17th July - Millwall boycott hailed a success

The Devils Trust were delighted with the show of solidarity shown by Crawley Town fans who chose not to attend Saturday's home friendly against a Millwall XI as a protest against owners the Majeed brothers.

Last season the same fixture on the same July Saturday attracted a healthy crowd of 1,593. By Sunday night, fans had still been unable to discover an official attendance figure for this year's game but the sparse turnout at Broadfield Stadium was expected to be no more than half the 2005 figure. Fewer than 150 fans were reported to be in the Crawley areas of the terraces.

Some fans staged a peaceful demonstration in the car park before kick-off and the decision of Red Devils fans to vote with their feet and their wallets was evident.

Trust spokesman Phil Agius said: “We hope the poor turnout will have again sent the message to the Majeeds that they are not wanted at Crawley Town FC.

“We appreciate how hard it was for many faithful Reds fans to allow the team to take to the pitch for the first time this season without our usual support but the fact that staunch supporters were willing to forego something which used to bring them so much pleasure on a point of principle shows how deeply the fans feel.”

The trust is urging as many Red Devils supporters as possible to watch the team in Tuesday's away friendly at Horley Town.

“Many fans have said they will not put money in the Majeeds' pockets while they remain involved at the club, but we are all still Crawley Town supporters and we want to give the team as much backing as we can without benefiting the Majeed regime. We invite everyone to cheer the lads on at as many away games as they are able to attend,” he added.

“We congratulate the team on their 3-2 victory. We want to tell the new players that Crawley have the best fans around and we hope you'll soon experience that at away games and indeed home matches as soon as the Majeeds have gone.”

Despite being told on the official Crawley Town website that: “Millwall are expected to field a strong team and could include the likes of Zak Whitbread, Barry Hayles, Jody Morris and Darren Byfield in their side,” not one of those players turned up and the Millwall official site described their side as “a squad of fringe players and trialists”.