'I’ll probably look around the area where she was sitting' - Crawley Town boss Scott Lindsey's fond Wembley memory of wife who passed away

For a lot of people involved at Crawley Town, this will be the first time experiencing Wembley. But for Lindsey, he has been there and done it as assistant manager of Forest Green when they won the National League play-offs in 2017.

And on that day, there was someone very special to Lindsey there who will not be this weekend. His late wife Hayley’s life was cruelly cut short at the age of 44 by kidney cancer in 2019.

In press conference in the build-up to the game, Lindsey was asked about how emotional the game would be and his memory of seeing Hayley at Wembley in 2017.

"The last one [game at Wembley] was a real good memory. I remember when we won, I remember my wife who passed away, she was in the crowd so I will be probably looking around at that seat as a memory for me on Sunday.”

The game on Sunday will be an emotional one for the Crawley faithful, being the club’s first ever visit to the home of English Football, but also for Lindsey for different reasons.

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He said: “I don’t think it will be emotional because I will be so focused on the game, maybe after the game, there might be some emotions with myself.

“I’m not an emotional person, but I’ll probably look around that area where she was sitting last time.

“I’m just so focused on the game I’m sure there will be some emotions at the end of it when it's all finished and done, whatever the result is.”

This week’s Crawley Observer has an 8-page special celebrating Reds going to Wembley – you can order a copy here.