🔴 Rochdale v Crawley Preview

Rochdale v Crawley Town — Sky Bet League Two, Matchday 2

Crown Oil Arena | Saturday 22 August 2026 | Kick-off 3:00pm

For The Devil’s Own podcast — everything you need before Saturday.

THE HEADLINE

Both sides arrive off the back of matchday 1 defeats and looking to put things right — but this is about as contrasting a “both teams need a response” as you’ll find. Crawley are nursing self-inflicted wounds after two red cards sank them against Crewe. Rochdale, newly promoted and under a brand-new head coach, were taken apart 3-0 at Newport on their return to League Two. Something has to give.

📋 RECENT FORM

Crawley Town

Lost 0-1 at home to Crewe Alexandra on matchday 1 — a game they were competitive in before Kellan Gordon (51′) and Malcolm Ebiowei (64′) were both sent off for violent conduct, leaving nine men to hold out until Josh March’s 95th-minute header won it for Crewe.

Rochdale

Lost 3-0 away at Newport County on matchday 1 — new boss Ian Watson’s first game in charge ending in defeat as summer signings Kyle Cameron (18′) and Shaquille Gwengwe (38′) put the game away before half-time. Rochdale were further reduced when Bryant Bilongo was sent off for a second yellow card in the 66th minute; Yahya Bamba added a third late on.

The parallel: both teams go into this one having finished matchday 1 with ten (or nine) men and a suspension to deal with — a strange little symmetry worth flagging on the pod.

🆕 ROCHDALE — WHO ARE THEY?

Worth setting the scene here, since this is a club many listeners won’t have seen much of:

Newly promoted to League Two via the National League play-offs, beating Boreham Wood 3-1 on penalties at Wembley on 10 May 2026, having finished 2nd in the National League behind champions York City.
Brand new head coach: Ian Watson, who arrives with assistant Carl Magnay after guiding South Shields to a club-record 2nd-place finish in the National League North. Watson replaced Jimmy McNulty, who left for Stockport County just weeks after securing Dale’s promotion.
This will be Watson’s first home league game in charge — a notable early test of the “new manager bounce” (or lack of it) after the Newport hammering.
Ground: Crown Oil Arena, capacity 10,249.

⚔️ HEAD-TO-HEAD

A genuinely competitive fixture historically, and one where recent history actually favours Crawley:

Last 5 meetings: Crawley unbeaten — 2 wins, 3 draws, 0 losses.
Longer view (last 8): Rochdale have won 4 — a reminder this has swung both ways over the years.
Since 2014 (6 meetings): Crawley 3 wins, Rochdale 2, 1 draw.
Crawley won the last meeting at Crown Oil Arena on record, and have not lost away to Rochdale in some time — worth checking the exact date on air, but the pattern is clear: Dale have not had the better of this fixture lately.

🟥 TEAM NEWS

Crawley — suspensions bite early

Both Kellan Gordon and Malcolm Ebiowei were dismissed for violent conduct against Crewe, which under FA rules carries an automatic three-match ban — ruling both out of Rochdale, the following home game with Bristol Rovers, and the trip to Northampton. That’s a big early blow to a settled front line.

Kazim-Richards was notably restrained afterwards, calling the dismissals “self-inflicted” and specifically flagging Ebiowei’s as “a bit dubious”, drawing a direct comparison to Jay Williams’ red card against Grimsby in April 2026 — a dismissal that was successfully overturned on appeal. Worth watching whether Crawley lodge a wrongful dismissal claim for Ebiowei this week; if upheld, his ban would be rescinded.

Rochdale

Bryant Bilongo serves the first game of his one-match ban (second yellow) after the Newport game, so expect a change at left-back.

🆕 POTENTIAL DEBUTS / recalls

With Gordon and Ebiowei both suspended, Kazim-Richards has to reshuffle — this is the first real chance for some of the summer’s fringe signings to get a proper look:

Jackson Izquierdo and Pele Arganese-McDermott — both an unused sub or bit-part so far, now genuine candidates for a start.
Ty Ewens-Findlay — still waiting for a first competitive appearance; this is exactly the kind of gap in the XI that could hand him his debut.
Danilo Orsi and Jonny Russell — both came off the bench against Crewe and will fancy a starting recall with two attacking berths now up for grabs.
Osman Kamara — another squad option who came on against Crewe and could push for a start.