In our second home game in four days, we welcome Lee Bell’s Crewe Alexandra to Rodney Parade. Since the teams last met in August, Crewe have maintained a strong promotion push, and the visitors promise to give us a tough test on Friday evening.
Ahead of the game, we have decided to take a detailed look at some of the players that have lined up for both the Exiles and the Railway Men.
Mickey Demetriou
Who else could we have started with? Mickey Demetriou will make his return to Rodney Parade this Friday for the first time since leaving the club this summer.
The defender is somewhat of an icon in South Wales, having lined up in amber and black on over 300 occasions, more than any other player since we made our return to the Football League a decade ago.
After playing a part in helping Shrewsbury Town get promoted to League One in 2015, Mickey would be released in 2016, and would then pick up an injury during pre-season. This left him out of action for several months, and he put pen to paper at Rodney Parade in January 2017.
Any doubts fans had over his fitness were instantly put to bed, with the defender making his debut off the bench in a 0-0 draw with Barnet. He would then go on to play a pivotal role over the rest of the campaign, lining up for us at Wembley in the play-off final.
Over the next few years, he became a permanent fixture in the team, eventually becoming captain and leading the team to several iconic victories.
His time in South Wales came to an end at the end of the 2022/23 season, when he signed for Crewe Alexandra. Since then, he has been pivotal in their promotion push this campaign, even chipping in with six league goals to date.
Courtney Baker-Richardson
Another former Newport player who is likely to take to the field against us on Friday is Courtney Baker-Richardson.
Courtney signed for Newport in the summer of 2021, having been impressive at Barnet in the previous season on a loan spell from Barrow. He made his debut in amber and black in a 2-1 win against Walsall and would bag his first goal in a 3-0 win over Scunthorpe.
He would spend just one season at Rodney Parade, scoring eight times in 31 appearances. He would then join Crewe at the start of the 22/23 season. In his first season at Gresty Road, he started 32 games, scoring nine goals in all competitions.
He has been another pivotal performer in Crewe’s promotion push this season, leading the line for the Railway Men and scoring eight league goals in the first half of the campaign.
Offrande Zanzala
A player in our squad who is currently out of action but has spent some time playing in Crewe is Offrande Zanzala.
After three years at Accrington Stanley, Zanzala made the move to Crewe Alexandra, who were in League One at the time. Unfortunately, his time at the club never worked out, only making a handful of appearances, with his only goal for the club coming in an EFL Trophy clash with Shrewsbury Town.
Zanzala would sign for us in 2022, making his debut in a 1-1 draw at Sutton United. His time at the club has been hampered by injury, but he has proven to be a successful goal-scorer, hitting the net five times across the 17 appearances he has made.
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