Town Mead, or Town Meadow to use it's full name, was Crawley Towns permanent home from 1949 until May 1997 (with the exception of the 1953/4 season when home matches were played on Ifield Green while building and pitch works were carried out) though Crawley FC played occasional matches at the site from as early as 1906, but the ground was not enclosed at that time.

I first started watching Crawley, and so by default attending Town Mead, as a ten year old in 1984 and at that time the ground was very basic. On the southern side of the ground, backing onto Ifield Avenue, was a small wooden stand complete with wooden seats for about 250 people, along with the management benches. This stand was demolished in the summer of 1994 and replaced with a modern version, complete with a portacabin boardroom positioned on the roof. Next to this stand, to the west, was a small covered terrace with five or six steps of terracing which was known to me as 'The Old Boys Terrace', affectionately named with reference to the demographic of those who inhabited the stand! Others referred to it as 'The Visionhire stand' by virtue of the main advertisement board on the face of the roof.

Completing the southern side of the ground to the east of the main stand, and before my time, was another covered and sloped area which I understand was destroyed by the weather. The northern side of the ground was, for many years, just a grass bank with a little hut on the top of it from which commentary could be broadcast for hospital radio. This side was developed during the 1990/91 season. Initially a couple of steps of concrete and a wooden fence were added, but later the fence became corrugated plastic coated steel and a couple more steps were added. The dug outs were also moved from the main stand to this side of the ground.

The Firestation End, behind the eastern goal, was also a grass bank, though someone had tried to dig some steps into it behind the goal. They may have served a purpose when first dug, but they didn't really last. This end was later developed, firstly with a couple of rows of terracing and in the final two or three years at Town Mead with a small covered terrace. Before the ends final development, the wall at the front of the terrace collapsed when Barnet scored their first goal in the FA Cup 2nd round tie in 1993.

Finally, behind the western goal was The Shed End. This was 7 or 8 very large steps of terracing that ran the full width of the pitch. The middle third or so was covered, hence 'The Shed'. The Shed holds a very special place in my heart, personally, as I feel I grew up there; it was the playground of my youth. Many Saturday afternoons and Tuesday evenings were spent in The Shed cheering on the Reds. The atmosphere generated on a wet Tuesday evening as everyone crammed in to keep dry has never been replicated at the Broadfield Stadium. Until the Cup run of 1991 there were no barriers in the shed, but during the 4th Qualifying round replay against Horsham (attended by a then record 3,427 fans) the fence at the front of The Shed collapsed when Crawley took an early lead and the club were forced to install 2 rows of crush barriers, plus a proper front barrier, before they were given the go ahead to stage the subsequent first round match against Northampton.

Behind The Shed End terrace was a fairly wide walkway containing a tea bar and, in later years a small bar. Beyond that to the south was the clubs offices and changing rooms, first built in the 1950's and rebuilt in the late 1970's. The players accessed the pitch via a walkway that emerged at the south west corner of the pitch and passed through the area immediately inside the turnstiles, though this was walled in during later years due to ground grading requirements. Beyond the walkway to the north was the social club. Between the two buildings was an exit gate and outside gents toilets; essentially a wall with a gutter along the bottom. Beyond the buildings was the club car park.

The pitch itself was notoriously poor, a boggy clay pitch that must have seen several thousand tons of sand dumped on it and much experimentation with different drainage methods over the years which, despite the effort of all involved, never seemed to be successful for long. The low quality of the pitch can be seen in many of the forthcoming photographs.

The clubs final competitive match at Town Mead was a 2-0 victory against Atherstone United on 26 April 1997, in front of a disappointing crowd of 901. The final match, a couple of weeks later, was the testimonial of club Legend Tony Vessey; a 4-2 victory over Leyton Orient for whom Steve Davis (yes, the snooker player) saved a penalty from the man of the evening. The club relocated to the custom built Broadfield Stadium for the start of the 97/98 season and have been there ever since. In a nod to the past, what is now the Redz Bar at the stadium was originally named 'The Town Mead Tavern'.

The following pictures are of Town Mead and are shown, as far as I have been able to determine, in chronological order. Many datings are estimates. Should you have any further information about the ground or have some pictures not shown here (of particular interest are photos from the 1960's), please contact admin@ctfchistory.co.uk I'd love to hear from you. Big thanks to all those who have already contributed photographs for this page.

For those who are relatively new to the club or the town, Town Mead stood where Crawley Leisure park now is, next to the fire station. Most of the site is underneath the main car park.

The committee of the time standing on the base for the original offices and changing rooms at what became the Shed End of the ground.


Ifield Avenue being constructed in 1950 with a rudimentary Town Mead, consisting of a fenced off pitch and changing rooms/club offices, in the background


A match against Portslade during the 1950/51 season.

 
Building works during what can be assumed to be the 1953/54 season whilst the club were hosting matches on Ifield Green. The first picture shows the main stand being built, whilst the second shows the bank at the shed end being a built - originally a wood and cinder open terrace before promotion in the 1968/69 season saw proper concrete steps being laid and the middle third having the roof constructed over it.


The results of the building works


A match from 1957. In the background is what was later built up into the grass banking on the north side of the ground


A Metropolitan League match against West Ham United in 1960/61


At home to Dorking in August 1965. Note that the Shed End is yet to covered and concreted, as well as the square wooden goalposts and a complete lack of sponsorship anywhere in the shot.

 

This picture is believed to date to the early 70's. The ground is to the right of, and below, centre and perfectly illustrates how poor the pitch was, with barely any grass visible along the length of the middle third of the pitch.


Two excellent shots from 1973 showing what appears to be a recently roofed Shed and the three stands on the southern side of the ground


These seven pictures are from the late 70's. The first four pictures show the changing rooms and club offices not long before they were demolished. Note the little wooden buttresses supporting the walls! Picture 5 shows the covered area previously mentioned that stood to the west of the main stand and the final two pictures show an (unsuccessful) attempt to improve the drainage of the pitch.


These four pictures from the very early 80's show the ground in a somewhat dilapidated state.


This series of photographs was taken by 'The Newbury Wanderer' (https://www.flickr.com/photos/7374232@N04/) during the 2nd round FA Trophy match against 'Gola League giants' Wycombe Wanderers on 18 January 1986, which the visitors won by two goals to nil. This set of pictures manages to showcase the entire ground at a point in time, illustrate just how much sand was poured onto that pitch and highlight the absurdity of the official attendance, which was given as 1,250.


This series of photographs was taken before and during a top of the table clash with Dartford on 20 February 1988; a 0-0 draw in front of 1,005 fans. Note that the roof of The Shed is still damaged following the great storm of some 4 months previously.


Fans relaxing on the grass banking during the late 80s


The Town Mead pitch looking remarkably green in what must have been pre season in approx 1991


The improvement works of November 1991 to enable the first round FA Cup match against Northampton Town to take place


Photos taken during the match with Northampton on 16 November 1991


During and after the FA Cup 2nd round match with Barnet on 4 December, a match which attracted a record Town Mead crowd of 4,104

 

The above 37 photos chart the improvement works that were carried out in the mid nineties to bring the ground up to Conference standards.


1996

 

Town Mead as it was in the final months of use


The final competitive match at Town Mead - A Southern League Premier Division match against Atherstone United on on 26 April 1997


The end of Town Mead


A further set of photos taken after we had left Town Mead, courtesy of Simon King

 

Text © Ian Mulcahy, Tony Pope & Mick Fox.
18 January 1986 photographs courtesy of 'The Newbury Wanderer' (https://www.flickr.com/photos/7374232@N04/)  
 20 February 1988 photographs © Ian Mulcahy
Other photographs contributed by Mick Fox, Gavin Green, Darren Hands, Simon King & Bruce Talbot.
The copyright of most photos is unknown, but I would like to express to my gratitude to those who created them for preserving an important part of the clubs history.
Contact photos@iansapps.co.uk or visit my 'Use of my photographs' page for licensing queries (ground level photographs only).