Seagulls' first team have agreed to join the throng of big names which are to play Crawley Town during their impressive pre-season programme.

Reds' manager Steve Evans said: "We have some high profile matches and each of them will be fantastic but we are also sending strong teams to a few local clubs which will give them some needed financial help and increase the awareness of CTFC in the local community."

Town will host the League One side on Friday, July 24 which follows on from the arrival of a Chelsea XI on Saturday, July 17 and Charlton Athletic on Tuesday, July 21.

Crawley have also announced their away programme, which will feature a trip to Scotland to take on Greenock Morton, plus nearby Non-League clubs Bognor Regis, Tooting & Mitcham, Three Bridges, Braintree Town and East Grinstead.

The playing surface at Broadfield is having major work done to make sure it remains one of the best in the country.

Director Barry Munn said: "We have a management team who like their players to play good football and therefore a top class playing surface is essential.

"It is very early days and it's very much work in progress. There are one or two little areas we are not happy with but they have been addressed so we should see these match up to the rest which really is starting to show a quality pitch."

Pre-season programme: First team - Monday, July 13 Greenock Morton (a), Saturday, July 18 Chelsea XI (h), Tuesday, July 21 Charlton Athletic (h), Friday, July 24 Brighton & Hove Albion (h), Wednesday, August 5 Tottenham Hotspur XI (h)

Crawley Town XI - Saturday, July 25 Bognor Regis (a), Tuesday, July 28 Tooting & Mitcham (a), Wednesday, July 29 Three Bridges (a), Saturday, August 1 Braintree Town (a), Monday, August 3 East Grinstead (a)

Full story in this week's Crawley Times