Crystal Palace √ arsenal friday, august 05 2022 | 20:00
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palace √ arsenal fri 5 aug | 20:00
08 captain 10 chairman 34 pub talk 42 Palace women 44 rob quinn 46 over the road 49 south of the river 54 ABCD epl 56 2012/13 revisited 58 from the archive 68 beat brighty 70 stats & results
Directors Chairman Steve Parish, David Blitzer, Joshua Harris, John Textor Chief Financial Officer Sean O’Loughlin Sporting Director Dougie Freedman Club Secretary Christine Dowdeswell Head of Sports Medicine Dr. Zaf Iqbal Academy Director Gary Issott Director of U23 Development Mark Bright Commercial Director Barry Webber General Counsel David Nichol Director of Operations Sharon Lacey Head of Ticketing Paul McGowan Head of Retail Laura Holland Chief Marketing and Communications Officer James Woodroof Head of Safeguarding Cassi Wright Head Groundsman Bruce Elliott Editor Ben Mountain Design Billy Cooke, Luke Thomas, Stu Ellmer Contributors Will Robinson, Ian King, Ben Bailey Smith, Toby Jagmohan, Rob Quinn, Annabel Johnson Photography Neil Everitt, Sebastian Frej, Pinnacle Photo Agency, Getty, @blaowphotography Printer Bishops Printers
contents
I think we’ve got a great mix, and we showed that last year in the style and the way we played. There were lessons learnt from last season, but we need to kick on
As Crystal Palace enter their 10th consecutive Premier League season, there is only one player able to reflect on every campaign. Here, Joel Ward tells Will Robinson how the journey has been, what he did in pre-season, and why he has his eye on the ski slopes.
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cpfc women Crystal Palace Women broke club records in 2021/22, and are looking to do the same this season. In each edition, we hear directly from one of the squad, with Annabel Johnson starting us off for 22/23.
Annabel Johnson Age
28
Joined
Summer 2019
Position
Defender
21/22 apps
24
21/22 goals
2
Career highlights
Johnson represented Team GB as captain at the 2017 World University Games in Taipei.
Take note of
The club captain, Johnson leads from the back, guiding the team on and off the field from her position in the heart of defence.
Annabel Johnson
We felt we were big overachievers last season. For context, most teams in our league are professional, while we had to work in the day and train in the evening. Regardless, we finished joint-third – fourth on goal difference – which was a truly outstanding achievement. This season is about pushing on. Every year I’ve been here we’ve strived to improve our position from the season before, and there aren’t many places above us now. We’re going for the league title. We feel confident in our ability to challenge, not least because the league is a bit of an unknown entity this year and there’s no clear winner in the pack. Last season Liverpool ran away with it, and before them the likes of Leicester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa have dominated. The league’s a lot more level because we don’t have that in 2022/23, which makes it more exciting for teams like us. Of course, to gain the few points needed to push even higher up and secure another record-breaking finish will take a lot of work. But our mentality was our strength last season and we’re striving to carry that into the new campaign. Every player’s
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mindset was second to none in 21/22 and I’m not sure how they worked so hard with so few complaints. Sustaining that with a host of new signings is the challenge facing us. The girls that have joined, however, have come in with open minds and tried to embrace our approach. They’ve settled really well and I’ve been pleasantly surprised because I thought that would be a real challenge. Our recruitment focused on getting the right people with the right attitudes, and that’s showing through now.
This season is about pushing on. Every year I’ve been here we’ve strived to improve our position the Women’s Euros were phenomenal for the country and for women’s football as a whole. The team went to BOXPARK to watch the semi-final together and it was a big talking point among us
With a new leadership group of players and staff we’re working together to build our collective mentality, so I’m excited to see new players in club colours when they’re fully thriving within our environment. Away from Palace, the Women’s Euros were phenomenal for the country and for women’s football as a whole. The team went to BOXPARK to watch the semi-final together and it was a big talking point among us. As Championship players we all recognise how significant the tournament is to the game as a whole, and we wanted to support it even more so because of its impact on the sport. All the girls know the value of that tournament Annabel Johnson
to gain the few points needed to push even higher up and secure another recordbreaking finish will take a lot of work. But our mentality was our strength last season
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selhurst goes inter galactic Perhaps the most unique item to be housed in SE25 arrived on April 1st, 1989. In one of the grandest and most memorable April Fools’ pranks, Virgin founder Richard Branson caught the nation’s attention by flying a supposed UFO over London. A south Londoner himself, Branson used Selhurst Park’s pitch to launch his ‘Virgin Galactic Airways’ balloon into the atmosphere, and only a select few inside the club knew the full story. “What would you do if you had an idea to make people smile, and April 1st was coming up fast on the calendar?” Branson wrote
in a post on Virgin’s website a few years ago. “My answer to this question was simple: let’s build a UFO and launch it over London.” Branson’s practical joke caught the country by surprise, and the prank was kept quiet even from Palace employees. So when staff arrived at Selhurst for work, none were prepared to see the balloon readying for flight on the pitch. “By the time we’d reached the motorway it was beginning to get light,” Branson continues. “We could see every single vehicle grinding to a halt and hundreds of people looking up at the UFO flying over them. “It was great fun watching their reactions. What we didn’t know was three police forces had
ON ROTATION
been mobilised, the army had been alerted and radio and TV stations had all gone on the air about a UFO flying low over London! “The police surrounded us and then sent one lone policeman with his truncheon across the field to greet the alien. The UFO’s door opened very slowly, with plenty of dry ice billowing from it. ET (ok, somebody in an ET costume!) walked down the platform towards the policeman. He quickly spun around and sprinted off back where he had come from!” Branson sponsored the Palace kit the same season, and the Eagles took the Fly Virgin tagline all the way to the FA Cup final in 1990. It wasn’t quite outer space, but for Palace, it was still quite a high.
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elephant in the room Admittedly this wasn’t for a Palace match, but still: an elephant. On a football pitch. There’s been the odd donkey over the years, and a fox and a dog, but this animal – quite literally – stands above the rest. Animal rights aside, Wimbledon Chairman Sam Hammam supposedly thought this was a good idea before a game with Nottingham Forest in 1995, when the then-occupants ended their campaign in celebratory style. The elephant, with staff from Mary Chipperfield’s Circus, was paraded around the pitch, fed by fans and photographed with Hammam. As the Forest and Dons players prepared to line-up, however, staff couldn’t shift the animal from the pitch, prompting referee Steve Lodge to give it a yellow card. When the elephant eventually left, the Crazy Gang were able to close-out their campaign with a 2-2 draw. Forgotten this one? The elephant won’t have.
Tanked up Palace hosted Manchester United at the end of the 1970/71 season, and before the game four tanks paraded the pitch, firing blanks in the process. “How’s this for firepower?” quipped Brian Moore on The Big Match that night. ‘Firepower’ would prove to be an apt pun, with the clash ending 3-5 in United’s favour.
ON ROTATION
The tank was there to drive army recruits, with the Territorial Army based in Mitcham and encouraging fans to join through the matchday programme. This in-your-face approach was relatively widespread, with soldiers often marching or firing rifles and sub-machine guns as part of the events. Supporters at Selhurst didn’t seem swayed, however, with most covering their ears as the tanks rolled past alarmingly fast
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Crystal palace f.c.
ARSENAL f.c.
Jack BUTLAND (GK) Joel WARD Tyrick MITCHELL Luka MILIVOJEVIC James TOMKINS Marc GUÉHI Michael OLISE Jordan AYEW Eberechi EZE Wilfried ZAHA Vicente GUAITA (GK) Jean-Philippe MATETA Jeffrey SCHLUPP Joachim ANDERSEN Nathaniel CLYNE James McARTHUR Will HUGHES Christian BENTEKE Sam JOHNSTONE (GK) Odsonne EDOUARD Malcolm EBIOWEI Chris RICHARDS Cheick DOUCOURÉ Nathan FERGUSON Jaïro RIEDEWALD Luke PLANGE Jesurun RAK-SAKYI
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A. Taylor G. Beswick A. Nunn P. Bankes D. England J. Mainwaring
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Bernd LENO (GK) Héctor BELLERÍN Kieran TIERNEY Benjamin WHITE Thomas PARTEY GABRIEL Bukayo SAKA Martin ØDEGAARD Gabriel JESUS Emile SMITH ROWE Gabriel MARTINELLI William SALIBA Rúnar Alex RÚNARSSON (GK) Eddie NKETIAH Ainsley MAITLAND-NILES Rob HOLDING Cédric SOARES Takehiro TOMIYASU Nicolas PÉPÉ Fábio VIEIRA Pablo MARÍ Albert SAMBI LOKONGA Reiss NELSON Mohamed ELNENY Folarin BALOGUN MARQUINHOS Matt TURNER (GK) Aaron RAMSDALE (GK) Granit XHAKA Oleksandr ZINCHENKO Lucas TORREIRA