Like many others, I did not expect Crawley to win promotion to League One. After a seventh-place finish in the regular season, Crawley’s momentum in the play-offs has been key, with a huge 8-1 aggregate victory over MK Dons in the semi-final, the biggest EFL play-off win and the most goals scored by a side in their first two games in the play-offs. This was Crawley’s first time playing at Wembley and, after starting 2024 in 14th, their run of 10 wins and four draws in 21 games put them on course for promotion. All this is more remarkable on the back of last season, when Crawley finished 22nd and only just avoided a drop into non-League, a level they were promoted from in 2010-11. Back-to-back promotions then saw them reach the heights of League One the following season but being an established EFL club this high up the pyramid is a relatively new thing for a club that only reached the top tier of non-league football in 2005. The outcome at Wembley made Lindsey’s side the first since ...