A club going nowhere in the lower reaches of the English pyramid is suddenly purchased by North Americans who seem to live in a different world. It’s a familiar story. Unfortunately for Crawley Town supporters, their script is more Brothers Grimm than the happy fairytale currently unfolding at Wrexham.
The League Two outfit were bought by crypto consortium WAGMI United in April 2022 – WAGMI standing for We’re All Gonna Make It. The mysterious group was fronted by Eben Smith and Preston Johnson, a sports data analyst who worked for ESPN, among others.
WAGMI promised to take Crawley to the Premier League through the sale of NFTs (non-fungible tokens – remember them?) and by building an international fanbase to sit alongside the hardy few who lined the terraces in their council owned Broadfield Stadium in West Sussex. The Red Devils styled themselves as “The Internet’s Team”.
Things started well. Crawley signed League Two’s top scorer from 2021/22, Dom Telford, before WAGMI raised £3.5 million in the first NFT drop ahead of the new campaign. Anyone who bought an NFT for £355 earned a package that included voting rights on club decisions, a special third kit and other digital content.
