The English football pyramid is full of familiar team name endings: City, County, Town, United, Wanderers… the list goes on. One rather unusual suffix stands out from the pack, though, and that’s the Alexandra in Crewe Alexandra.
Crewe Alexandra Football Club was founded in 1877. The club was named after Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the wife of Queen Victoria’s eldest son Edward VII.
Some have speculated that the Alexandra part of Crewe’s name may have been a reference to a local hotel. However, the club’s official website confirms that Princess Alexandra did indeed provide the inspiration for the team name.
Crewe Alexandra – a brief history
A railway town, you might wonder why Crewe didn’t go down the easy route of referring to themselves as Crewe Town. Back in 1877, traditional club suffixes like City and Town weren’t really a thing. Bolton Wanderers, for example, were called Christ Church FC at the time, while Birmingham City were known as Small Heath Alliance.
Crewe Alexandra started out as a cricket team before the football team even came into existence. In 1866, Crewe Alexandra Cricket Club was founded by Thomas Abraham and other workers at the town’s railway engineering facility. Eleven years after creating the cricket club, they decided to move into football as well.
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During Dario Gradi’s time as manager, Crewe became well known for giving up-and-coming players a chance to shine in the first team before moving them on elsewhere. Danny Murphy, David Platt, Dean Ashton, Neil Lennon and Robbie Savage are among the club’s most high-profile former players.
What is Crewe Alexandra’s nickname?
Crewe Alexandra are known as The Railwaymen due to the fact they were founded by railway workers. Outside of football, Crewe is synonymous with the rail industry. The town is best known for its train station, which is a major junction on the West Coast Main Line. Fans also refer to Crewe Alexandra as The Alex.
Crewe play their home games at Gresty Road, a short five-minute walk from the train station. These days, the ground is officially called the Mornflake Stadium, also known as The Alexandra Stadium.