CRYSTAL PALACE
CRYSTAL PALACE
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Today’s programme cover features an eye-catching design recognisable to only a certain cohort of supporters. Find out why we’ve nodded back to 1958 – and 1861 – below.
The cover: Palace √ Hartlepool, 1958 Crystal Palace first hosted Hartlepool United – then Hartlepools United – on October 1st, 1958. The two teams competed at Victoria Park just over a week before as the Monkey Hangers handed Palace a 4-1 defeat. The south Londoners fared marginally better in the home clash, but still fell to a 2-1 loss. The cover that day was used throughout 1958/59, showing the main entrance to Selhurst Park on a cherry red background (see opposite), changed from the same style in yellow in 1957/58.
CRYSTALL PALACE
That was the first of just four trips to Selhurst Park for Hartlepool, making today’s fifth a rare and unique occasion. It is just the 12th competitive meeting in history between these sides. Palace fared better in 1958/59 than their Hartlepool results suggest, eventually finishing the season in seventh, six points off the four promotion spots. They would have just two more seasons in the fourth-tier, gaining promotion to the Third Division in 1960/61 and eventually joining the top-flight in 1969/70, the end of a transformative decade for the club.
2022 colours: Crystal Palace in 1861 This edition’s colours veer from cherry red or yellow in favour of the blue and white thought to be worn by Crystal Palace in the 1860s, when the club was founded as an amateur side. Palace then went on to help cement the rules of ‘modern’ football, found the Football cover story
Association and establish the FA Cup, reaching the competition’s semi-final in its first year, 1871/72. The FA Cup celebrates its 150th anniversary this season with Palace the only founding club to still compete. This was marked by wearing the blue and white kit against Millwall in the third round. You can find out more about Crystal Palace’s 19th century origins on Page 45.
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main interview
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“It’s the little, tiny bit of luck you need sometimes to get a result,” says Osborn. “If we’d have got that down the other end and won 1-0 nobody would be talking about Hartlepool 1993 anymore.” Palace went on to lose their next four league games and eventually both legs of the League Cup semifinal. They would win just six times from the next 23 games. “You’re looking to get to that [safety] mark as quickly as you possibly can,” Osborn says. “When that doesn’t happen and you hit a
you start looking at it, going: ‘Well, actually, we’re getting dragged into this.’ Or: ‘We need a couple of wins, and that win hasn’t come. We need a win this weekend, it hasn’t come’ bad run of form, do doubts creep in? Yeah, I’m pretty certain they do if I’m honest. From what I can remember of the period you start looking at it, going: ‘Well, actually, we’re getting dragged into this.’ Or: ‘We need a couple of wins, and that win hasn’t come. We need a win this weekend, it hasn’t come.’ Subconsciously, as much as you try to put it to one side, it’s in your brain.” With three matches remaining Palace had a five-point lead on Oldham Athletic, who sat third from bottom. The south Londoners beat Ipswich Town at home to make that eight points, and Oldham faced Aston Villa and Liverpool next; two of the top five. 1992/93
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the pool hartlepool
Hartlepool have defeated Blackpool, Lincoln City and Wycombe Wanderers to reach Selhurst Park – three clubs higher in the Football League than them.
match preview Graeme Lee’s Monkey Hangers bring the confidence and know-how to cause a cup upset and have shown their suitability for knockout tournaments by reaching the FA Trophy semi-finals. Pool fell out of the Football League in 2016/17, and spent four seasons in the National League. A play-off final win saw them return to League Two, where this season they are fighting to consolidate their place. Their home form is significantly better than their away, sitting sixth in a homegames-only table and bottom for away. Palace defeated Millwall 2-1 in the FA Cup third round after conceding first. Before the Lions clash, manager Patrick Vieira said: “I spoke to [the players] about this competition, and how well we want to do as a football club. We want to be ambitious.”
Story so far
Position Points Top scorer Most assists Most average passes
Home
away
iconic
Last five Seasons Season
Position
Points
Top Scorer
20/21
4th (National)
76
Oates (18)
19/20
12th (National)
55
Touré (13)
18/19
16th (National)
59
Noble (13)
17/18
15th (National)
56
Woods (11)
16/17
23rd (League Two)
46
Amond (14)
16th 31 Nicky Featherstone (4) Will Goodwin (2) Nicky Featherstone (49.6)
opposition
cup threat: Joe Grey
Joe Grey, just 18-years-old, has scored in Hartlepool’s last two cup games: once against Charlton Athletic and once against Blackpool.
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Boot in both camps
Remember when? Palace and Hartlepool drew 1-1 at Victoria Park in the 1991/92 League Cup, setting up a replay at Selhurst. Facing a cup upset, Steve Coppell’s Eagles won 6-1 to put any fears firmly behind them.
recent form
l
d
d
w
d
Recent clash Exeter City o Hartlepool 0 Sat 29 Jan / St James Park
Starting xi
subs
1
B. Killip
9
M. Cullen
3
D. Ferguson
12
J. Grey
5
T. Odusina
13
P. Boyes
4
G. Liddle
14
G. Holohan
16
N. Byrne
15
J. Hull
2
J. Sterry
20
R. Ogle
22
T. Crawford
21
I. Fletcher
8
N. Featherstone
6
M. Shelton
7
O. Bogle
10
L. Molyneux
First sub
Second sub Third sub Yellow card Red card Goal Own goal
7
3
10
22
8
5
4
6
16
2
1
opposition
Andy Linighan Linighan began his career with Hartlepool, where he was born, alongside his brother David. The defender played 131 games for them before joining Leeds United, and later Arsenal and Palace.
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stelling from the studio
This week, we hear from the club's guest and Hartlepool fan Jeff Stelling, who took a break from his duties with Sky to talk all things TV, the Pool and Palace.
Had West Hartlepool Grammar’s headmaster succeeded in the late 1960s, Jeff Stelling may never have become the face and voice of Saturday football. Almost 28 years of ebullient coverage, edge-ofthe-seat plate-spinning and, yes, unbelievable, Jeff, would have been sacrificed in the name of reputation. “I was 13 at school and the headmaster called me in one day and said: ‘Stelling, I understand you want to be a journalist.’ I said: ‘Yes, absolutely right.’ He said: ‘I don’t want any boy from my school taking up such a disreputable profession. Do you really want to snoop on people’s private lives?’” Thankfully the teenage Jeff Stelling had a different outlook. “He made it sound quite appealing,” he laughs today. The now-veteran presenter had one other directive relating to his career: to never become a steelworker, as his father was. “It was a pretty hard lifestyle,” Stelling recalls of his dad. “I used to go and meet him some days when he was coming home from work – he’d be on his bike covered in all sorts of, you know, what’s the polite phrase for crap? One
of the things he’d always say to me was: ‘I don’t care what you end up doing, son. But never, ever do this.’”
‘I don’t want any boy from my school taking up such a disreputable profession. Do you really want to snoop on people’s private lives?’
Stelling says his father would “work, sleep, eat; work, sleep, eat,” and rarely had the time or energy for football. So Stelling Jr was left to discover the sport himself, heading to Victoria Park – “There were a lot of illustrious clubs to pick from, but when I was a kid there was no jeff stelling
way of getting a seat” – to rush into the ground when the gates opened 10 minutes before full-time. Those snatches of football, the final throes of Division Four battles, were enough to enrapture Stelling, who eventually attended full matches with his sister, then on his own, and became club president in 2015.
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Today he is by far Hartlepool’s most prominent fan, donning his jersey on Soccer Saturday and becoming synonymous with the northeast outfit. “I can’t remember when it dawned on me that I was going to be supporting a struggling club,” he says, “or indeed when it dawned on me that you only have one club. This was mine, it’s my birthplace and the club I started to watch. It’s just always been a passion since then and I’ve never been tempted anywhere else.” This sentiment will resonate with Palace fans. The struggles of fourth-tier football may be a distant memory for a small cohort of a certain age, but south Londoners certainly don’t turn to their local top-flight side in search of guaranteed silverware. “We all remember our glory days because they’re so limited,” Stelling summarises. “We remember getting promoted to League One. We
remember the play-off final to get to the Championship in 2004/05, which we lost in extra time. We remember beating the occasional big side; Stoke City was the last really big club we beat when they were a top-flight side in the FA Cup. And, dare I say, we remember 1993 when we beat Palace [1-0 in the FA Cup]. So the glory days are much more memorable when you’re with a smaller club.” The Monkey Hangers’ recent years have been a story of struggle. They dropped out of the Football League in 2016/17 - prompting Stelling to call for manager Dave Jones’ departure live on air, a moment he says he regrets today - and last season earned promotion back to League Two through the play-offs. It was back to the professional level Hartlepool had spent 96 unbroken years in, and a step forward for a historic club looking upwards once more. But, as with so much, the jeff stelling
This was mine, it’s my birthplace and the club I started to watch. It’s just always been a passion since then and I’ve never been tempted anywhere else
pandemic stymied their preparation for a landmark campaign. “We were promoted last season on June 20th when we won the play-off final. June 20th – less than two months before the start of the season. Up till that time we couldn’t recruit players, we couldn’t re-sign players because we didn’t know what level we’d be playing at or what we could afford, so that in itself made life extremely difficult. “The late start made things extremely difficult in terms of
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quiz, games, brighty & more!
Put your Palace, opposition and FA Cup knowledge to the test in our various challenges below. The perfect way to pass time pre-match - let us know how you fare via social media!
Guess who
Spot the image
Can you guess the ex-Eagle above just from their picture?
The above cut-out is taken from an image in this programme. Can you find what page it’s on?
matchday quiz 1
Hartlepool residents are thought to have earned their nickname after hanging a monkey because they thought it was a...? A. Darlington supporter B. French spy C. Spanish assassin
2
Which Sheffield Wednesday striker broke Andy Linighan’s nose in an FA Cup final v Arsenal?
3
Future Hartlepool manager Craig Harrison was loaned to Palace from which club in 2000?
4
Scott Flinders made 276 appearances for Hartlepool, and 13 for Palace. Which position did he play?
5
While on Soccer Saturday, Chris Kamara popularised the term ‘WHAT, Jeff?’ A. Remarkable B. Noteworthy C. Unbelievable
GAmes
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FAMOUS FAN
guess the ground
Can you work out which Football League club’s stadium this is?
This Hartlepool-born guitarist joined Iron Maiden and has remained with the band ever since. He watched the Pools from the Mill House Terrace and continues to follow them today. Do you recognise this famous Hartlepool supporter?
BEAT BRIGHTY In each edition, club icon Mark Bright calls it how he sees it and predicts scores from the weekend’s football. See how you fare and try to Beat Brighty! Scoring: One point for every correct result, three for a correct scoreline.
Brighty
You
3-0 2-0 2-0 3-1 total Manage to Beat Brighty? Keep track of your total score above!
ANSWERS Guess who: Steve Kabba Spot the image: Page 35 Quiz: 1) B. French spy 2) Mark Bright 3) Middlesbrough 4) Goalkeeper 5) C. Unbelievable Famous Fan: Janick Gers Guess the Ground: The New Lawn - Forest Green
games
Jack BUTLAND (GK) Joel WARD Tyrick MITCHELL Luka MILIVOJEVIĆ James TOMKINS Marc GUÉHI Michael OLISE Cheikhou KOUYATÉ Jordan AYEW Eberechi EZE Wilfried ZAHA Will HUGHES Vicente GUAITA (GK) Jean-Philippe MATETA Jeffrey SCHLUPP Joachim ANDERSEN Nathaniel CLYNE James McARTHUR Remi MATTHEWS (GK) Christian BENTEKE Odsonne EDOUARD Conor GALLAGHER Martin KELLY Nathan FERGUSON Jaïro RIEDEWALD Jesurun RAK-SAKYI
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 34 36 44 49
P. Bankes J. Mainwaring S. Meredith G. Ward J. Brooks N. Aspinall
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 28 30 31
Ben KILLIP (GK) Jamie STERRY David FERGUSON Gary LIDDLE Timi ODUSINA Mark SHELTON Omar BOGLE Nicky FEATHERSTONE Mark CULLEN Luke MOLYNEUX Marcus CARVER Joe GREY Patrick BOYES (GK) Gavan HOLOHAN Jake HULL Neill BYRNE Martin SMITH Jordan COOK Reagan OGLE Isaac FLETCHER Tom CRAWFORD Zaine FRANCIS-ANGOL Olufela OLOMOLA Bryn MORRIS Joe WHITE Nicholas BILOKAPIC (GK)