Colin Kazim-Richards understands the size of the challenge he faces at Crawley, who are at the bottom of League Two after seven matches. However, based on what he has observed, the head coach remains confident that the club’s fortunes will improve.
Speaking at Crawley’s Sussex training base on a late-summer afternoon, Kazim-Richards and his assistant, Julian Gray, discuss the work ahead. The pair arrived in March and helped the club avoid relegation to the National League on the final day, and they believe the current standings do not provide a complete picture of the team’s progress.
“The results have not yet reflected the work we have put in; it is a matter of waiting for the process to produce visible progress,” Kazim-Richards says. “We have brought in 16 players, handed debuts to eight or nine of them and begun building new relationships across the squad. There have been many arrivals and departures, while we are also trying to move beyond the mindset created last season. That cannot be achieved in only one, two or three weeks.
“When you are a player, you do not fully appreciate everything management involves. You need to deliver results while developing the team according to your ideas. That includes recruitment, bringing together different personalities and mentalities, establishing a new structure and raising standards throughout the club, not only on the pitch. Ultimately, though, we are judged by results. We accept that and are working hard to improve them.”
Kazim-Richards and Gray both developed in Arsenal’s academy, although during different periods. Gray was involved with the senior squad between 1996 and 2000 and made one appearance. Kazim-Richards, seven years younger, did not reach the first team but regarded Gray as an example to follow. “We looked at him and thought: ‘I want to be like Julian,’” Kazim-Richards says. “He came from the same kind of background as us and reached Arsenal’s first team. He played with elegance and confidence, but he also had determination.”
Gray, who represented clubs including Crystal Palace, Coventry and Fulham, has worked with young players at Arsenal’s Hale End academy and at Birmingham, another of his former teams. He says those roles prepared him well for his responsibilities at Crawley. “Each experience teaches you something different, and you always want to test yourself,” says the 47-year-old.
“I have always viewed coaching as an opportunity to improve players by sharing what I have learned throughout my career. That principle remains the same at every age level. My responsibility is to help each player progress, whether that improvement is 1% or 10%; how far they go also depends on them. Before anything else, I must understand each individual. I need to identify what they require and determine the clearest way to communicate it.”
Crawley has experienced considerable instability in recent years. John Yems, who managed the club from 2019 until 2022, was banned from all football-related activity for three years after being found guilty of 12 breaches of anti-discrimination regulations. It was the longest discrimination-related suspension imposed on a participant in English football. Ownership at Broadfield Stadium changed last year when KB Sports and Leisure, led by Raphael Khalili, assumed control. Khalili appointed Kazim-Richards, who was then working in Arsenal’s academy. The appointment made him one of only three black head coaches across the top four divisions of English football, alongside Nuno Espírito Santo at West Ham and Lee Grant at Walsall.
“Does a barrier still exist? Absolutely,” says Kazim-Richards, who made Gray’s appointment as assistant a requirement during his discussions with Khalili. “Many talented black coaches deserve the chance to prove themselves.”
Former England striker Jermain Defoe lost his job at National League club Woking after four months and six matches in charge. Kazim-Richards knows Defoe because they completed their coaching qualifications together. Although he believes black coaches still encounter obstacles, he warns against drawing misleading conclusions from Defoe’s departure.
“I have not spoken with Jermain, but situations at this level and further down the football pyramid can involve many issues that outsiders may not anticipate,” says the 40-year-old.
“It would be wrong to present Jermain’s dismissal as proof that a black manager cannot succeed. White managers lose their jobs regularly as well. Yet his case may be portrayed differently because he is Jermain Defoe, he is black and he has openly discussed certain issues.
“There are now many promising young black coaches working successfully in academies and throughout non-league football.”
Kazim-Richards played for Fenerbahce and Galatasaray and represented Turkey through his maternal heritage. He brings decades of experience from his playing career into his first senior management position. Together with Gray, he intends to use that knowledge to help Crawley pursue the owners’ central ambition of reaching the Championship.
“Our immediate priority is to earn results and then move the club higher,” Kazim-Richards says. “That kind of progress cannot happen instantly.
“Do we require time? Yes. I regard this as the beginning of a longer journey, but I am confident we can make substantial progress and meet those targets. We hope we will receive the time needed to do so.”
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