Tomorrow afternoon sees the start of the 2021/22 season as last season’s League 2 champions Cheltenham Town making the trip north to South Cheshire. This game will see the return of fans to stadiums for a competitive game for the first time in 18 months without any capacity restrictions.
Last Season:
As mentioned in the above paragraph, the Robins went on and won League 2 with 82 points (24 wins, 10 draws and 12 defeats). They would also get to the 4th Round of the FA Cup (including knocking the Alex out in Round 2) where they lost 3-1 at host to Manchester City, would be defeated at Millwall in the 2nd Round of the EFL Cup while Portsmouth knocked them out in the second round of the EFL Trophy.
Transfers:
Cheltenham have made 5 signings this summer with goalkeeper Owen Evans joining permanently following a loan spell a couple of seasons ago as well as midfielders Elliot Bonds and Dylan Barkers joining from Hull City and Alvechurch respectively. Midfielders Taylor Perry and Callum Wright have joined on season-long loans from Wolves and Leicester City respectively.
They have also allowed defender Daniel Bowry, midfielders Tom Chamberlain and Chris Clements (an Alex Academy alum) and forwards Alex Addai and Tahvon Campbell to leave at the end of their contracts.
Head-to-Head:
Alex Wins: 11
Robins Wins: 9
Draws: 6
Biggest Alex Win: 8-1 at the Alexandra Stadium in April 2011
Biggest Robins Win: 4-1 at the Alexandra in November 2016 (FA Cup)
Last Meeting
Cheltenham Town 2-1 Crewe Alexandra (After Extra Time), 28th November 2020 (FA Cup)
Finn Azaz would open the scoring after 3 minutes before the hosts before Chris Porter would level for the Alex in the 63rd minute
Alex: Jaaskelainen; Ng, Offord, Lancashire, Pickering; Ainley (Finney 6, Lowery 100), Wintle, Murphy (Zanzala 106); Powell (Dale 64), Porter, Kirk
Robins: Flinders; Raglan, Tozer, Freestone (Boyle 84); Blair, Sercombe, Clements, Azaz (Sang 74), Hussey; May, Lloyd (Williams 106)
Played for Both:
The following players have been contracted to both teams:
Goalkeepers: Neil Cutler, Mark Gayle
Defenders: Billy Jones
Midfielders: Chris Clements, Ben Marshall, Kevin Stewart, Billy Waters
Forwards: Billy Dale, Steve Guinan, Danny Haynes, Amari Morgan-Smith, Tony Naylor, Luke Varney
Officials:
The officials for this game have been announced here with Ben Toner the referee, Danny Gratton and Alan Clayton are his assistants with Christopher Husband the fourth official. The following Crewe games have been refereed by Toner in the previous 5 years:
- Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Mansfield Town (1st October 2016) – Dagnall
- Accrington Stanley 3-2 Crewe Alexandra (8th April 2017) – Cooke, Dagnall
- Crewe Alexandra 0-5 Carlisle United (23rd September 2017)
- Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Exeter City (5th October 2019) – Anene
- Hull City 1-0 Crewe Alexandra (19th September 2020)
- Swindon Town 2-1 Crewe Alexandra (20th February 2021) – Lowery
Opposition View:
I asked Cheltenham Town supporter Dave Higgins for his thoughts going into the game and his hopes for the season.
How would you describe last season, both in terms of on the pitch and how you felt about off it?
Last season was incredible, even with the disappointment of not being able to attend matches. For a club of our size to win League Two and have a cup run that saw us lead against Manchester City is something we never thought possible given where we were a few years ago. We managed to get things right off the pitch and use the disappointment from the lack of fans and play-off heartbreak in a positive way and it paid off.
What position do you feel you need to strengthen most during this transfer window?
We are a strong unit but we lacked a true goal scorer last season and relied on the team pitching in all over the pitch. If we were able to add a striker to reach double figures I think we could be OK.
Are there any players that are missing for the Robins?
At this moment it looks as though the whole squad are fit and ready to go. Still time for some knocks in training but I expect we’ll be a full strength.
What do you think the team will be?
We haven’t really changed the squad all too much and have been a little disappointed with the lack of new faces. We’ve pushed the boat out for a few who have ended up going elsewhere. I’d expect 532 – Evans; Blair, Raglan, Tozer, Boyle, Hussey; Chapman, Thomas, Sercombe; May, Williams.
Who are the Cheltenham danger men?
Alfie May will run himself into the ground up top and won’t give defenders a moment’s peace, but the dangermen are Boyle and Tozer who linked up so well from throw-ins last season. There’s also Matty Blair who covers a lot of ground on the right. We’re more of a dangerous unit than having individuals.
What would be a successful season for Cheltenham this season?
Avoiding relegation. There’s no way around it given the size of the club and the lack of incomings this season. It’ll be a tough season and I think we will have enough to stay up but it will be extremely tight.
