Chief executive Michael Dunford has warned that Crawley will struggle to survive in League One unless crowds improve.

Attendances at the Checkatrade.com Stadium have slumped from an average of 3,496 in the league last season to just 2,386 in the current campaign - the lowest in the division.

That is a drop of an alarming 31.8% and is lower than in Crawley’s Conference premier title-winning season in 2010/11 of 2,534.

Dunford says the fall in gates will cost Reds an extra £250,000 over the course of the season and may force the club to sell its best players in the January transfer market to cover the shortfall.

The Reds chief highlights the fact the club is in its third season in League One as a prime reason for the fall in attendances rather than a series of uninspiring performances at home.

Crawley host Scunthorpe United on Saturday and welcome Chesterfield – who Reds have never played before – the following week with neither game likely to attract bumper crowds.

CRAWLEY’S GATES SINCE PROMOTION TO FOOTBALL LEAGUE

  • 2011/12 (League Two): High 4,723, Low 2,184, Average 3,212
  • 2012/13 (League One): High 5,058, Low 2,544, Average 3,405
  • 2013/14 (League One): High 5,680, Low 2,407, Average 3,496
  • 2014/15 (League One): High 2,832, Low 1,905, Average 2,386

Dunford said: “The first year it was all fresh and new but this is our third season in League One. Our crowds are down because away fans are not coming as they have been to Crawley before and the number of home fans is down because they have seen the opposition teams before.

“Of course we are concerned about the reduction in gates but we’ve got to get on with it. We have got 2,000 people who turn up week in week out but it’s not enough.

“It can’t go on indefinitely. We do extremely well to maintain and consolidate our position in League One on those kind of crowds but it becomes increasingly difficult.

“On gates of 2,300 it is very difficult to sustain a successful League One club. We will probably end up with one of the two lowest average gates in the division this season.”

Crawley were forced to make sweeping cutbacks both on and off the pitch towards the end of last season in an attempt to balance the books.

The club’s academy was scrapped, virtually the whole squad was released to bring in players on lower wages and Andy Drury and Kyle McFadzean were sold for six figure transfer fees.

The drop in crowds means the club’s owners have had to inject a further £800,000 on top of the £1.6million they put in last season to cover the shortfall.

Although Dunford insists the owners will continue to support Crawley financially he admits the situation means they would have to consider offers for the likes of Joe Walsh and Gwion Edwards in January.

Dunford added: “We budgeted for gates of 3,100 this season and we are getting 2,300 so it doesn’t take a genius to work out what affect that has over the course of the season.

“If gates don’t improve it will leave us with a shortfall of £250,000 and the only way to meet that is by trading in the transfer market or from a further commitment from the board of directors.

“If we get an offer for one of our better players we will have to consider it but we are not going to give players away. We are looking to build something, not dismantle it.”