Fleetwood Town sign Richard Brodie on loan from Crawley

Brodie has scored 12 goals in the Blue Square Bet Premier this term

Fleetwood Town have signed striker Richard Brodie on a year-long loan from Blue Square Bet Premier champions Crawley Town.

Cod Army boss Micky Mellon is believed to have seen off stiff competition for the 23-year-old's signature.

Brodie scored 13 goals for Crawley this season and found the net 34 times last season while at York City.

The England C international left the Minstermen for a non-league record transfer fee in August last year.

Fleetwood chairman Andy Pilley told the club website: "Richard is a fantastic signing.

"His goalscoring ability speaks for itself and he will certainly complement our already strong squad. This is just the first work in preparation for what will be a very exciting season ahead."

Crawley say that the Cod Army, who lost in the play-off semi-finals to AFC Wimbledon, have paid "a substantial five-figure loan fee in one upfront payment".

Red Devils boss Steve Evans told his club's website: "Richard is a very talented lad but it is no secret he has failed to settle away from his family home.

"He is still young and this loan move will allow him to live back at home for a period and he can solely focus on his football. Home sickness is a terrible thing and in my opinion there is only one cure: Go home.

"I have spoken to numerous clubs who wanted to sign the lad. We had three significant loan offers and two clubs that wanted to buy Richard outright but I still believe he has a future at Crawley Town so I decided we should loan him out and not sell and the directors backed my decision."

The departures of Brodie and Craig McAllister mean that Crawley now only have one player that scored double figures for them this season remaining at the club.