Chris Galley: Crawley Town name analytics expert as director of football

Image source, Rex Features

Image caption, League Two Crawley Town were taken over by US cryptocurrency investors in April

Crawley Town have appointed football analytics expert Chris Galley as their new director of football.

Galley recently worked at analytics firm StatsBomb, where he advised clubs on strategy and tactics.

He spent a decade at Smartodds, run by Brentford owner Matthew Benham and also assisted with recruitment for the Premier League club.

Galley has been an advisor for Crawley since their takeover by US cryptocurrency investors WAGMI United.

He will also act as interim chief executive officer at the League Two side and said he was "delighted" to join the club.

"I am looking forward to getting started and working with everyone at Crawley Town to achieve the club's on and off-pitch ambitions," he said.

New owners WAGMI United have described Crawley as the "internet's football team" and said they want to reinvent the model of club management.

The club recorded a famous win to knock Premier League Fulham out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, but are without a league win from five matches.

"We've got big ambitions for the club and a lot of work ahead of us if we want to achieve them, but Chris has seen first hand at Brentford what it takes for a club to beat the odds and rise all the way to the Premier League," said Crawley co-chairman Preston Johnson.

"We're eager for him to bring that practical experience and his first-rate analytics mind to our team."