Autumn Fives 2007, kicking off on Friday 5th October presents a refreshingly different challenge both for Devils and for all the team's involved.

 

The one league set up, with all the top sides in a single league is on the face of it a nice change. For Devils we get to play games against Caledonian, Alltraders.co.uk and Real Apathetic which makes a really refreshing change as in contrast to Horley, Alltraders Reloaded and Gilly's who we seem to draw every season these teams we have very rarely played over the past 12-18 months. The single league will present a new challenge and will definitely increase the kudos attached to winning the league, which has probably a little unfairly been seen as the secondary prize compared to the big one of winning the knockouts on Finals Night. Whoever emerges as champions at Christmas will be able to say without question that they were the best team in the Autumn Fives. The other big positive is that all the well supported sides are in one league so there should be lots of games with a good atmosphere, something that has been harder to come by at K2 than it was at the old Leisure Centre. 

 

While the new format is at first refreshing when you look beneath the surface the fact that we're now down to 13 teams - from the peak of 96 many years back and even 48 when we started playing - is disappointing and further evidence that the Crawley Fives is being squeezed out. For the first time there has to be the real fear that without reinventing itself this could be one of the very last Crawley Fives competitions. This would be a real shame as the Friday Fives is, as the next 12 weeks will show still the highest standard small-sided competition in town. Playing in the Thursday league has reinforced that point to us. The Thursday league is good, with some decent teams and an atmosphere on match nights that surpasses the recent Friday seasons, however the calibre of the Friday competition is a step up in class.  

 

The arguments for the decline in numbers playing the Crawley Fives are well documented. One, K2 scarcely advertise their own competition at all in the local press, in stark contrast to Football Mundial, Soccer Sixes, Pitch Invasion and to a lesser extent others. The competition still relies on word of mouth and good will developed mainly during the 'Old Leisure Centre' years for at least half the teams participating. Two, the concept of Friday night football has suffered due to the plethora of options available for teams to play on other nights with Friday suffering firstly due to its proximity to Saturday football and secondly due to Friday being a prime 'going out' night. In the days before other leagues on other nights this wasn't an issue but with choice now available many are choosing Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays instead of Fridays.

 

Despite all this I don't buy into the idea that 'no-one now wants to play football on a Friday' for these reasons. Yes, some will definitely be deterred by those other pull factors but small-sided football is one of the UK's very fastest growing sports and there is no question in my mind that Friday can host competition's of some 30+ teams. The demand is still there and this is shown by the fact all the other leagues are going from strength to strength. The Crawley Fives can too however reform of the competition and commitment to its promotion have to happen and fast. The Crawley Fives has a loyal base of some 8-10 diehard teams who are always first in the queue for the new season and this is a fantastic base from which to build up again. If the Fives can reinvent itself with the get up and go to go and find the next generation of teams Crawley's longest running competition can thrive again. In its current form though it will surely need the co-operation and commitment of K2 to reviving it and at present it certainly seems doubtful whether K2 have that desire to get behind their own competition. Terry, Roy, Gloria and co run a first class competition but they sorely need backing from the marketing arm of K2. From a business perspective however K2 would likely argue they can make just as much if not more money leasing their pitches to independent providers than from running their own competitions.

 

Back on the pitch Autumn Fives 2007 should be a cracker, for the reasons outlined at the start, the shortage of teams creating a Premiership style feel to this season's competition. So, what's in store for the Devils this season?    

 

Predicting where Devils will finish is a tricky business! Reflecting the Crawley Fives in general, Devils Friday night squad has slimmed to almost the minimum ahead of the Autumn Fives and the feeling is there that this season will represent a watershed for the Devils Friday night team in its current shape. Like the competition as a whole it is possible the Devils Friday set up will have to reinvent itself to come back for 2008 and the next two months are likely to see a shake-up behind the scenes to restructure and regenerate the Friday set-up with a view to continuing in 2008. While the Thursday teams and the Saturday team is thriving with plentiful numbers the initial squad for this new Friday campaign numbers only six who can be counted on to be available most weeks of the season. Undoubtedly that figure needs to increase if Fridays in 2008 are to be on the Devils agenda as now just three, David Leake, Phil Williamson and Phil Laker remain from the playing squads that finished runners up in Summer 2006 knockouts and won the league in Winter 2007.

 

A step in the right direction is the signing of Michael Cox or 'Coxy' as he'll be known from now on (never have I heard someone referred to by their first name less!) to join a squad that, if small in number is definitely well off for Fives experience. It might well be that Coxy's signing is the first shoots of the revamped Friday night set-up of the future and if he proves to be as reliable and solid as he has been in the early stages of his career with the Devils XI he'll be a great addition to the squad.

 

The new style league will mean a fresh challenge and Devils, even if in a transitional phase have the ability required to upset any other team in the league on their day. Good defenders and a prolific goalscorer are the first two basics on the list for being competitive and Devils do have these meaning that good results are achievable against any opponent. An unknown variable upon which something will depend will be the availability of Graeme White, whose recent ascent into the Crawley Down first team has posed the obvious questions about his consistent availability for Friday nights. If Graeme, with 9 goals in his 10 Fives appearances so far is available more often than not then it will add another prolific goalscorer to the equation which can only be a good thing for Devils prospects. 

 

At minimum then if Devils aren't challenging at the very top of the league they should certainly still have the strength to be a dangerous banana skin for the teams contesting the title. The pundit in me says we will need to be at our very best and have everyone available every week to get the consistent wins needed to challenge for the top 4 but if we do then that is achievable. If the vein of unavailability and using a plethora of players to fill gaps that characterised the summer continues, consistently good results will then obviously become much harder to achieve and mid-table will be a more likely destination.

 

I'm looking forward to the new challenge, and hoping that at the same time this won't be the last Crawley Fives. Enjoy the season everyone :) 

Being completely honest my knowledge of the Crawley & District Football League isn't too in-depth so I'm probably not qualified to write a pre-season preview. But hey everyone likes to be a pundit so here's a pre-season preview based on a few hunches, a few educated guesses and a lot of wild stabs in the dark!

The Crawley & District League has seen many a close season reshuffle in recent years and often teams have found themselves starting the new season in unexpected territory as a result of teams withdrawing and new teams signing up. This close season however has seen one of the more significant recent shake-ups of the CDFL set-up with the decision made in early August to abolish the old Division 3 and run with three divisions for 2007/2008.

Personally, I think this is a great move. In my view, a really good, competitive league needs to comprise of 20+ league matches and this will now be the case for each of the three Crawley divisions, with Divisions 1 and 2 running to 24 matches. Last season's 14 in Division 3 was inadequate and this season has a good long-term look to it with 13 teams in both Divisions 1 and 2 meaning an extra 8-10 games for most sides. From the perspective of a new team like ourselves it is even better because we have much greater opportunity to build and improve as the season progresses. It is to be expected that the first 6 or 7 games will be a learning process as the team begins to gel and it would be a pity if the 7 game mark represented the half-way point in the season. As it is now there is real scope to build throughout the 2007/2008 campaign. The only fly in the ointment is the notoriously bad winter weather and we will have to keep our fingers crossed for a drier winter than 2006/2007 when fixtures were mostly wiped out between late November and early March. If the weather doesn't hold it could be a very busy April for everyone!

The big re-structure brings with it a set of new-look divisions. Due to the compression of the leagues Division 2 has an intriguing look to it with sides from a vast range of 06/07 backgrounds being thrust together into the same division, from us, now the only new team in the division to Worth Park Rangers who were competing in the old Division 1 last season.

The challenge for honours at the top is likely to be dominated by the sides from the old Division's 1 and 2. Worth Park struggled in Division 1 but are a relatively big fish in Crawley League football and will surely do well against the sides who were playing two divisions below them in Division 3 last season. The gulf between Divisions 1 and 2 has often been the biggest in the League and Worth Park's experience in a strong Division 1 will surely ensure that they are challengers in a new Division 2 that features eight teams who played Division 3 or less last season.

The same will apply to a slightly lesser extent to Ifield Edwards IV and Phoenix United III, both of whom occupied mid-table slots in Division 2 in 2006/2007. Ifield had in Steve Crawford one of the top strikers in the old Division 2 so if he remains in the fourths this season he will surely be hot favourite to lead the goalscoring charts in a division that will largely be a lower standard than that Ifield IV played in last campaign. Both Ifield IV and Phoenix III derive from big club's in Crawley League terms and with the strength in depth, and experience that brings both should be expected to challenge this season.

 

The other two sides playing at a higher level in 06/07 were Wingspan and County Oak. Wingspan, after a season spent in the relegation places in Division 2 will be less expected to challenge consistently at the top than Ifield and Phoenix, however its always difficult to predict how 'relegated' sides will fare and as Seebrook showed last season there is a lot of scope for Wingspan to find life much more profitable at the new level. County Oak were a significant force in Division 1 last season and playing to that level would be hot favourites to win the new Division 2. It is rumoured however that the front side disbanded and the side in Division 2 is that which was originally planned to be County Oak II so with this in mind this season's County Oak are very much an unknown quantity. Having had a sneak preview in last weekend's friendly however I would expect County Oak to be in and around the top five throughout 2007/2008.

Looking at the eight sides who took part in Division 3 last season the one name that stands out is Real Hydraquip II, the side who romped Division 3 last season. Since Real had 14 points on 3rd placed Pelham it is reasonable to predict that if Hydraquip II's team is retained and not too many are lost to their 1st XI in Division 1 then they would expect to again finish top of the 'old Div 3' pack. If that is achieved then it will come down to how well Real deal with the sides joining from above. Real Hydraquip II, if last season's squad is retained have the potential to repeat last season's title success.

The other big fancy of the old Div 3 sides is Pelham Wanderers. Pelham finished 3rd last season however had two good wins over 2nd placed Seebrook and if Wanderers build on that kind of form they can be this season's genuine dark-horses. Of the rest Stones are the oldest club in town and are always a solid team with the potential to put in a good season, while Rowfant are another side who finished well last season and will hope to take the next step to being challengers.

Border, Sporting Crawley II and Maidenbower Village II were cast adrift last season and will hope for brighter seasons this time around. Sporting and Maidenbower, as part of two team clubs always have the potential to improve while Border had a good pre-season win over Seebrook and are being tipped to do better this season. As a former Border player it will be good to see the Horley club on the up again, if indeed that turns out to be the case.

How will Devils get on? I'm predicting a season of continuous improvement and a lower mid-table finish. Points will be difficult to come by in the opening few games but performance and progress are arguably more important at this stage of a new team's development. It might be an early season baptism of fire but this will stand the team in good stead as the season progresses and as long as positivity and team spirit remain high the team will be well placed to see good results later in the campaign. More points will be gained in the second half of the season than the first. Points wise, a slow start, an improved middle and a fast finish will add up to a 9th placed finish. Playing wise, progress and continuous improvement are the watch words for 2007/2008. Get your money on 9th and remember you heard it here first :)

Devils XI Season Prediction: 9th

Top Five: Worth Park Rangers, Ifield Edwards IV, Real Hydraquip II, County Oak, Pelham Wanderers.