crawley-town

Sir Alex Ferguson says the FA Cup is very much alive, with his Manchester United side hosting non-league Crawley Town at Old Trafford on Sunday. With attendances in the competition falling and the FA considering a major revamp of the 150 year-old tournament, the Scot says this weekend’s match is what the cup is all about.

Indeed, Ferguson is likely to select a strong side, with many of United’s fringe squad players joining some youngsters in the matchday squad. Although goalscoring derby hero Wayne Rooney is likely to rest along with top scorer Dimitar Berbatov and other senior pros, United could field up to nine internationals for Crawley’s visit.

“You talk about the FA Cup dying and it’s not dying as long as you have got giant-killing acts like Crawley have produced,” Ferguson told the press on Friday.

“Every manager will tell you, you don’t want to be a casualty. We lost to Leeds last year and it wasn’t easy to take that. They deserved to win on the day. They were up for it and made it a cup tie.

“It will be the same tomorrow. Crawley will get stuck into us and there’s no other way for them. We have got good experience of playing sides like Crawley over the years like Exeter and Burton Albion.

“It’s a reminder shocks can happen and almost did against those two teams. But I think the quality we have tomorrow shouldn’t give us the same worry.”

While Mexican phenomenon Javier Hernández is likely to start for Ferguson’s side, Michael Owen will sit out the tie after suffering a groin injury during training this week. The match, which kicks off at 5.30pm to suit the needs of broadcaster ESPN, will also provide another opportunity for fringe squad members including Darron Gibson, Gabriel Obertan and Bébé.

“We’ll play all the players who were involved at Southampton in the last round,” added Ferguson.

“Bébé will play, so will the two da Silvas, Brown, O’Shea, Chicharito. We’re strong in midfield with Anderson, Gibson and Carrick all available.

“It should be an interesting game. We’ve got good experience of playing sides like Crawley having played Burton Albion and Exeter. Those games were reminders that shocks can happen, and they almost did against those two teams. But the quality of players we’ll have on Saturday shouldn’t give us the same worry.

“We respect the fact that Crawley are the best non-league side for quite a while. They’re very committed and aggressive and it’ll be a tough game.”

Park Ji-Sung will also sit out the tie after suffering a hamstring injury last week and will miss the next month, while Rio Ferdinand and Jonny Evans are still unavailable.

Better news comes in the form of Ryan Giggs new contract, with the Welshman now committed to the club until June 2012. While the 37-year-old is unlikely to play against Crawley, a series of impressive performances from the bench have convinced Ferguson of the winger’s continuing worth.

And if Giggs is an inspiration to United’s youth then the next great Old Trafford star could be on the bench after half a dozen kids were handed squad numbers ahead of the Crawley tie. Striker Joshua King, brilliant Frenchman Paul Pogba, and midfielders Ryan Tunnicliffe and Oliver Norwood have each been handed a squad place.

Meanwhile, Crawley’s players warmed up for the tie by taking in an Old Trafford sightseeing tour on Thursday – somewhat belittling manager Steve Evans assertion that his side would play with no fear.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” 23-year-old defender Kyle McFadzean told BBC Sport.

“I might not be able to play at Old Trafford again so we have to take our chances when they come. Whatever team they put out it will be a good one but we have to go there thinking we can win.

“There’s no point in going there expecting to get hammered is there? If we did that then there would be no point in turning up. We all think we have got a chance.”

Crawley’s extraordinary rise comes after the club almost went out of business four years ago. In the meantime, Crawley’s new owners Bruce Winfield, Ian and Susan Carter and Prospect Estates Holdings cleared the debt and pumped money into the transfer market much to other non-league clubs’ chagrin.

Dodgy financing it seems isn’t limited to Glazernomics. Fitting perhaps that Evans himself was once banned by the FA for financial irregularities.

The cup may not be dead but it’s certainly on life-support.

When FA Cup fifth round balls one and seven were drawn late Sunday afternoon it realised one manager’s dream and will allow his part-time players the trip of a lifetime to Old Trafford. For the other, the weekend of 19 February will afford Sir Alex Ferguson’s first team a well-earned rest.

While Crawley Town’s visit to Old Trafford in just over a fortnight should be the cup’s  most romantic tie, it’ll be little more than a training exercise for United. Indeed, few will blame Ferguson if he selects a team made entirely from fringe and reserve players – and Darron Gibson – for the tie against the Conference high flyers.

Much like United’s matches against Burton Albion and Exeter City in recent seasons, the match will almost certainly – perhaps even after a replay – play out as a win for United’s much changed side, with the plucky non-leaguers winning the nation’s hearts.

Meanwhile, the Glazer family will rejoice, no doubt, in more than 50,000 fans arriving at Old Trafford and paying full price to watch a team of stiffs. Crawley Town won’t be much cop either.

So much for the romance of the cup.

Despite that ultra-cynical view the tie still means everything to Glasgow-born Crawley’s manager Steve Evans, who celebrated the draw as an Auld Firm derby south of the border.

“The man from Govan against the man from Cambuslang,” said Evans of facing his managerial idol.

“One’s a Celtic fan, one’s a Rangers fan. It was just a surreal moment.

“We got the tie that everyone in the country wants. I suppose if you are Arsène Wenger or Alex McLeish you don’t want that draw, but we did.

“This is going to be the biggest day in our lives, but we will give them the respect that Real Madrid gave them… the utmost respect.”

Crawley lie second in the conference behind supporter-owned AFC Wimbledon but with four games in hand and a very real chance of promotion to the football league for the first time in the club’s history. And with victories over Football League sides Swindon Town, Derby County and then Torquay United already in this season’s FA Cup it is no wonder Evans is bullish about his side’s chances.

“We will approach the tie in a really positive nature,” added Evans.

“The only non-League club capable of beating Manchester United is Crawley Town as we stand today. Miracles do happen.

“It sounds stupid as the manager of a non-League side, but we’ll go and try to win. We played three up front against Torquay. We might get smashed out of Manchester, but we’ll try and play the right way, get the ball down and pass it.”

It’s a long way up for the club that almost ceased to exist just five years ago after Crawley entered administration in 2006 with more than £1.8 million in debts. Indeed, the club was only days from extinction, with HMRC issuing a winding up petition. Only an emergency meeting of creditors saved the club, while former director Azwar Majeed was later jailed for tax fraud.

Much like the team he now manages, Evans has a chequered financial history. As a coach there are few with the Scot’s pedigree in non-league football. The 48-year-old took Boston United from the Southern League to the Conference in 2000 and then into the League two years later.

Yet, the rapid ascent up the football pyramid has since been overshadowed by an FA investigation into ‘contract irregularities’ that led to a 20-month ban for Evans. The club had lodged false documents with the game’s governing body that – according to the FA – hid illegal payments to players.

Time served, Evans will now take his side of semi-pros and League hopefuls more than 200 miles north, facing a fixture congestion crisis that would send Ferguson into a tizzy.

“We’ve got some fixture congestion ahead,” adds Evans.

“We’ll lose the game against York City, and if we’re selected for TV, we could lose two games. The owners are saying we’ve got the squad we’ve got to cover that.

“But if I feel we’re short in one or two areas, they’ll listen. We may be doing some business before the transfer window closes.”

And while Evans’ side is unlikely to face United stars Wayne Rooney, Nani, Rio Ferdinand or Paul Scholes at Old Trafford – nor any first team regulars – Gibson will surely play. Unlikely perhaps but few United fans would shed a tear if the Irishman were on the opposition benches instead.

Now that really would be the magic of the cup!