Scott Lindsey has returned to Crawley Town less than a month after leaving MK Dons and six months after moving from Crawley to MK.

The 52-year-old has signed a three year contract at Crawley, ending at the end of the 2027/28 season, with the Sussex club announcing Lindsey’s return less than a week after sacking previous manager Rob Elliot.

Lindsey will begin his second stint at Crawley when they host Bristol Rovers tomorrow (22/03).

As well as confirming Lindsey’s return to Sussex, Crawley have confirmed a restructuring of their first team coaching staff, with Neil Smith joining as assistant after leaving his position with non-league side Cray Wanderers. Louis Storey, Anthony Sweeney and Steve Hafner will leave alongside Elliot.

Crawley Town Chairman Preston Johnson said in a statement, “We are very excited to welcome Scott back to Crawley Town. We all love the culture and commitment he brings to the Club and the game. We’re striving for success at the highest levels of English football and to strengthen relationships with our fans and the broader community.

“Our lead investors are committed to a long-term vision, and Scott Lindsey is essential to that.”

The move sees Lindsey return to the Broadfield Stadium six months after he left Crawley to take the Head Coach job with MK Dons, which he did to replace Mike Williamson after MK Dons’ former Head Coach left to take a vacant position at Carlisle United, and which Williamson since vacated to be replaced by Mark Hughes.

Lindsey had an early run of winning six games in a row at Stadium MK to take the Dons into the automatic promotion places in League Two following a slow start. But a collapse in form saw the Dons drift into the bottom half, with Lindsey sacked at the start of March the day after a 1-0 defeat at home to Colchester United.

Before moving to Milton Keynes, Lindsey had a productive spell with Crawley. A strong run of form in the late stages of the 2022/23 season kept the Red Devils in League Two, before he was able to win promotion via the play-offs in the 2023/24 campaign, including an 8-1 aggregate win over MK Dons in the semi-finals before beating Crewe at Wembley.

Former Charlton, Newcastle and Irish international goalkeeper Elliot had been appointed Lindsey’s successor in September after his move from Crawley to MK Dons. He moved to Sussex after a spell in charge of Gateshead.

However, Elliot struggled to get a tune out of his side, winning just 6 out of 33 games in charge. With 9 games of the League One season to go, Crawley sit 22nd in the third tier table and are 12 points from safety.