The History of Crewe Alexandra Football Club
The Railwaymen from Cheshire and Their Years in English Football
Jan 8, 2009
Crewe Alexandra formed in 1877 as Crewe Football Club by players of Crewe Cricket Club as they wanted something to do in the winter months when Cricket finished for the season.
In 1884 Crewe or The Alex, entered the FA Cup for the first time, but were beaten in the first round by Queens Park of Glasgow 10-0. In 1892 Crewe Alex became a founder member of the Football League Division 2 having previously played in the Football Alliance. In 1897, Crewe reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, losing to eventual winners Preston North End.
Crewe Alexandra Return to the Football League
It was not until the 1920’s before The Alex returned to the Football League but it was another decade before the club achieved any success. Crewe won the Welsh Cup in 1936 and retained the trophy the following year in 1937. During this time, Bert Swindells scored an impressive 126 goals which still stands today as a club record. After their successes, Crewe Alex faced expulsion from the Welsh Cup due to them being an English club.
Crewe failed to achieve any success in the following pre and post World War Two years and in 1955 endured a winless sequence of 56 games before finally winning 1-0 at Southport at the 57th attempt.
Crewe FA Cup Between 1960 and 1961
In 1960 Crewe were drawn at home against Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup and attracted a crowd of 20,000 spectators for the game; this is still the clubs highest ever attendance. The Alex managed an admirable 2-2 but in the replay were beaten 13-2 at White Hart Lane.
Crewe’s achieved their greatest ever FA Cup victory the following year as The Alex defeated a Chelsea side containing Jimmy Greaves and Terry Venables 2-1 at Stamford Bridge. They played against Spurs again in the fourth round, this time going down 5-1.
In 1963, Crewe gained promotion for the first time in their history with a 1-0 win over Exeter City. A crowd of 9,807 celebrated the success, with goal scorer Frank Lord becoming a local hero. Lord also managed eight hat tricks in his time with the club, a record that still stands today. The success did not last and Crewe Alex suffered relegation back to the bottom division of English Football.
Terry Harkin score a club record 35 league goals for the season in 1964 and Tommy Lowry set a new record for most appearance for the club, totalling 475 games.
World famous goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar arrived at Crewe in 1979 and played 24 games for the club before joining Liverpool. In his time at The Alex, he managed to keep eight clean sheets and even managed to score a penalty against York City.
Dario Gradi Arrives to Revolutionise Academy Football in England
Dario Gradi arrived as manager in 1983 and changed the fortunes of the Cheshire club. Under Gradi, Crewe began to develop local talent and make cheap purchases of young players from other clubs. Under Gradi’s reign, the likes of David Platt, Geoff Thomas Neil Lennon, Danny Murphy, Rob Savage, Seth Johnson and Dean Ashton have played for Crewe, many of them coming through the Gresty Road Academy and all of them going on to represent their country.
Crewe achieved promotion from the bottom division in 1989, but suffered relegation two years later. After a number of near misses, The Alex finished third in Division 3 and gained promoted again. Crewe challenged for promotion for the following three seasons and reached the First Division with a 1-0 play-off final win over Brentford at Wembley in 1997.
They remained in the second tier of English football until relegation in 2002, but bounced straight back at the first attempt finishing as Division 2 runners-up in 2003.
Again, in 2006, Crewe suffered relegation and returned to English Footballs third level where they remain today.
After 24 years and over 1000 games in charge, Dario Gradi moved to the position of Director of Football at the club. A post he remains in still.
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