Steve Davis says League One status is vital for progress

Steve Davis says it is imperative that Crewe Alexandra remain in League One after Cheltenham and Tranmere Rovers sadly exited the Football League last weekend. Cheltenham were our opponents at Wembley in 2012 for the League Two Play-Off Final and Tranmere were Crewe Alexandra’s rivals in the Championship and they also reached the League Cup Final in 2000 but lost out to Leicester City.

With the likes of Wrexham, Grimsby, Bristol Rovers, Macclesfield, Torquay, Lincoln and Aldershot all in the Conference, it just goes to show how quickly you can fall from the Football League.

Steve told the club’s official web-site: “League One is getting harder year by year, with the clubs coming down and the ones like Burton and Shrewsbury coming up. It is a great challenge and this is the place we want to be.

“We will be giving everything we have to remain in this division and if we do make it, it is some achievement after the poor start we had to the season.

“I think it is similar to the Championship many years ago now with the calibre of club and players in this division now.

“Crewe tasted the Championship under Dario and that was a fantastic achievement to get there and stay there for a few years. It was hard to sustain that because the league got harder and that is coming down the pyramid now.

“You only have to look at League Two and see Tranmere drop out of the League. They have gone out of the Football League for the first time for almost 100 years and you would say they are a similar sized club to Crewe.

He added: “I think we should be applauded for what we have achieved with the resources we have. We want to continue to be a League One club but I am ambitious and I don’t want us to be battling in the bottom six all season. I want us to try and establish ourselves in this division and then take it from there.”