Tomorrow’s game sees Tranmere Rovers’ return to the Alexandra Stadium after their promotion back into the Football League during the summer. They finished 2nd in the league, beating Ebbsfleet United in the semi-final stage before beating Boreham Wood 2-1 at Wembley in May.
Looking at the visitors, so far this season they have 8 victories, 6 draws and 3 losses in the league as they sit in 4th place in the league. In the league, they have beaten Cheltenham Town, Port Vale, Carlisle United, Lincoln City, Morecambe, Macclesfield Town, Crawley Town and Exeter City, they have drawn with Stevenage, Mansfield Town, Northampton Town, Colchester United, MK Dons and Yeovil Town whilst they have lost to Swindon Town, Newport County and Forest Green Rovers.
In cup competitions, they lost against Walsall in the EFL Cup whilst they lost all 3 EFL Trophy games against ourselves, Shrewsbury Town and Manchester City’s Under-21 team. In the FA Cup, they face a trip to Oxford City on Tuesday after a 3-3 draw at Prenton Park last weekend.
Looking back in the archives, the two teams have met 135 times with Tranmere leading the head-to-head with 58 wins to 44 with 33 draws. Tranmere’s biggest win came in February 1937 with a 6-1 win at Prenton Park with Crewe’s biggest win coming at the same venue and by the same scoreline in December 1961. Whilst we have already beaten Rovers this season in the EFL Trophy, the last season that the two clubs met in the league was during the 2013/14 season with both teams winning their home games (2-1 to the Alex at the Alexandra Stadium and 1-0 to Tranmere at Prenton Park).
Who are the officials for the game?
The officials for this game see Carl Boyeson as the man in the middle where he is assisted by Paul Hobday and Matthew Smith. During the last 5 seasons the following Crewe games have been refereed by Boyeson:
- Crewe Alexandra 0-0 Crawley Town (3rd April 2015)
- Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Eastleigh (7th November 2015)
- Crewe Alexandra 1-1 Blackpool (24th September 2016) – Lowe
- Lincoln City 1-4 Crewe Alexandra (27th February 2018) – Pickering, Bowery (2), Green
- Crewe Alexandra 3-0 Macclesfield Town (1st September 2018) – Kirk, Bowery (2)
