Crawley can be 'serious club' - Khalili

Crawley Town owner Raphael Khalili says he wants to build a "serious club" and is already targeting making them "Championship ready".

He took over the League Two side on 1 August, after being a minority shareholder under previous owners WAGMI United.

Describing his plans as a "five to 10-year journey", Khalili told BBC Radio Sussex: "I think we can be a serious club, I want every supporter to be the proudest they could be of the club.

"In business, I always like plan three or four years ahead and I'm doing that already with the club."

Stadium expansion and training ground investment

Khalili's mark has already been felt at the West Sussex side, bringing back popular manager Scott Lindsey - who led Crawley to promotion from League Two in May 2024 before leaving for MK Dons - in March.

However, Lindsey just failed to keep the Red Devils in League One, finishing five points from safety.

The club's Broadfield Stadium has also had parts renovated, and Khalili is targeting an expansion.

"I'd love to have a solid 10-12,000-seater stadium," he said. "I'd love to be Championship ready.

"I'm always looking ahead, but then again we are moving with the council. We can't do massive changes until we own it."

Asked how he would fill the ground, Khali added: "Number one, it's about winning games. Number two, work with local schools, universities, businesses, offer them discount prices, create a better game day experience. It's a really good day out already."

He also referenced his "love" for the town's location adding: "Gatwick's a no brainer. Over 70,000 full and part-time employees throughout the year, there's something to be done with them."

The first-team currently train at the University of Sussex Falmer Sports Complex, where Khalili said he had already made "investment to pitches and infrastructure".

"We've got the training ground for the next five years," he said.

"It's a Championship, [or] Premier League training ground. Brighton and Hove Albion trained there.

"There is maybe something we are looking at in having our own training ground by the club's stadium."

Lindsey has 'beautiful' playing style

Promotion-winning manager Scott Lindsey returned for his second spell in March

Khalili also backed manager Lindsey, despite being 23rd in League Two and knocked out of the FA Cup by National League side Boreham Wood in the first round.

"Scott has my full backing, 100%," said Khalili.

"If we had bad people in the building and we were playing bad football, it would be a different story.

"Our playing style is extremely important to me. Scott plays beautiful football, the players respect him, he has a lot of resilience, he's the right guy to take this club where I want the club to go, in the right way."

Khalili did not want to put a expectation on where he can get the club to, but said it was realistic that they could get promoted "within two years".

Money to strengthen in January

The Red Devils' summer transfer window saw the departure of 11 first-team players, with outgoing chairman Preston Johnson claiming the new ownership would go in a "different direction" from the data-driven approach under WAGMI United.

Twelve new players have come in, four of which are loans, and Khalili dismissed Johnson's claims.

"The recruiting in the summer was what it was because there was a big transition happening, we lost sight of a bit of data because of the transition," he added.

"We will deepen our squad in January, 100%."