Editing Crewe Alexandra F.C. (section)

====Second tier survival====
Crewe achieved their highest finishing position, 11th, in the [[1997–98 Crewe Alexandra F.C. season|1997–98 First Division season]].<ref name=p12/> Gradi kept his team in the division until 2002, despite a matchday income on which many more lowly clubs could not survive. Boosting the finances, notable player sales included Lennon (to [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]] for £750,000),<ref>{{cite news |title=Newcastle on the verge of signing Batty |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/newcastle-on-the-verge-of-signing-batty-1320624.html |work=[[The Independent]] |date=23 February 1996 |access-date=16 April 2012 |archive-date=10 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610194628/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/newcastle-on-the-verge-of-signing-batty-1320624.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Danny Murphy (footballer, born 1977)|Danny Murphy]] (to Liverpool for an initial fee of £1.5m),<ref name="LFCHistory-transfers"/> and [[Seth Johnson (footballer)|Seth Johnson]] (to [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] for £3m).<ref name="Burnton-28Feb2012">{{cite news |last1=Burnton |first1=Simon |title=The forgotten story of ... Seth Johnson in an England shirt |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/feb/28/seth-johnson-england |access-date=22 March 2021 |work=Guardian |date=28 February 2012}}</ref> Gradi celebrated his 1,000th game in charge of Crewe on 20 November 2001.<ref name="BBC-20Nov2001">{{cite news |title=Gradi's landmark |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/crewe_alexandra/1665802.stm |access-date=22 March 2021 |work=BBC Sport |date=20 November 2001}}</ref>

After one season in the [[Football League Second Division|Division Two]] the team were promoted back to Division One at the end of the [[2002–03 Crewe Alexandra F.C. season|2002–03 season]],<ref name="statto">{{cite web|title=Crewe Alexandra 2002/03|url=http://www.statto.com/football/teams/crewe-alexandra/2002-2003/results|website=Statto|access-date=14 June 2014|archive-date=16 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216141615/http://www.statto.com/football/teams/crewe-alexandra/2002-2003/results|url-status=dead}}</ref> having finished in second place—Crewe's first runner-up position—with [[Rob Hulse]] scoring 22 league goals, and being named in the [[PFA Team of the Year (2000s)|PFA Team of the Year]],<ref name="McKechnie-28Apr2003">{{cite news |last1=McKechnie |first1=David |title=Henry lands PFA award |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/apr/28/newsstory.premierleague200203 |access-date=22 March 2021 |work=Guardian |date=28 April 2003}}</ref> ahead of a £750,000 transfer to [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]].<ref name="BBC-11Jul2003">{{cite news |title=Baggies bag duo |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_bromwich_albion/3055657.stm |access-date=22 March 2021 |work=BBC Sport |date=11 July 2003}}</ref> Crewe retained their Division One place in the [[2003–04 Crewe Alexandra F.C. season|2003–04 season]], during which assistant manager Neil Baker took temporary charge between 22 September and 17 October 2003 while Gradi underwent heart surgery.<ref name="Guardian-23Sep2003">{{cite news |title=Gradi undergoes heart surgery |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/sep/23/newsstory.sport8 |access-date=22 March 2021 |work=Guardian |agency=PA |date=23 September 2003}}</ref> At the start of the [[2004–05 Crewe Alexandra F.C. season|2004–05 season]], Crewe were rated one of the teams most likely to be relegated from the newly renamed 'Championship'. In the event, they put in a good showing in the first half of the season, but after selling [[Dean Ashton]] to [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] for £3 million in the January 2005 transfer window,<ref name="Flown">{{cite web |title=Dean Ashton |url=http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/ashton.htm |website=Flown from the Nest |access-date=22 March 2021}}</ref> Crewe failed to win until the final match of the season, when they defeated [[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]] 2–1 to avoid relegation on [[goal difference]]. However, they were relegated to [[EFL League One|League One]] (level three) the [[2005–06 Crewe Alexandra F.C. season|following season]]. Nonetheless, Crewe were named the "Most Admired Club" in the 2006 [[EFL Awards|Football League Awards]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.crewealex.co.uk.p.preprod.performgroup.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10414~798054,00.html |title=Crewe Alexandra {{!}} News {{!}} Latest News {{!}} Latest News {{!}} Crewe Delighted With Award |date=6 March 2006 |website=www.crewealex.co.uk.p.preprod.performgroup.com |access-date=4 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180405032821/http://www.crewealex.co.uk.p.preprod.performgroup.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10414~798054,00.html |archive-date=5 April 2018 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>