31 May - Trust disappointed by Evans appointment

The board of the Devils Trust note with dismay the appointment of former Boston United manager Steve Evans as Crawley Town manager.

After a recent meeting between trust representatives and members of the Supporters Club committee, a positive statement was issued that the two supporters bodies would agree to work more closely together, and with the club, on the understanding that the club is ‘run in a way that upholds the reputation of Crawley Town FC'.

We do not believe that appointing a manager who was banned from football for 20 months by the FA for paying a witness to mislead an FA enquiry can do anything but lower further the reputation of Crawley Town FC in the eyes of the football community.

It was only last November that Mr Evans pleaded guilty to conspiring to cheat the public revenue in a crown court, receiving a one-year sentence suspended for two years.

The trust do not believe that he is an appropriate person to be the public face of a community-based family-friendly football club.

Our members had hoped that the recent appointment of Vic Marley as the chairman of Crawley Town FC might herald the return of honesty and integrity to the club. Sadly the announcement that Mr Evans is the new manager has already undermined confidence in that belief.

The trust has been aware that respected football people were interested in the manager's position and cannot help but question why the owners would select this particular candidate, which sends entirely the wrong signal to the football world at a time when our club is already under intense scrutiny.

We look forward to meeting with Mr Marley and Mr Evans and other club officials in order to express the concerns of our members and in the hope of receiving satisfactory evidence that the club is being run in an appropriate manner.

In particular, we would like to know what assurances have been given to the new manager about the club's overall financial security and the playing and transfer budgets for the coming season.

The Trust is pleased that a fans forum has been arranged for June 18 and encourage our members to go to the meeting to voice their opinions.