Does Crawley Town star Nick Tsaroulla only score goals of the season? - Steve Leake

Oh, what a goal,

Mid-September back in ‘21,

We couldn’t believe what he had done

As we remember, what a goal

Oh, what a win,

You know, we thought we had drawn the game

But now he belongs in the hall of fame

What a player, what a win

Oh, I, I got a funny feeling

When he shot, on the run.

And then the whistle blew

Game over, we had won

Oh, what a team!!!!

Ok, I'll get my coat and stick to my day job, only I haven’t got one.

A job that is. Seriously though, what a perfect example of Noli Semper Cedere (Never Ever Give Up), I only hope Jermaine Beckford was watching.

If you don’t get the meaning of that slightly sarcastic comment, something which I was told never to use as a teacher so I’m making up for it now, have a look back at his comments after we had demolished his beloved Leeds United. Nick Tsaroulla, what a player! Does he only score goals of the season?

The whole day for me was perfect, starting with the pre-match drink in Redz, the coming together of friends, old and new, through the drawing of September’s Reds rollover by John “Yemsy” Yems and Dannie “the legend” Bulman, ably assisted by young Elliot Jordan and finally concluding with that stunning 90th minute equaliser.

The game itself was what football at our level is all about, end to end stuff with chances in both penalty areas providing us with three goals, two for us and one for them, but most importantly with the three points.

There were stars all over the pitch, but three stood out for me in being the reason for us getting the result. The first was new signing, Joel Lynch, who despite his booking proved to be an experienced commanding presence at the back alongside Tom Dallison.

The second was Tom Nichols, who proved yet again what an instinctive, hardworking player he is and put us into the lead for the first time this season, and of course, the third was young Nick Tsaroulla, who, despite missing a tackle on half way which led to their equaliser , never gave up and hit the sweetest of volleys to send the Crawley faithful into a state of wonderful delirium.

Our home form is great, with two wins and a draw against three of the fancied teams, but now is the time to get the away form going as we travel the relatively short distance to deepest Essex. There will be a good reds presence at Colchester, providing of course everyone has managed to pass the entrance exam for buying a ticket, with many travelling by car, coach and train.

I am positive it will be a good day out whatever the outcome, but it would be even better if we were to come home with all three points. Let's hope the only problems John and Lee have to face, before next Saturday, are who to leave out of the match day squad because they are all fit and available.

Away from the on-pitch stuff, I am pleased to announce that Noli Semper Cedere is now at the publishers and should be available in October, with the official launch scheduled to take place at the Port Vale home game on the 30th. Typically, as soon as I had submitted the draft copy, I discovered some more exciting information about the origins of our club which left me in a bit of a quandary.

Do I rewrite the draft or write a third book? After much careful thought, I have decided to do the latter and, thanks to Ivan Noel, I already have the title, “Stagni Ollam et Superbus”.

I’ll leave the translation to you along with a request for some help. If anyone would like to suggest characters from the first 125 years of Crawley (Town) FC please email me on [email protected].

They don’t have to be players or managers, but they must be red through and through. I already have two from the first half century, W.J.Denman and G.F.H.Banks, who I will be researching, but if you know anyone who might be their descendants then please get in touch.

Looking forward to hearing from you all, and remember TOWN.TEAM .TOGETHER