Crawley’s owners would only consider selling the club to someone with the money to fund a new all-seater stadium.

The League One outfit have already had discussions with the council – who own the Broadfield Stadium – about identifying a suitable site to build a ground which would be up to Championship standards.

Crawley’s current board announced they were looking to find new owners for the club on Saturday due to the fact they did not have the financial resources to help Reds make the step to the next level.

Co-owner Susan Carter has reinforced the claim the current owners remain committed to the club until the right buyer can be found but admits fresh investment is required if Crawley want to play in the Championship.

Carter, speaking from Florida, said: “As owners we have to admit we do have limitations and although we want more for the club we might not be able to achieve it. If we have to stay because we can’t find the right person that is fine, it just means we might not be able to do as much as quickly as we want.

“We are in no rush but you have to think ahead. You can’t just get into the play-offs and then think “oh, we’re not ready to go up”. You have got to be big enough to assess whether you are willing and able to support Championship level football and if not then you’ve got to do what you need to do.

“We have got to get the infrastructure in place before we get into the Championship otherwise it is like having the cart before the horse. We have had tentative talks with our landlords about a new stadium if we go up to the Championship and all those things need investment to a level which we don’t think we can give it.

“You can’t wait until you are in the Championship to do something about the ground. We are just trying to make sure the club is on the front foot rather than the back foot.

“We don’t want the club to suffer by not being able to take advantage of those opportunities when they present themselves as they don’t come along very often. The club is doing really well and has a bright future and we want to make sure it has the best possible chance of fulfilling its potential

“For us to be able to push on whoever comes in has got to be somebody with reasonable resources behind them, to fund it to that degree."

 

Ownership issue won't distract us from play-off goal - preview of tonight's clash with Crewe in The Argus today