	30 Jun 2009	Free
16	FW		Lowe	28	EU	2006	31	7	30 Jun 2009	Free
17	MF		Carrington	20	EU	2005	0	0	30 Jun 2009	Youth system
18	FW		Moore	18	EU	2007	1	0	30 Jun 2010	Youth system
19	FW		Miller	19	EU	2006	11	3	30 Jun 2009	Youth system
20	DF		M Bailey	21	EU	2005	0	0	30 Jun 2008	Free
21	GK		Fôn Williams	20	EU	2006	0	0	30 Jun 2008	Youth system
22	DF		Daniel	19	EU	2007	0	0	30 Jun 2009	Free
23	DF		O'Donnell	21	EU	2007	25	1	30 Jun 2010	Free
24	FW		Farquharson	18	EU	2007	0	0	30 Jun 2008	Youth system	On loan at Nantwich Town until 28 Mar 2008
25	MF		J Bailey	18	EU	2007	0	0	30 Jun 2008	Youth system
26	FW		Brown	18	EU	2007	0	0	30 Jun 2008	Youth system	On loan at Kidsgrove Athletic until Jan 2008
28	DF		Abbey	28	EU	2007	0	0	30 Jun 2008	Free
29	DF		Lynch	20	EU	2007	0	0	30 Jun 2008	Free
30	DF		Boyle	20	EU	2007	0	0	21 Feb 2008	Loan	On loan from Everton
32	MF		G. M. Roberts	23	EU	2007	0	0	12 March 2008	Loan	On loan from Ipswich Town
34	MF		Lunt	27	EU	2007	0	0	19 Mar 2008	Loan	On loan from Sheffield Wednesday

Appearances (starts and substitute appearances) and goals include those in the League One (and playoffs), FA Cup, League Cup and Football League Trophy.

Squad stats

				Total			Football League One		FA Cup		Football League Cup		Johnstone's Paint Trophy
No.	P	Nat.	Name	Sts	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls	App	Gls
1	GK		Williams	43	43		40		2		1
2	DF		Woodards	38	38		34		2		1		1
3	DF		Jones	25	25		21		2		1		1
4	MF		G. S. Roberts	36	38	5	35	5	2		1
5	DF		Cox	23	29	1	27		2	1
6	DF		Baudet	33	33	1	30	1	1		1		1
7	MF		Schumacher	21	24	1	21	1	1		1		1
8	MF		O'Connor	16	21		21
9	FW		Maynard	19	22	6	21	6	1
10	MF		Bopp	6	11	1	9	1			1		1
11	MF		Vaughan		1		1
12	MF		Rix	25	30		26		2		1		1
13	GK		Tomlinson	1	1								1
14	DF		McCready	30	31	2	28	1	2	1	1
15	FW		Pope	14	24	6	22	6			1		1
16	FW		Lowe	19	31	5	28	4	2				1	1
17	MF		Carrington	2	7		5				1		1
18	FW		Moore	27	33	2	30	2	2		1
19	FW		Miller	7	18	1	16	1			1		1
20	DF		Bailey	1	3		2		1
21	GK		Fôn Williams
22	DF		Daniel		1		1
23	DF		O'Donnell	18	24	1	23	1					1
24	FW		Farquharson	1	1								1
25	MF		Bailey		1		1
26	FW		Brown		1		1
27	DF		Dugdale
28	DF		Abbey	14	17		17
29	DF		Lynch	1	3		2						1
30	FW		Barnard	9	10	3	10	3
30	DF		Boyle	14	14		14
31	FW		Dickson	2	3		3
31	FW		Church	13	14	1	12	1	2
32	MF		Bennett	4	10	1	8	1	2
32	MF		G. M. Roberts	4	4		4
33	FW		Baseya	1	4		3		1
34	DF		Gray	2	2		2
34	MF		Lunt	7	7		7
35	MF		Anyinsah	2	4		4
36	FW		Morgan	5	5	2	5	2

Last updated: 24 Mar 2008
Source: Crewe Alexandra
Ordered by Squad Numbers
0 shown as blank

Disciplinary record

N	P	Nat.	Name				Notes
4	MF		G. S. Roberts	4	1	0	Conceded one penalty kick
6	DF		Baudet	4	0	0	Conceded one penalty kick
30	DF		Boyle	2	0	0	On loan
8	MF		O'Connor	2	0	0	Conceded two penalty kicks
12	MF		Rix	2	0	0
30	FW		Barnard	1	0	0	On loan
32	MF		Bennett	1	0	0	On loan
34	MF		Lunt	1	0	0	On loan
29	DF		Lynch	1	0	0
9	FW		Maynard	1	0	0
14	DF		McCready	1	0	0	Conceded two penalty kicks
19	FW		Miller	1	0	0
7	MF		Schumacher	1	0	0
1	GK		Williams	0	0	0	Conceded one penalty kick
2	DF		Woodards	1	0	0	Conceded one penalty kick

Last updated: 24 Mar 2008
Source: Crewe Alexandra
Only competitive matches
= Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

Crewe currently have the best disciplinary record in The Football League^[9]

Awards

Individual

Date	Country	N	P	Name	Award	Notes
13 Aug 2007		4	MF	G. S. Roberts	Team of the Week	Source
20 Aug 2007		2	DF	Woodards	Team of the Week	Source
10 Sep 2007		10	MF	Bopp	Team of the Week	Source
24 Sep 2007		1	GK	Williams	Team of the Week	Source
1 Oct 2007		3	DF	Jones	Team of the Week	Source
22 Oct 2007		16	FW	Lowe	Team of the Week	Source
5 Nov 2007		18	FW	Moore	Team of the Week	Source
19 Nov 2007		2	DF	Woodards	Team of the Week (2)	Source
10 Dec 2007		2	DF	Woodards	Team of the Week (3)	Source
28 Jan 2008		1	GK	Williams	Team of the Week (2)	Source
3 Mar 2008		1	GK	Williams	Team of the Week (3)	Source
17 Mar 2008		8	MF	O'Connor	Team of the Week	Source

Club

Date	Period	Award	Notes
18 June	Season 2006/07	Bobby Moore Fair Play award	[1]

Players in / out

In

N	P	Name	EU	Country	Age	Type	Moving from	Transfer window	Ends	Transfer fee	Source
10	MF	Bopp	EU		23	Transferred Y	Rotherham United !Rotherham United	Summer		Free
15	FW	Pope	EU		21	Youth team Y		Summer		Free
17	MF	Carrington	EU		20	Youth team Y		Summer		Free
21	GK	Fôn Williams	EU		20	Youth team Y		Summer		Free
29	DF	Lynch	EU		20	Unattached Y		Summer		Free
28	DF	Abbey	EU		28	Unattached Y		Summer		Free
14	DF	McCready	EU		25	Unattached Y		Summer		Free
3	DF	Jones	EU		23	Transferred Y	Exeter City !Exeter City	Summer		£65,000
7	MF	Schumacher	EU		23	Transferred Y	Bradford City !Bradford City	Summer		Free
30	FW	Barnard	EU		23	Loan	Tottenham Hotspur !Tottenham Hotspur	Summer	3 Jan 2008	Loan
31	FW	Dickson	EU		22	Loan	Charlton Athletic !Charlton Athletic	Summer	13 Sep 2007	Loan
31	FW	Church	EU		18	Loan	Reading !Reading	Winter	28 Jan 2007	Loan	Crewe Alexandra
32	MF	Bennett	EU		18	Loan	Wolverhampton Wanderers !Wolverhampton Wanderers	Winter	3 Jan 2008	Loan	Crewe Alexandra
33	FW	Baseya	EU		19	Loan	Southampton !Southampton	Winter	19 Dec 2007	Loan	Crewe Alexandra
34		Gray	EU		19	Loan	Manchester United !Manchester United	Winter	3 Jan 2008	Loan	Crewe Alexandra
30	DF	Boyle	EU		20	Loan Y	Everton !Everton	Winter	21 Feb 2008	Loan	Crewe Alexandra
32	MF	G. M. Roberts	EU		23	Loan Y	Ipswich Town !Ipswich Town	Winter	12 March 2008	Loan	Crewe Alexandra
34	MF	Lunt	EU		28	Loan Y	Sheffield Wednesday !Sheffield Wednesday	Winter	19 March 2008	Loan
35	FW	Anyinsah	EU		23	Loan Y	Preston North End !Preston North End	Winter		Loan
36	MF	Morgan	EU		24	Loan Y	Luton Town !Luton Town	Winter		Loan

Out

N	P	Name	EU	Country	Age	Status	Moving to	Transfer window	Transfer fee	Source
2	FW	Otsemobor	EU		24	Transfer Y	Norwich City !Norwich City	Summer	Free
3	DF	Jones	EU		20	Transfer Y	Preston North End !Preston North End	Summer	£500,000[*]
12	FW	Varney	EU		24	Transfer Y	Charlton Athletic !Charlton Athletic	Summer	£2,500,000
11	MF	Vaughan	EU		24	Transfer Y	Real Sociedad !Real Sociedad	Summer	£300,000	Crewe Alexandra
26	MF	Brown	EU		19	Loan Y	Kidsgrove Athletic !Kidsgrove Athletic	Winter	Loan
24	FW	Farquharson	EU		19	Loan	Northwich Victoria !Northwich Victoria	Winter	Loan
29	DF	Lynch	EU		21	Loan Y	Stafford Rangers !Stafford Rangers	Winter	Loan
22	MF	Daniel	EU		19	Loan Y	Grays Athletic !Grays Athletic	Winter	Loan
27	DF	Dugdale	EU		20	Free Y	Droylsden !Droylsden	Winter	Free
24	FW	Farquharson	EU		19	Loan Y	Nantwich Town !Nantwich Town	Winter	Loan
13	GK	Tomlinson	EU		22	Loan Y	Burton Albion !Burton Albion	Winter	Loan	BBC Sport

Last updated: 8 Mar 2008
EU = if holds or not a European Union passport; Country: when 2 flags, 1st flag = country that plays for internationally, 2nd flag = country of birth; N = number on jersey; P = Position (for position name, pause mouse pointer on abbreviation); Name = Name on jersey (for more extensive name, pause mouse pointer on name); Age = age on the day of the signing; Moving from = only indicate the club the player was playing before start playing for this club in this season, for the type of the moving see Status column; Moving to = only indicates the club the player is going to play next, for the type of the moving see Status column; Ends = when the player's current contract ends; n/a = Not applicable.

^{^} Initial fee of £500,000, plus clauses:

• £62,500 for 15, 30 and 45 appearances for Preston North End
• 20% sell-on clause
• £250,000 should Jones achieve promotion whilst at Preston North End.

Club

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Technical Director	Dario Gradi MBE
First team coach / Academy Director	Steve Holland
Assistant manager	Neil Baker
Assistant Academy manager	James Collins
Assistant Academy manager	Neil Critchley
Chief scout	Glyn Chamberlain
Senior physiotherapist	Matt Radcliffe
Physiotherapist	Steve Walker
Fitness coach	Andy Franks
Academy Recruitment Officer	Phil Swift
Academy Welfare Officer / Academy Administration	Malcolm Hughes

Other information

Chairman	John Bowler
Vice Chairman	Norman Hassell
Director	Richard Clayton
Director	Dario Gradi MBE
Director	Mark Hassell
Director	Jim McMillan
Director	Daniel Potts
Director	David Rowlinson
Director	Jimmy Rowlinson
Head Groundsman	John Huxley
Ground (capacity and dimensions)	Alexandra Stadium (10,153 / 100 x 66 yd (60 m))

Last updated: 26 Aug 2007
Source: Crewe Alexandra Staff

Kits

Home Supplier: Diadora Sponsors: Mornflake Oats

Away Supplier: Diadora Sponsors: Mornflake Oats

Home goalkeepers Supplier: Diadora Sponsors: Mornflake Oats

Away goalkeepers Supplier: Diadora Sponsors: Mornflake Oats

Competitions

Overall

Competition	Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
Football League One	—	20	11 Aug 2007	3 May 2008
Football League Cup	1st round		15 Aug 2007
Johnstone's Paint Trophy	1st round		4 Sep 2007
FA Cup	1st round	2nd round	10 Nov 2007	1 Dec 2007

Last updated: 24 Mar 2008
Source: Competitions

League One

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Swansea City !Swansea City	45	26	11	8	81	42	+39	89	Promotion to the League Championship
2	Nottingham Forest !Nottingham Forest	45	23	11	11	64	39	+25	80
3	Doncaster Rovers !Doncaster Rovers	45	21	16	8	61	30	+31	79	Qualification to the Football League One playoffs
4	Carlisle United !Carlisle United	45	23	10	12	63	45	+18	79
5	Southend United !Southend United	45	22	9	14	69	54	+15	75
6	Leeds United !Leeds United	45	26	10	9	70	37	+33	073¹
7	Brighton & Hove Albion !Brighton & Hove Albion	45	19	12	14	58	49	+9	69
8	Tranmere Rovers !Tranmere Rovers	45	18	11	16	51	45	+6	65
9	Oldham Athletic !Oldham Athletic	45	17	13	15	54	45	+9	64
10	Walsall !Walsall	45	16	15	14	50	44	+6	63
11	Northampton Town !Northampton Town	45	16	15	14	58	54	+4	63
12	Huddersfield Town !Huddersfield Town	45	19	6	20	49	62	−13	63
13	Swindon Town !Swindon Town	45	15	13	17	61	55	+6	58
14	Leyton Orient !Leyton Orient	45	15	12	18	46	62	−16	57
15	Hartlepool United !Hartlepool United	45	15	8	22	61	64	−3	53
16	Bristol Rovers !Bristol Rovers	45	12	17	16	44	50	−6	53
17	Millwall !Millwall	45	14	10	21	44	58	−14	52
18	Yeovil Town !Yeovil Town	45	14	10	21	36	56	−20	52
	Crewe Alexandra !Crewe Alexandra	45	12	14	19	46	61	−15	50
20	Cheltenham Town !Cheltenham Town	45	12	12	21	40	63	−23	48
21	Bournemouth !Bournemouth	45	17	6	22	61	71	−10	047²	Relegation to the League Two
22	Gillingham !Gillingham	45	11	13	21	43	71	−28	46
23	Port Vale !Port Vale	45	9	10	26	46	80	−34	37
24	Luton Town !Luton Town	45	11	10	24	43	62	−19	033²

Updated to games played on 29 April 2008.
Source: The Football League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
¹ Deducted 15 points for failure to comply with rules on insolvency.
² Deducted 10 points for entering administration
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
45	12	14	19	46	61	−15	50	8	6	8	26	29	−3	4	8	11	20	32	−12

Last updated: 29 April 2008.
Source: Sky Sports

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A
Result	W	D	L	D	W	L	D	L	D	L	L	W	D	W	W	W	L	L	D	L	L	D	L	W	L	L	L	D	D	L	D	W	D	L	D	D	L	W	W	D	L	L	W	W	L

Last updated: 24 Mar 2008.
Source: Sky Sports
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Matches

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Last updated: 24 Mar 2008
Source: Crewe Alexandra
Notes: League One fixtures not listed due to copyright. Results will be shown.

Trivia

• Gillingham's Chris Dickson scored the winning goal against Crewe on 5 December at Gresty Road after spending one month on loan for the Railwaymen.
• Walsall's goalkeeper Clayton Ince received the November Powerade Player of the Month award just four days before playing against his former club. Ince, who spent six years at Crewe, said of the occasion, "...my feelings for the club will be put to one side for 90 minutes on Saturday." Ince kept a clean sheet in the match which resulted in a 0-0 draw.
• On 12 February, Crewe signed Ipswich Town midfielder Gary Roberts. Unusually, he is the second player with the name Gary Roberts at Crewe. He was assigned the shirt number 32, whilst the other Gary Roberts has the number 4 shirt.
• Ex-Crewe striker Luke Rodgers scored the final goal in the local derby against Port Vale, just as he did last season.

References

External links

• Official Website
• Sky Sports
• BBC Football