00:00 Hi, I'm Mark Dunford, head of sport for Sussex World and editor of the Crawley Observer.
00:05 Today I'm delighted to be joined by Crawley Town legend Matt Tubbs. Matt scored 66 goals
00:11 in 96 games for the Reds and was part of Steve Evans' side that went from non-league to
00:14 League One and also played at Old Trafford in the fifth round of the FA Cup in 2011.
00:19 Matt, thank you so much for joining us. How are you doing?
00:23 Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, I'm really good, thank you. Yeah, really good. Yeah,
00:29 football season's, you know, closing now, so it's trying to, you know, figure out what
00:33 golf course I'm going to be on throughout the summer. So, yeah, it's been a good season
00:37 kind of all round, like watching, you know, so many teams do so well.
00:41 Yeah, let's start with what you're up to these days. Some Crawley fans might not know what
00:45 you do these days.
00:46 Yeah, so I'm a sport and exercise science lecturer at Brocklinhurst College, 16 to 19
00:52 year olds down in the New Forest. So, yeah, it's something I never really thought I'd
00:59 get into. But at the back end of my career, I kind of equipped myself with qualifications
01:04 and, you know, not knowing what I was going to go into and the opportunity to come up
01:08 to be a teacher. And I, you know, I took it and now I'm in my fifth year of teaching and,
01:12 you know, again, really, really enjoying it.
01:14 Yeah, I just want to point out now that I once played for St Vincent College and we
01:18 beat Brocklinhurst 8-2 and I scored two goals, but I don't want to go on about that.
01:22 Obviously, you've probably been keeping a close eye on how Crawley are doing. How
01:30 impressed have you been with them this season?
01:32 Yeah, yeah, really good. Yeah, they had a little bit of a slow start in the first couple
01:37 of games. But yeah, you know, they've had a remarkable season, especially the back end
01:40 of the season. And you can kind of see that with the results and the team spirit and the
01:45 camaraderie, the togetherness that's there at the minute is, you know, that goes so far.
01:49 And, you know, that's ultimately, as well as having some really good players, has got
01:53 them over the line. You know, we've seen the MK game, how tight the group is. And, you
02:00 know, it's credit to the management and the staff and the players to create that culture
02:03 and get them to where they've got to now.
02:05 Yeah, I mean, when we consider what happened last year when the new owners came in, it
02:10 was quite a tumultuous year, to say the least, kind of thing. And when they, over the summer,
02:16 they brought in a load of, like we said, non-league, what seemed to be non-league players.
02:19 Did you ever think we'd be talking about Crawley going to Wembley this season?
02:23 No, no, definitely not. No, I don't think anyone did. Hence why they were, you know,
02:28 tipped to be one of the teams to get relegated out of the division. So, you know, and again,
02:32 that's credit to the staff and the managers and the players to how far they've come in
02:38 a really short space of time. Because it does take time for teams to gel and get that team
02:43 spirit together. But, you know, what Scott Lindsay and Jamie Day and the staff have done
02:47 there is, you know, unbelievable. And like you said, now they're getting their rewards
02:51 with a great day out at Wembley.
02:53 Yeah, it's a great playing style Scott Lindsay has implemented. I imagine when Crawley first
03:01 got to League Two, when you were playing, there weren't many teams playing this kind
03:05 of football in League Two. It's not sort of known for League Two sort of playing style, is it?
03:09 No, it's not known. I think back then, you know, 10, 11, 12 years ago, it was very more direct
03:15 and especially the way Steve Evans set up his teams. He was predominantly a direct manager
03:20 and direct coach and he built a team that could work around that philosophy. And in that season
03:26 where we got promoted from League Two to League One, that worked for the team. And obviously what
03:31 Scott Lindsay is doing now with his style of play, he's bringing players that are technically
03:36 very, very good footballers and can move the ball well and do what he wants to do. And like I said,
03:42 you've seen him, you know, get into that last playoff spot. And, you know, like I said,
03:46 they've got an amazing day out coming up this weekend and I'm sure they're going to plan well
03:50 and, you know, play the football that they want to play, you know, on their big day.
03:53 Yeah. And Brockinghurst College, do they play football like that?
03:59 This season, we've been victims of the weather this season. It's been,
04:02 just get any kind of consistency whatsoever. As you can imagine on college pitches is,
04:07 you know, a little bit in the rain and it gets cooled off. So we haven't had really much chance.
04:13 But, you know, for me and my style, I've been quite lucky to play under Steve Evans,
04:17 who's been very successful and Eddie Howe, who's been very successful. Two polar opposite managers,
04:23 one wants to play football, one wants to go long. So I've been playing a little bit of the two.
04:28 Yeah, absolutely. Being a striker, I imagine you've been keeping tabs on Danilo Orsi,
04:33 who has now scored more goals in a league season for Crawley than anyone else. Sorry to bring that
04:37 up. I think you were, how many did you score in your first season? Was that 18, I think, possibly?
04:41 Yeah, I think, yeah, I was 18 league goals up until January and then I obviously left
04:48 at the end of January. So, yeah, he's been doing amazing. You know, he's a great finisher.
04:58 You've seen that with the goals that he scored and the clips that you see of him. He's very much
05:02 kind of in the box, right place, right time, you know, touch and finish really quick. And also,
05:07 what he's got to gain is he holds the ball quite well as well in the games that I've seen. So,
05:11 you know, he's kind of an all-round striker, especially when Scott Lindsay goes one up front,
05:18 he's kind of leads that line really, really well.
05:20 Yeah. Now you obviously part of the team, as we've already mentioned, that went to Old Trafford,
05:25 arguably Crawley's biggest game in their history before this weekend. What can you remember about
05:30 that experience and in particular the build up to it? What players go through in a week like this
05:35 leading up to it? Yeah, I think it's just the euphoria of it all. You obviously get,
05:40 the week leading up to it, it's one of the best weeks. Yeah, it's almost better than the day
05:45 because there's so much, like I said, euphoria and excitement around the town, the players.
05:49 I bet every single one of those players, I bet you won't see one of them in the medical room
05:53 this week. They'll all be out, they'll have a great week's training, knowing the fact that
05:59 one, they're going to go to Wembley and have a great day out, but also two, they've got the
06:03 chance to get promoted to League One, which is, you know, and I think Scott Lindsay said in a
06:07 video after MK Don's, that every doubt has given them the fuel to go out and win. And, you know,
06:14 Crewe only finished one point above them in the league this season. So, it's not as if there's
06:18 a big golfing difference between the two. So, obviously Crewe have got to come down to London,
06:23 Crawley are a London base. So, you know, hopefully, just it'd be a really good game. But
06:28 like I said, hopefully seeing Crawley lift the trophy.
06:31 Absolutely. And this week, the Crawley players, like we said, are building up to Wembley. The
06:37 majority of them, for the first time, I think there's only maybe one or two have actually
06:40 played at Wembley. What advice would you give to someone who has been through,
06:45 someone who has been through a similar going into a huge game?
06:48 Just say for the moment, and people say this quite a lot, it goes within a blink of an eye and
06:56 and it does. And, you know, I'm 12, 13 years past Old Trafford now. And, you know, I still
07:03 hold it so close to me and I still think about it all the time. And, you know, now I teach students
07:08 and when they kind of get wind that I used to play football, they see in the class,
07:12 they're watching like YouTube clips of the Man United game still. And that's 12, 13 years past
07:18 when we did. So, you know, it's an amazing day out. And like I said, we went to Old Trafford,
07:24 they're going to Wembley. It's just taking every single minute, take as many photos as you can.
07:29 They're with their, you know, they're with their good friends on the football pitch.
07:32 They're going to go to battle against a good team. And they're all going to fight for each
07:36 other, I'm sure. And you've seen that in the course of the season. They've been, you know,
07:40 a tight knit, especially the back end of the season. And, you know, to do it with the guys
07:44 that you see pretty much every day is, you know, it's something to savour.
07:48 Yeah. I asked you this when Crawley played Bournemouth in the FA Cup in the fourth round
07:54 in 2021 after they beat Leeds 3-0. But how do you think your Crawley side under Steve Evans,
08:00 who played at Old Trafford, would get against this Scott Lindsay current side?
08:03 Two hugely different styles.
08:07 Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. You hit the nail on the head there. Two totally different styles. Yeah,
08:12 really, really tough one. Because obviously, like you said, the two different styles could
08:16 potentially counteract each other. One's very direct and one wants to play really nice football.
08:21 But that's not to say under Steve Evans we didn't play nice football. Steve Evans was just
08:25 get it forward quick and then play really good football in the opponent's half. So,
08:29 yeah, I mean, to call, yeah, to call who's going to win is probably too tough. And I'll probably
08:35 have to sit on the fence on it, I think. But yeah, it's too, yeah, it's too tough. I mean,
08:40 it's too many. You look at it in that season, the Crawley talent Steve Evans got promoted after
08:45 winning, coming third. This Crawley team are finishing, you know, seventh and getting in
08:50 the playoffs with the run they've had. But we had experienced players that played the level,
08:55 really bringing young, fresh players up. So, yeah, it's probably too hard to tell, I'd imagine.
09:02 I imagine hat-tricks were Orsi and Tubbs that day if they were playing each other.
09:06 Yeah, who'd get the match ball, though? That's the question.
09:09 Yeah, absolutely. And the big question, can Crawley beat Crewe this weekend? And what is
09:16 your score prediction? Yeah, I think they can. I think they definitely can. Like I said,
09:22 you know, an amazing... And I think even if you cast your mind back to Old Trafford,
09:26 absolutely no one gave us a hope in hell that day. And, you know, we only just narrowly lost
09:30 1-0 with Brodie hitting the bar in the last minute as well. So, yeah, it's a one-off game.
09:36 And, you know, I'd back Crawley. I mean, you look at the last two games, Crewe have won,
09:42 would they have a little bit of this season, like a bit of a psychological bit about it,
09:47 like because they've beaten Crawley twice already this season. But I think on a day like
09:51 that, when the final is going to be, it's just, you know, whoever goes out there and whoever
09:55 works harder, whoever moves the ball faster is going to end up winning the game. But yeah, I'd
10:00 back Crawley all day. I'm going to go 2-1 Crawley. That's my prediction. Excellent. Good stuff. Well,
10:06 let's hope that comes to fruition. So, well, thank you so much for joining us, Matt. It's
10:10 been great talking to you. You can see our special season eight supplement celebrating Crawley getting
10:15 to Wembley in this week's Crawley Observer. And you can see all the build up online at
10:19 sussexworld.co.uk. Thanks again, Matt. And hopefully speak to you soon.
10:24 Yep, thanks for having me. Thank you.
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