Crewe Alexandra is an English Football League team based at Gresty Road in Crewe, Cheshire, England and nicknamed The Railwaymen due to that town's links with the rail industry.  The club was formed in 1877 and are reputedly named after Princess Alexandra, wife of the future Edward VII (some suggest that the decision to form the club was actually taken in a pub named after the Princess). Crewe were one of the founding members of the Second Division in 1892, having previously been members of the Football Alliance, but lost their league status in 1896 after only four seasons. Since re-entering the Football League  in 1921 they have mostly remained in the lower divisions. Crewe earned their first honours by winning the Welsh Cup in 1936 and 1937, before being barred from entering (not least since they were not in Wales). Between 1894 and 1982, Crewe finished in last place in the Football League a record eight times. A new era began in 1983 under manager Dario Gradi who gradually transformed the club into promotion contenders and in 1989, they were promoted to Division Three. 

Two seasons later they dropped back into the basement but, after contesting the play offs in 1992 and 1993 they achieved automatic promotion in 1994. The next three seasons Crewe contested the play-offs again and in 1997 they reached the second tier of English football for the first time since 1896. There followed five seasons in the second flight before relegation in 2002. The club bounced back immediately but in 2006 they were again relegated and remained in League One until 2009 when they were relegated to the fourth tier in 2009. Crewe returned to the League One (now the third tier of English football) via the play-offs in 2012 and in 2013 won ithe Football League Trophy. They retained their place in League One until the end of the 2022 season when they were relegated to League Two.