The Devil and the AFC

Nobes takes a look at the contrasts in an intriguing race for the Conference title - a contest which neutrals are keeping more than an eye on.

Terry Brown and Steve Evans are both hoping for Conference title glory this year

Not for many seasons has the race for the Conference title sparked such interest. However, it's not just Non League supporters who are keeping a keen eye on who will top the table come the end of the season.

The battle emerging between AFC Wimbledon and Crawley Town - albeit with Luton not yet out of the equation - is a classic case of contrasts. Two clubs who could hardly be more removed from one another.

One, the phoenix side formed in 2002 by aggrieved fans of the old Wimbledon - angered at how their football league place was usurped by Milton Keynes.

They carry with them the good-will and best wishes of all football fans - as they continue to work their way back up the pyramid. To date, four promotions in eight years have left them just one step away from claiming a place in the Football League.

The other, Crawley, are a club who have been financially mismanaged for a number of years and, in 2007, hired convicted fraudster Steve Evans as manager.

Last summer, the Red Devils, thanks to the finances of backer Bruce Winfield, embarked on an unprecedented spending spree - with the sole intention of bringing League Two football to their corner of Sussex. It has earned them the tag of "the Non League Manchester City."

While the race looks like being close to call, there's no doubt who the neutrals want to see crowned champions come April. For all their money, Crawley can't buy anyone's love.

Not that I can claim to be an impartial party. After all, Evans dragged my own proud club's name through the mud before leaving it days from going out of existence and tumbling down the Non League ladder.

Along the way he picked up a 20 month ban from management and a suspended jail sentence for his part in a tax swindle.

On top of it, he possesses an unrivalled ability to get under opposition managers, players, and fans' skins - all in the name of mind games and psychological warfare.

Indeed, watching Crawley's progress has reminded me of our own bitter race for the title in 2002. Evans raged a war of words across the media with Garry Hill, boss of title rivals Dagenham & Redbridge.

Nine years later, and he is at it again. Over Christmas, he claimed that the Dons would only finish third and would slip out of the title race leaving Crawley and Luton battling it out.

After a recent 0-0 draw at Grimsby, Evans also labelled Wimbledon boss Terry Brown "disrespectful", suggesting Brown had been telling everybody that Town would "win here comfortably."

When the two sides faced one another in September, with the Dons running out 2-1 winners, Evans savaged reporters after the game, arguing that his side had been the only ones trying to play any football.

"Is that the benchmark we've got to be up to there? We've not got a problem," he ranted before swiftly storming out of the interview.

The 48-year-old is a combustible character, whose outspoken manner saw him sent from the technical area half a dozen times in his first season at the Broadfield Stadium, earning him a ten match touchline ban.

However, he is also a capable manager in the Conference Premier and has spent the big money he has been given well. Striker Matt Tubbs, snapped up from Salisbury, is the division's top scorer with 22 goals to his name.

The likes of Craig McAllister, Sergio Torres, and £300,000 man Richard Brodie ensure that Town are a team packed full of goals and attacking talent. However, they also boast a robust defence, with 18 goals conceded the tightest in the league.

Also, while they sit a couple of points behind AFC Wimbledon in the standings, their run to the FA Cup fifth round means they have four games in hand on their rivals, as well as possessing a superior goal difference.

The goals of Matt Tubbs could fire Crawley Town in the Football League

Evans will also be buoyed by the fact his side haven't lost in the league since mid-October and they will have home advantage when the Dons come to town next month.

All of which means that, just like their ancestors at Wembley in 1988, Wimbledon are very much the underdogs when it comes to them continuing their rise up from the ninth tier of English football.

However, for all football romantics who baulk at both Milton Keynes and Crawley's spending, the idea of AFC once again losing out to everything they despise about the modern game is one irony too many.

The Londoners aren't even fortunate enough to have their own ground, they currently ground share at Kingsmeadow with Kingstonian, although they are looking at moving back to their Merton Borough home in the future.

They certainly can't compete in the financial stakes with either Crawley or Luton, although they regularly attract home crowds of over 3,000 - which only the Hatters better.

They also have, in Brown, a manager who has proven himself more than capable in the Non Leagues and who deserves a chance to prove his abilities at a higher level.

He couldn't have come much closer in the past either. As manager of Aldershot Town, he took the Hampshire side into the Conference in 2003, leading the part time outfit all the way to the play off final.

There, they cruelly lost on penalties to Shrewsbury and, 12 months later, they again lost out on spot kicks, this time to Carlisle in the semi finals.

Ultimately, he only left the Shots in 2007 to take care of his ill wife, before returning with the Dons and taking them to back-to-back promotions.

Now, with a largely young squad plucked from the Non Leagues, and a desire to try and play the game the right way, Brown is hoping to make it third time lucky and gain elevation to the Football League.

Certainly the 58-year-old has brought into the ideals of the club, stating that the old Wimbledon were "sold down the river" by the Football League and that promotion would see AFC claim "what is rightfully ours."

Wimbledon are a model fans club - run by a board of nine people elected from The Dons Trust - a paid-for membership scheme involving around 1700 supporters. Being "sustainable" is the goal, as well as moving back to their true home.

While some Dons players have reacted to the taunts of Evans though, Brown insists that the Crawley boss doesn't get under his skin, going as far as saying that his opposite number's mischief-making even benefits the Conference.

However, the two clubs did lock horns over the summer, with Crawley's much-publicised failed attempts to sign Dons skipper Danny Kedwell. Brown must ensure he now doesn't light the blue touch paper during the run-in.

Arguably, Wimbledon can look ahead knowing the pressure is all on their rivals. However, they would, for once, echo the words of Evans who admitted "there is a certain feeling that when it is your year you have to take it."

Judging by the general coldness that Crawley's FA Cup run has been received by lower league supporters, it will be interesting to see the reaction should they indeed take the title and automatic promotion.

However, it is AFC Wimbledon who will carry the vast majority of support from the rest of the Conference. As Brown commented, "If and when we do get back into the League I'm sure every proper football fan will rejoice with us."

You get the feeling they would even more so if it happens this particular year.

Red Devils playing with fire

After a summer of ambitious additions and expensive signings, Nobes looks at the risky game being played at Conference Premier side Crawley Town.

Crawley hope to bring Football League football to the Broadfield Stadium

They're not the first, and they won't be the last. Crawley Town's big-spending summer is the kind of action rooted in ambitious dreams of a small club striving to better themselves.

Unfortunately, more often that not, it doesn't work out that way. Instead, those who dared to dream - and spent far too much they couldn't really afford - end up suffering the harsh consequences of their financial profligacy.

Indeed, with both the Red Devils and their manager, Steve Evans, having experienced financial trouble in football in the past, it makes their current summer spending all the more baffling. Once bitten, twice obviously not shy.

Evans, particularly, is a notorious character. At best, his antics can be described as colourful. At worst, illegal. At Boston United, the Scot was initially reviled for leading the Lincolnshire club into the Football League in 2002.

However, a subsequent investigation into contractual irregularities at the club saw Evans banned from the game for 20 months for his part in the affair. He was later given a suspended custodial sentence after being convicted of tax fraud.

His touchline rants and conduct have also seen him sent off, and banned, from the touchline on numerous occasions. One referee even insisted he was ejected from the ground altogether due to his technical area tirade.

He is a man most fans - including some of his own club's - love to hate. However, it is all part of the make-up of a manager who almost revels in his role as the pantomime villain.

His, and Crawley's directors, biggest crime may end up bringing the Sussex club to their knees once more with their outlandish spending. Town have had a history of financial troubles and suffered points deductions accordingly.

However, this latest attempt to chase glory with an open chequebook could be the most costly of all.

Despite their most successful ever season last term - finishing 7th in the Conference - they attracted average crowds of just over 1000 - higher than only four other clubs in the division.

Competing for support from a congested area in the South East - not least from Brighton & Hove Albion - means establishing a fan base capable of sustaining them in the Football League will always be difficult.

Crawley boss Steve Evans - consistently followed by controversy

However, that hasn't deterred Evans, backed by local businessman and the club's co-owner, Bruce Winfield, setting about twice breaking the club's transfer record.

Salisbury striker Matt Tubbs was purchased for £75,000, and now midfielder Sergio Torres has made a move believed to be for around £100,000 from Peterborough.

Much sought after strikers Jamie Cook and Craig McAllister, as well as midfielder Pablo Mills, have also been free transfer captures, with Cook returning to the club from Oxford to link up with Evans again.

Although he spoke of the opportunity to work with his former manager again being a key factor in move back to the Broadfield Stadium, it's fair to assume financial reasons also played an important part.

Like with Torres and Tubbs, Crawley's sudden wealth has allowed them to pay wages to fight off competition from bigger and more established clubs - and ones higher up the pyramid.

While some Red Devils fans might find themselves becoming deliriously excited with the intent and ambition Crawley's recent signings display, they should also reserve some caution.

Such outlays will only prove worth the money - and the gamble - should success on the pitch follow. A place in the end of season play-offs, if not promotion, must now be the minimum requirement.

Easier said than done in an increasingly competitive division littered with a whole host of former Football League clubs.

However, Evans can rightly point to a record in the Conference that has shown he has the ability to mould together a group of players - whether able to be afforded or not - to compete towards the top end.

He is the only manager in this season's Conference who has won the title, albeit dubiously, before. His experience could prove vital should Crawley find themselves in the mix come the business end.

Failure to, though, and the Sussex outfit could soon find themselves in financial difficulty all over again. Crawley are taking their shot at the big time. They must hope it's not simply their own foot they end up shooting.