They remained in junior football until they entered the Sussex County League in 1951. The club then switched to the Metropolitan League in 1956, a competition for both professional and amateur sides. Still retaining their amateur status Crawley won the Metropolitan League Cup in 1959.

Crawley adopted professional status in 1962 and joined the Southern League the following year. For the next 20 years Crawley played in the First Division in its various guises, apart from a brief taste of Premier Division football in 1969-70. In 1983-84 under manager John Maggs Crawley finished runners-up to RS Southampton and returned to the Premier Division where they remained until 2003-04.

In April 2012 Steve Evans and Paul Raynor departed to join Rotherham. Craig Brewster was appointed caretaker manager with the experienced Steve Coppell appointed Director of Football.

The pair lost just one of the last six games of the season and a 1-0 win at Accrington Stanley on the final day, secured with a second-half goal from Scott Neilson, earned Reds promotion to League 1 in third place.

In May 2012, the experienced Sean O’Driscoll took over as first-team manager.Outd