Crystal Palace v Leicester City matchday programme 2223

Crystal

saturday, APRIL 01 2023 | 15:00

Palace √ LEICESTER CITY

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 U21 Development

Mark Bright

Chief Operating Officer

Sharon Lacey

Chief Commercial Officer

Barry Webber

General Counsel

David Nichol

Head of Ticketing

Paul McGowan

Head of Retail

Foz Bowers

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

James Woodroof

Head of Safeguarding

Cassi Wright

Head Groundsman

Bruce Elliott

Editor Will Robinson

Design Billy Cooke, Stu Ellmer, Lucas Gough

Contributors Ian King, Robin Johnson, Ben Bailey Smith, Toby Jagmohan, Tommy Macarthur, Jay Butts, Chloe Arthur

Photography Neil Everitt, Sebastian Frej, Pinnacle Photo Agency, Getty, Toby Jagmohan

Printer Bishops Printers

You’ve got to have confidence, selfbelief – whatever you want to call it – to perform well at anything. You have to block out the noise and believe in yourself to perform at your best

INTERNATIONAL EAGLES IMPRESS ON DUTY

Palace’s international Eagles were busy during the break, as four senior players joined up with their national sides far and wide.

Jordan Ayew started twice for Ghana as the Black Stars kicked off their bid for Africa Cup of Nations qualification, under new boss Chris Houghton. The Palace man won his 88th cap in a dramatic late victory over Angola, before adding an 89th in a draw in Angola.

Also searching for a ticket to the tournament in Cote d’Ivoire

On this day: april 1st

– which takes place in January, 2024 – was Cheick Doucouré, who faced Gambia twice with Mali. The 22-year-old started as the Eagles comfortably won the first meeting, before being rested in the reverse fixture.

Marc Guéhi joined up with former Palace captain Gareth Southgate as England took on Italy and Ukraine, and despite not adding to his three international caps he gained valuable experience around the national team camp. Meanwhile, Michael Olise continued his progress with France Under-21s as they took on England and Spain.

Palace travelled to Stamford Bridge in 2017 to play presumptive champions Chelsea, who were 10 points clear of nearest challengers Tottenham and in a rich vein of form. Sam Allardyce’s side were resilient, however, and scored twice in six minutes to cancel out Cesc Fabregas’ opener and complete a remarkable comeback, with Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke securing a memorable victory.

Palace also had 10 Academy players join up with their national sides, with Killian Phillips, Tayo Adaramola, Sean Grehan and David Ozoh among those impressing.

Fan update

Selhurst Park tours are still available to book via cpfc.co.uk, where you can explore parts of Crystal Palace’s historic ground usually only used by players and staff.

What’s inside

Find out… how Vince Hilaire became a Palace cult hero despite facing off-field abuse (Page 50) and cast your mind back to a ‘whatcould-have-been’ transfer rumour from years gone by (Page 64).

Welcome to Selhurst Park to everyone supporting us today, and welcome also to Brendan Rodgers, the Leicester City coaching staff, directors, players and visiting fans.

It feels good to be back at the club – it has been an intensive couple of weeks as expected. It was a great pleasure to meet up with this group of players, a few of whom I know but a lot I didn’t know, and I have been pleased to make their acquaintance. We have had some great training sessions. When there is a change of managers it always affects the players, but morale has been good. It is important that we keep that going, because the environment around the club is going to be crucial over the next two months.

Ray and I know each other well, and we have a working methodology which we believe in and which we believe is capable of helping the club. It is also good to welcome Paddy to the first-team setup. Paddy is someone I knew when I was at the club previously; he has a great future ahead of him and will be a really good addition to our staff.

The competition for places is very much a level playing field. I have been impressed in this short period of time with the players I

didn’t know, and it is obvious that they have improved the quality of the squad. When I left two years ago we had an aging group, but now it is quite different: a young

and I will do the right things for them and get them into the right position for matches, but that is when the fans play their part. In moments when things aren’t going so well, fans can hinder the team – that has never been the case here. In my four years the support was absolutely wonderful. You pulled us through in games and gave us energy in times when we were flagging. You boosted our spirits. All I can hope for is that you give us that same backing.

squad, keen to play for the club who will be of crucial importance to us getting the points we need to stay in the league. The players are capable, there is no doubt about that. Ray

But we know that it is a twoway street. Today, I want to see energy and enthusiasm. I want to see that the players are aware of our situation and aware that the fans need to be boosted by seeing a team that they can get behind. I want to see a lack of fear, and for people to demonstrate their quality and not be frightened they might fail. The message to the players is clear: go out there, trust in yourselves, trust in your teammates and trust our fans to pull us through.

I am hugely looking forward to seeing you all again. Thank you in advance for your valued support .

The message to the players is clear: go out there, trust in yourselves, trust in your teammates and trust our fans to pull us through

It would be easy for our heads to drop after a difficult run of results, but morale on the training ground is strong and there is more determination than ever to turn things around, starting with facing Leicester this afternoon. We know that one positive result can make a huge difference both on the pitch in and in the stands, and we hope we can secure an important three points today. Having worked under Roy for four years in his previous spell at the club, it was a great pleasure to see him on the training pitch once again alongside Ray. As someone closely associated with the club for many years, Roy shares our desire to give 100 percent every week and to put everything into staying in the Premier League. His record over a long career – both in south London and elsewhere – demonstrates his ability as a manager, and his experience will be vital as we move into an important two months at the end of the season.

Training this week has been intense, with the entire squad working hard to ensure we are in

a position to get a result today. We know that Leicester, despite their league position, are a very good side with plenty of talented players, and we have to be at our best to come out on top.

We have welcomed the best sides in the league to Selhurst Park since the turn of the year –Newcastle United, Manchester United and Liverpool to name a few – and proved difficult to break down. Now, we have to add goals to our game, and looking at the amount of talent we have in the squad I know that we can become more clinical in the final third.

Your support has been incredible all season, and we need that more than ever today. If there is one thing both the manager and I have come to recognise in our time at Selhurst Park, it is that the fans will stick with the side through thick and thin – more so, in my opinion, than at any other stadium in the country. I know that you can create a special atmosphere this afternoon to roar us on, and I hope that we can put in a performance that will make you proud.

Make some noise! .

The international break was a welcome break for us after an intense run of fixtures, and allowed us players to get back to basics on the training ground ahead of the return of domestic football.

I know that you can create a special atmosphere this afternoon to roar us on, and I hope that we can put in a performance that will make you proud

captain

Welcome to the directors, staff, players and supporters of Leicester City to Selhurst Park for this important encounter, and to each and every Palace supporter here to get behind the players.

I’d like to begin by welcoming Roy Hodgson and Ray Lewington back to the club and thanking them for accepting the challenge of not only staying in the division but finishing as high as we possibly can. With Roy’s ability, experience, knowledge of the club and enthusiasm for the weeks ahead – along with Paddy in a new role as assistant manager and Ray as first-team coach – we believe we have the right group to lead us out of the most competitive relegation battles we’ve seen in 10 years in this division. As expected, Roy has hit the ground running and the mood at the training ground has been one of purpose, positivity, energy and togetherness.

As never before we will need your support to rally behind the team and Roy during each of our remaining matchdays, we need to make Selhurst Park a fortress for these five home matches – to make it uncomfortable for the opposition by creating as much noise as possible to spur our players on. Roy rightly said that our club is known for its fighting spirit, and that is off the field as well as on it.

I cannot emphasise just how much a difference your support, noise

and encouragement can make. There will be difficult moments I’m sure, but you have carried us through on countless occasions, and we will need you to do it again. All the clubs at the bottom can claim to have squads ‘too good to go down’, and many like us have been in the division a long time. The clubs that believe in themselves,

duty over the last week. It is always a wonderful sight to see our players represent their country, which is testament to their club performances.

It was also brilliant to see our Women’s team get a win over Blackburn at Bromley last weekend, in front of more than 1,000 supporters on Women’s Football Weekend. Congratulations to the players and staff. It’s an exciting time and there is a lot going on in the women’s game, and we are proud to be working with the FA on how the game develops.

their players, and demonstrate the desire to stay in the league will be the ones that triumph. That belief system starts with me and each and every one of you, and I know you will be behind us every step of the way.

A special mention to the four senior players – Jordan, Michael, Cheick, and Marc – and 10 Academy players who were on international

The academy goes from strength to strength. The Under-21s lie in equal third place and hopefully progressed yesterday in the Premier League International Cup against Liverpool, while the Under-18s are second after some impressive recent wins. Our Under-15s boys have once again qualified for the Floodlit Cup Final, and will face Arsenal in April. We have a strong record in that competition, and I wish coach Joe Antonelli and the group the very best of luck. Commiserations to the Under-13s who got through to the final of their cup competition, only to lose narrowly to Arsenal.

Up the Palace

we need to make Selhurst Park a fortress for these five home matches

Confidence,

for any player, is what you need to perform well

Just seven years have passed since the most unlikely of challengers broke the ‘Big Six’s’ routine stranglehold on English football’s top domestic prize.

The visages of Andrea Bocelli serenading the King Power, Wes Morgan hoisting the Premier League trophy aloft – and Jamie Vardy’s now-revered party – live fresh in the memory, despite seeming aeons ago.

Yet the detail most frequently overlooked in Leicester City’s ‘5000/1’ title triumph of 2015/16 was just quite how close they came to not competing in the Premier League at all.

In mid-April 2015, Leicester were marooned at the bottom of the table, seven points adrift of safety and ailing in a perilous position, with nine games of the season remaining.

Having rallied, seven wins from those fixtures secured Leicester’s Premier League status and, with new manager Claudio Ranieri instilling that all-important, but oft-elusive, property of confidence in his squad, many of those same players went on to achieve the unthinkable.

The example is raised not to draw a parallel with Crystal Palace’s current position – far less threatening than Leicester’s at that point in the season – or indeed to predict their fortunes, but more to illustrate that the margins between winning and losing in the Premier League, particularly when extrapolated over the course of an entire season, remain fine.

As Jeffrey Schlupp – a key cog in both Leicester’s side back then, and Palace’s team now, explains:

Jeffrey Schlupp

“Confidence, for any player, is what you need to perform well.

“I don’t think you can be taught it. You’ve got to have confidence, self-belief – whatever you want to call it – to perform well at anything. You have to block out the noise and believe in yourself to perform at your best. It’s the most important thing for any player.”

There is no doubting the level of talent in Palace’s current squad, but as new manager Roy Hodgson reiterated earlier this week, there is simply no replacement for self-belief.

Starting with today, just 10 games remain for Palace between now and the end of the season. After a difficult run of both fixtures and accompanying results – the Eagles remain winless since the turn of the year – now is the time to look forwards, not back.

“It’s been positive,” Schlupp describes the mood at Palace’s Copers Cope training ground over the international break. “For many of us, the new manager is a familiar face. A lot of us know how he likes to work.

“We saw the international break as a chance to refresh and really have a crack at the last bit of this season – the last 10 games to come.

It’s been positive. For many of us, the new manager is a familiar face. A lot of us know how he likes to work. We saw the international break as a chance to refresh and really have a crack at the last bit of this season – the last 10 games to come

We’ve had a managerial change, and we want to come back from the international period with a clear mind, ready to go.

“Roy is obviously a familiar face, with familiar tactics to a lot of us. He’s getting his message across early because it’s not like we’ve got a whole season to work on stuff –we’ve got two months of the season left to try and get results, and change things around.

“The manager has just been getting some positivity back into the group. Obviously, with the way things have been going, some people’s confidence – and in general that of the team – might be a bit low, so he’s been getting that positive factor back again.

“We want to be on the front foot, and take the game to teams. We want to play games to win, not to just show up. We want to have that mindset change. Everybody’s just excited to get playing again now.”

Excitement, mindset and confidence – all perfect complements to Palace’s abundance of natural talent.

Ask any of Schlupp’s long-term teammates at the club, and they will often say that the current squad contains the greatest ability and potential of any in the club’s recent history.

The midfielder himself is nearing 200 appearances in red and blue since joining the club from Leicester in January 2017, and – now in his seventh season in south London – recognises this team’s affinity with Palace values.

He smiles: “I’ve been here a few years now, and I think I have a good idea what this club is about. We’ve got a good fit with everyone here at the minute.

“We try and explain it to any new players who come in. We tell them about the DNA of the club. I think, even recruitment-wise, we look for that when we bring players in.

“In some of the games we’ve played in the last couple of years, since we brought a lot of the younger players in here, we’ve performed at a very high level. The argument is that we probably haven’t done it consistently enough over that time.

“When we’ve performed at a really high level, it’s hard then to follow it up by doing it for long periods like the top teams do. We know the quality is there in this team – it’s just about bringing it out on a more regular basis.”

Having made over 100 appearances previously under Hodgson, Schlupp retains a positive relationship with the incoming manager.

Indeed, Hodgson himself has spoken about the advantages of knowing many of the squad already, while also recognising that the club has taken steps forward in terms of the quality of its addition in recent seasons.

Schlupp explained: “My relationship with the manager was

Jeffrey Schlupp

The manager has just been getting some positivity back into the group. Obviously, with the way things have been going, some people’s confidence – and in general that of the team – might be a bit low, so he’s been getting that positive factor back again

We know the quality is there in this team

With the gaffer, Ray and Paddy, we’ve got some great staff

Jeffrey Schlupp

always really good when he was here last time, and with [first-team coach] Ray [Lewington]. Whenever I was called upon by them, I feel like I gave my best, and we’ve got good trust between us.

“The new players here, who didn’t really know about them, have come to us ‘senior guys’ – as you might want to call us – to ask questions, and we’ve given them an insight as to what it’s going to be like working under the manager and Ray.

“We obviously had a great time before under them – a great four seasons with them, which were successful for the club – and we’ve told everyone what to expect.

“Everyone loves [assistant manager] Paddy [McCarthy], obviously. We worked with him over pre-season and everyone knows him and respects him. The message that he is bringing across is really important as well. He’s someone you can chat to, but who will also give it to you straight and tell you exactly how you need to hear it.

“With the gaffer, Ray and Paddy, we’ve got some great staff, and a great opportunity to go and do something good. It helps

We obviously had a great time before under them – a great four seasons with them, which were successful for the club – and we’ve told everyone what to expect

we’re going to try everything we can to turn it around

everyone buy into it really quickly and everyone’s happy and ready to go.”

The players’ aim on Saturday, then, will be to assert that same quality upon Leicester City – a club with whom Schlupp’s footballing story is significantly intertwined.

Born in Hamburg, the Ghana international was a product of the Leicester youth academy and, having scored a hat-trick against Rotherham United on his first senior start for the Foxes, became a Premier League winner with them in the aforementioned 2015/16 season, playing in 24 of their 38 league matches that season.

To return to the original point, Schlupp highlights the key ingredient of that development, breakthrough, and eventual title charge: confidence.

“We’d finished the season before really well, and took that straight into the next season. We took it each week as it came, really, but we just kept winning… and everyone knows what happened at the end of that season.

“To be honest, we only started believing we were going to win the league not long before we actually did it. The confidence and the belief in the group was really high, and that allowed us to go into every game thinking we were going to win.”

It is a similar quality Schlupp, Hodgson and everybody connected with Palace will be looking to embody over the coming month – particularly when Leicester visit Selhurst this weekend.

The 30-year-old explains: “It’s a huge game for both clubs, of course. We’ve had a tough run since the start of the year, playing against pretty

Jeffrey Schlupp

much all of the top teams, and now we’ve got another tough run – but in a different way.

“It’s probably going to get a bit scrappy down there. The table’s pretty tight, and with Leicester being the first game back, it’s definitely going to be an exciting game, and one we’re looking to win.

“It just shows how competitive this league is. It’s so close. There are only a few points between eight or nine teams. Everyone’s competing, everyone’s building, and it’s showing in how tight the league is at the minute.

“We’ve got 10 games left, so everyone’s got to buy into what we’re doing straight away so that we can get some good results on the board, and get that good feeling back.

“To the supporters: thank you for sticking by us. We’ve gone through a tough run together – but we’re going to try everything we can to turn it around, and win games to repay you.”

In a season of tight tables, a campaign of fine margins – and a competition where confidence has on so many occasions proven its power – Schlupp knows all too well that the smallest lift can have the largest effect

We’ve got 10 games left, so everyone’s got to buy into what we’re doing straight away so that we can get some good results on the board, and get that good feeling back

has played in the Premier League for the best part of ten seasons –but how will he cope when confronted with the top-tier questions of The Follow-up?

the follow the follow -up -up

#17 What do you do when you get home from training?

Most days, get on the sofa and turn the TV on! I’m usually watching a series – I’m not a fan of daytime TV, to be honest – so I’ll turn Netflix or Amazon Prime on and keep watching whatever I’ve been watching.

#42 Which would you rather fight: 20 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?

One horse-sized duck. Whatever it is I’m fighting, it’s got to be one-on-one!

#8 Which team did you support as a child?

Hamburg in the Bundesliga – that’s where I was born, and where I’m from. It used to be Arsenal in the Premier League, but not so much now that I’m playing against them.

#27 Which football legend would you most like to have played with?

Because I used to watch Arsenal when I was growing up, it would have to be Thierry Henry. In terms of players I’ve met, it’d be either Cristiano Ronaldo, or David Beckham.

#55 If you could uninvent one thing, what would it be?

Probably social media. I like using it, but it’s just taken over everything for everyone.

Worth a try? Probably.

Did you know?

Leicester City won their first Charity Shield in 1971 despite having won neither the FA Cup nor the league title. However, due to double-winners Arsenal having European commitments to fulfil, Leicester were invited as Second Division champions to take on FA Cup runners-up Liverpool in the Wembley showpiece.

the foxes the foxes

After years of unprecedented success, Leicester now find themselves locked in a relegation battle under Brendan Rodgers .

match preview

The Foxes have won the FA Cup and the Premier League title in the last decade since promotion, but inconsistent form this season has seen them slip down the table and they come into this weekend just a point above the bottom three.

James Maddison’s stellar performance for England during the international break demonstrated the considerable talent they still have at their disposal, but every game and every point will be crucial between now and the end of the season if they are to avoid a return to the second tier.

Palace drew with Leicester in October and will hope they can go one better under Roy Hodgson this time around.

harvey barnes

The academy graduate has gone from strength to strength under Brendan Rodgers and has already netted nine times in the Premier League this season..

last five √ palace

april 26th, 2021

Boot in both camps

JEFFREY Schlupp

october 3rd, 2021

april 10th, 2022

Recent clash

Schlupp spent five years in Leicester’s academy system after moving to the United Kingdom from Germany as a child, and was part of the club’s legendary titlewinning side in 2015/16. He completed a move to south London in 2016 and has moved into a midfield

29 apps 91 saves

6

clean sheets

Height 1.91m

Joined June 20th 2018

Age 29 player profile

Debut August 28th, 2018 v Fleetwood Town

Ward put Wales’ World Cup disappointment behind him as he got back to action at Leicester City, where he has been No. 1 since Kasper Schmeichel’s departure to Nice in 2022. He has an FA Cup medal under his belt, as well as a runners-up medal in the Europa League during his time at Liverpool under Jürgen Klopp.

career history:

Wrexham, Liverpool, Morecambe (loan), Aberdeen (loan), Huddersfield (loan)

caglar söyüncü

daniel amartey

danny ward

POS GOALKEEPER NAT WALES

victor kristiansen

POS DEFENDER NAT TURKEY

POS DEFENDER NAT GHANA

POS DEFENDER NAT DENMARK

POS DEFENDER NAT BELGIUM

wout faes

timothy castagne

POS DEFENDER

NAT BELGIUM

08

youri tielemans

POS MIDFIELDER

NAT BELGIUM

33

luke thomas

POS DEFENDER NAT ENGLAND

22

kieran drewsbury-hall

POS MIDFIELDER NAT ENGLAND

harry souttar

POS DEFENDER NAT AUSTRALIA

player profile

Age 24

Height 1.98m

Joined January 31st, 2023

Debut February 4th, 2023 v Aston Villa

career history:

Dundee United, Stoke City, Ross County (loan), Fleetwood (loan)

7 apps

1 assist 391 PASSES

Australian international Souttar signed for Leicester on the back of a successful World Cup in Qatar, where he won plaudits for his performances throughout the tournament. Standing at six feet and six inches tall, his aerial prowess is aided by a confidence on the ball that made him a sought after prospect during seven years at Stoke City.

Age 26

Height 1.75m

Joined June 20th, 2018

Debut August 10th, 2018 v Manchester United goals

career history:

153 apps

29 assists 42

Maddison’s continual rise since signing for Leicester City as a 21-year-old has seen him develop into one of the country’s most exciting playmakers, becoming pivotal to an FA Cup winning side and earning a first England call-up. He was voted the club’s Player of the Season in 2021/22, and already has nine Premier League goals this season.

KELECHI IHEANACHO

POS FORWARD

NAT NIGERIA

189 apps

24 Assists

40

POS FORWARD

jamie vardy

POS FORWARD NAT ENGLAND

PATSON DAKA

POS FORWARD

POS FORWARD NAT BRAZIL

Age 26

Height 1.85m

Joined August 3rd, 2017

Debut August 11th, 2017 v Arsenal

TETê goals

Iheanacho’s introduction to English football was an emphatic one, scoring 14 times as a teenager in his first season for Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City, before adding another seven in Pep Guardiola’s first campaign. A big money move to Leicester followed, and he has continued to impress at club and international level.

player profile

stat pack stat pack

After winning four consecutive Premier League games against Leicester between 2017 and 2019, Crystal Palace are now winless in their last seven against the Foxes (D3 L4).

Leicester have won just one of their last six away league games against Crystal Palace (D3 L2), with their last two visits to Selhurst Park ending level.

It’s Saturday afternoon, kick-off is ticking closer and you're first to the pub. Before long, hazy memories and almost-accurate stats will fill the air. Brush-up for your Leicester pre-match below.

DIDN'T they...

Have a flirtation with the ‘sash’. Palace’s association with the sash is well-known, be it the red and blue flourish across a clear white background, or this season’s black third kit sporting the design in bold colours.

But Leicester had their own dalliance with the sash too –albeit almost 150 years ago. First founded in 1884 as Leicester Fosse – cool name, we think you’ll agree – the club initially turned out in black shirts pierced by a bright blue sash, along with white shorts and black socks.

It’s a kit that would be entirely unique in today’s game, but it only lasted two years

traditional blue shirts and white shorts began to be adopted long-term. Shame.

didn't he...

Build both Selhurst Park and Filbert Street. Well, almost. After eviction from their first ground on Mill Lane, Leicester played at the County Cricket ground while looking for a new place to call home. Soon enough, they secured a plot of land on Filbert Street and moved in.

From 1891 they played home games at the ground, but it was a stadium only in name. They needed expert help, and up stepped the most renowned architect in the footballing world: Archibald Leitch.

Leitch was a Scottish architect renowned for his work designing stadiums across the country, and he set about improving Filbert Street – even adding a new two-tier stand in 1927. He may have taken inspiration from a stadium he had designed just four years earlier down in south London, which had been named Selhurst Park.

you have almost certainly set foot in a stadium designed by Leitch. His most celebrated achievement is Craven Cottage, but he also built all or most of Everton’s Goodison Park, Arsenal’s Highbury, Liverpool’s Anfield and

Manchester United’s Old Trafford. Oh, and Ibrox, Molineux, Villa Park, White Hart Lane, Hillsborough, Fratton Park, Ewood Park, The Dell, The Den, Deepdale, Celtic Park and Brammall Lane. Also Hampden Park, Roker Park and Windsor Park and Twickenham.

Much of his work may now have been replaced by modern structure, but his legacy in British football lives on.

pub talk tibdit

Leicester, like Palace, take part in a fiercely contested rivalry that the media insist on calling by a silly name.

While Palace and Brighton face each other twice a season in the Premier League – more than often enough for Sky Sports News to stop referring to it as the ‘M23 Derby’ –Leicester have not faced Coventry City for more than 10 years.

Although they might both point to bigger rivals – Coventry to Aston Villa, and Leicester to Nottingham Forest – the fixture was often marred by violence and tensions run high when the two meet.

It is, sadly, referred to as the M69 Derby after the 24 mile stretch of motorway between the two. Still, thanks to roadworks it was upgraded, because it had been the A46 Derby before that. A minor improvement.

wEREN'T they…

Made to wait 87 years for a first league title. It’s hard finishing runners-up, but you can always tell yourself next year will be your

year. For Leicester, this didn’t quite ring true.

In 1928/29, they were sweeping all before them. Portsmouth came to Filbert Street and were dispatched 10-0 and the league title was within reach, but The Wednesday proved too strong and Leicester missed out by a single point.

season or the unpunished tackle on Reg Osborne in his first press conference as manager. Talk about being out of touch…

But then the fairytale occurred, and Leicester did the unthinkable. The only people not celebrating were the bookmakers, whose hubristic 5,000-1 odds at the start of the season had come back to haunt them. Some £25 million were lost, with one punter winning £100,000 after betting just £20 at the start of the season. Some luck

Pre-match pint

Kotchin – 3.9%

A full 86 years later, as they kicked-off the 2015/16 season, there was probably little hope that this was the year to right the wrongs of 1929. In fact, Claudio Ranieri didn’t even mention Arthur Chandler’s 34 goals that

To Kotch: London slang; To chill out, relax, enjoy doing nothing in particular. This is the perfect beer for that. A hoppy blonde ale brewed with Cascade hops to give it a citrus and peach aroma.

30 YEARS OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester United 1-3 Crystal Palace – September 19th, 2020

This

Old Trafford win came in front of empty seats as Palace beat United on home turf for the second season running, with fans forced to watch from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

doc brown

rio

doc brown doc brown

Ben Bailey Smith, aka Doc Brown, does it all – acting, rapping, writing, directing, you name it. The multifaceted Palace fan is also a patron of Palace for Life Foundation. In each edition, he offers his unique take on the world in SE25.

DREAMS √ NIGHTMARES

Well, that was a weird St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t it?

It’s hard to know where to begin when you’ve spent two thirds of a season being relentlessly upbeat in your programme column and then suddenly the carpet is whisked away from under your feet. My last piece was all about the power of fear and technically this one should be the bigger, bolder, scarier sequel, full of nightmarish twists and jump scares, BUT…

Surely there’s no one better to bring you a warm malted milk, read you a soothing bedtime story, assure you there are no monsters under the bed, tuck you in and leave the door ever so slightly ajar than Roy Hodgson. Even if monsters did appear, Ray Lewington would just scream “AWAY!” from the corridor and off they’d scatter.

There’s been an immense amount of verbiage from journalists and supporters alike over the past couple of weeks about the decision making at Selhurst. I’ve lost count of how many Eagles and fans of

other clubs have stopped me to ask what I think – am I outraged, am I sad, am I worried, is it wrong, is it right? After the initial shock, I’ve maintained the same position, the one every Eagle should now hold in my opinion: we can debate the leadership until the cows come home but the cold hard fact is there is only thing worth talking about now and that’s staying in the Premier League. That’s it. What’s done is done. Old face replaced by new face replaced by old face –let’s all have a big ding-dong about it AFTER we’ve beaten Forest and

Bailey Smith

secured an eleventh year in this world-famous competition.

There is literally nothing to discuss other than how loud, proud and Palace we need to be from

I distinctly remember saying to myself: “I’ll never forget you guys! Bye QPR, see ya Brum, ta-ta Brom...”

Ben

Only Uncle Roy can chase the nightmares away now. And why not?

He’s done it before. In such a fast moving sport, it’s no wonder we all tend to have short memories or recency bias, but Roy has been performing miracles for some time

today onwards, cheering the boys over the line. Because I don’t know about you but I’m not going back to the Championship. Please don’t make me. I’m begging you. The weird thing is, when we left, when our sentence finally came to an end, I distinctly remember saying to myself: “I’ll never forget you guys! Bye QPR, see ya Brum, ta-ta Brom – I’ll keep an eye out for all your results, check in on how you’re doing.” Within a couple of months of being Charlie Prem Potatoes, I couldn’t even remember who was IN the Championship.

Now I’ve been spoilt for over a decade, swanning around in Palace-branded silk kimonos and diamond encrusted sliders, huge medallion with a Premier League Logo pendant swinging back and forth across my bare chest, eating Lobster rolls and contemplating a European jaunt or two. I can’t go back to the Championship now – I’ll never survive! I’m too pretty for the lower leagues! Those monsters will eat me alive! Only Uncle Roy can chase the nightmares away now.

And why not? He’s done it before. In such a fast moving sport, it’s no wonder we all tend to have short memories or recency bias, but Roy has been performing miracles for some time (let’s skirt over Watford please). This is a guy who got his first coaching badge at 23 years old. I can’t recall what I was doing at 23 but I’m relatively sure most of my greatest achievements were largely pub-based. Hodgson actually got out of way, way bigger

holes than the one we’re in now. He even did a Brian Clough before Brian Clough! Most of us know that Roy cut his teeth coaching in Sweden, but did any of you know that after Halmstad escaped relegation ON GOAL DIFFERENCE, Uncle Roy won the blooming league with them the following season when they were favourites to go down? Crazy.

Is survival this year and the Premier League trophy next year too much to ask? Yeah, okay definitely maybe. But if we’ve got the man who chases away nightmares, at some stage we have to turn back to dreams.

For now, welcome home Roy

cpfc women 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 Scotland international Chloe Arthur discussing her journey from Erskine to the bright lights of Birmingham and London…

chloe arthur

My whole childhood was me, my brother and a football – all day, every day! We’d play out on the street until dark when my Mum would call us in. I didn’t have any idea I’d want to do it as a job – it was just a genuine love of football.

I went on to play for my school team. I was the only girl who played, which came with a bit of stick from other boys’ teams. They were always surprised at first, but then they realised I could actually play.

When I was 12 or 13, I had to move to play for a girls’ team. I remember thinking I didn’t want to, because I was used to being one of the boys, but then I started at Celtic’s academy, where my full youth career was based.

Take note of

A lot of players who look really talented quite often fizzle out, which is why I always say to kids now: “Everyone develops at their own rate.” Some people are a lot better than you when you’re younger, but if you work hard, you’ll get there. I was an example of that – so many people were more talented, but I just worked hard and made sure I did extras every single day to kick on.

When I left school, I went to the National Performance Centre

Arthur made her senior international debut for Scotland at just 20-years-old, and has since gone on to win over 30 caps for her country.

The tough-tackling midfielder is well versed in competing at the top end of the league table, having helped Hibernian finish second in Scotland’s top-flight, and won promotion from the Championship in her debut season with Bristol City.

in Stirling. There were roughly 15 players there, considered the best in Scotland at that time. We stayed there and studied at the same time, so we were up early in the morning to train at 7am, then we’d go to university or college or whatever, and then we’d train at night – it was pretty hectic!

were both in the Women’s Super League. For some diehard fans, that will have seemed a crime, but it was the right choice for me from a footballing point of view.

Last summer, I moved to Crystal Palace. For me, getting older, my values have changed. The move was about me enjoying my football, and putting myself first.

I made my senior Scotland debut in 2015. We were playing Northern Ireland and I came on alongside two of my best friends, FC Rosengard forward Fiona Brown and Rangers goalkeeper Megan Cunningham. I was young in comparison to the rest of the squad, but it was really nice to get my debut and move upwards from there.

I moved to Edinburgh for my final year or two, which is when I moved to Hibernian. I then moved to Bristol City – the manager at the time was Willie Kirk, who knew me from Hibs – and that’s when my career started as England at 21. It was more professional, and an opportunity for me to learn as a person and a player. We won promotion in my first year, which was one of the best periods of my life.

Then, I joined Birmingham City in 2018 and Aston Villa in 2020, who

Aston Villa have progressed a lot this year, but I’d played in the Women’s Super League for maybe five or six years, and it does get tough mentally when it becomes draining. I was battling with my mental health. Everyone’s experience is different, and it was just getting too much for me. It’s something I’m really passionate about now: listening to myself.

Football back then just hindered me more than it does now, and it got to the point where I wasn’t enjoying it. It was important for me to get that enjoyment back.

Everyone’s got to go off their own feelings and do what’s right for them. Whether they feel like the right decision is to move, to stay, or to take a step back, that person should do it. People who feel drained over a long period of time have to work out what they value, link that in with actual reality, and make choices for themselves – and nobody else.

Palace have similar values to me in terms of where they want to take the women’s game and their style of play. I spoke to the national team and got advice from lots of people whose opinions I value –and it’s definitely been the right decision for me.

Football back then just hindered me more than it does now, and it got to the point where I wasn’t enjoying it. It was important for me to get that enjoyment back

Palace have similar values to me in terms of where they want to take the women’s game

academy academy

JAY BUTTS - Under-18s Physiotherapist

It was a dream of mine to work in London. I studied in the United States and qualified as a physical therapist in 2016.

i'm used to working around a lot of athletes, having worked in a sports clinic, but I knew I always wanted to work full-time in football – or ‘soccer’!

I moved over to London in 2018 with my wife. I didn’t have a job when I arrived, but I got my foot in the door at AFC Wimbledon as Under-23s Physio. I was there for one season before taking up the role of Under-18s Physio at Crystal Palace in August 2019.

I’m responsible for anything and everything medical related for the Under-18s. It may be assessments, preparing them for training, gym or pitch rehab, injury recovery and rehabilitation. I’m also there on matchdays – so I’m the one who will run on the pitch and assess the players if required.

If a player has an injury, they could be out for several days or several months, after which they will undergo rehab to fully recover. Rehabilitation takes up most of my time. A session is usually one to two hours and typically happens in the morning and afternoon.

Some players may get a low-grade muscle strain that only keeps them out for a couple of weeks, or they

might get an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury which would require surgery. Typically, after a surgery, the rehab will last six months to a year, and maybe even longer depending on the severity of their injury.

For instance, one of our players picked up a bad hamstring injury in pre-season. He missed several months of the season, but the medical team – myself, Joe Ranson our Head of Medical and Sean Carmody our Academy Doctor – with help from departments like nutrition and psychology, got him back through that time out.

It was a long injury and the recovery process involved: a lot of rest, gym work, getting back on the pitch, modified training and finally a return to full training. Now he’s back to featuring in matches and scoring goals.

Nowadays there is rarely ever a career ending injury. It is such a great feeling for me to help them and to help them press on in their career and they are grateful too. There is genuinely no better feeling than when you have been able to work with a player and get him back on the pitch and playing

There is genuinely no better feeling than when you have been able to work with a player and get him back on the pitch and playing

over the over theroad road

rio cardines

Getting to know rio cardines

-

The opportunity for a player to represent their country is something that doesn’t come around often, if at all, in many careers. When Rio Cardines was asked to play for Trinidad and Tobago, he couldn’t turn it down.

The youngster joined the Eagles at Under-16s, after featuring for a number of sides across the country at pre-Academy level. He earned his debut for Rob Quinn’s Under-18s this season against Norwich City and made an instant impact by scoring in a 2-2 draw.

Since then he has been a near-constant presence in the side and his performances earned him a call-up to the Trinidad and Tobago Under-17s side for the CONCACAF U17 Championship.

Highlights so far

Take note of

Rio

“I was so proud to represent my country, but it was actually quite a stressful experience initially! I was out there a week before the actual tournament on a training camp and I had to sort out my Trinidad and Tobago passport.

“There was a lot of chaos when I was trying to get the

Playing for Trinidad and Tobago Under-17s at the CONCACAF U17 Championship.

possess the qualities of a modern-day full-back. He is capable of pushing forward to aid an attack, while also being equally adept at dropping back and defending.

Rio has shown his adaptability to play in both fullback positions, highlighted his fantastic physical attributes, along with his ball striking ability and deliveries from set-pieces –which have been a big asset for the group, especially in the second part of the season

rob quinn under-18s manager

passport sorted out, my dad had to change his flight back three times during that week and my grandad had to get a new birth certificate issued, it took a lot longer than expected.

“I wasn’t 100% sure whether I could go and compete in the tournament in time, but when they named their 20-man squad, they only listed 19 players – they left

a space for me in the hope that I could get it sorted.” Thankfully, Cardines managed to get his passport sorted in time, with the help of his dad, and got on another flight to Guatemala where the tournament was taking place.

“As soon as I landed, I got on a taxi to the hotel and when I got there I saw all the boys outside - ready and waiting in their kits! I had to run in and quickly get changed before getting on the coach to the game. I actually

started that game too, but we narrowly lost 3-2 to Canada. We made it all the way to the round of 16, where we lost 3-2 to El Salvador in extra-time.

“I scored in that game, but unfortunately we were knocked out. It was a great experience nevertheless, and I feel like I did my family proud by representing my country. The next step is Under-20s with Trinidad and Tobago, Under21s with Palace and hopefully the senior teams aren’t far off.”

it was a great experience nevertheless, and I feel like I did my family proud by representing my country. the next step is Under-20s with Trinidad and Tobago

Keeping you posted on all things south London. Over the page, relive the emergence of one of the club’s greatest ever players – and the darker side of his journey to the top…

tim roth

Screen legend Tim Roth was born and brought up in Dulwich, and is known for his collaborations with iconic director Quentin Tarantino in films like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and the Hateful Eight. The Palace fan has been nominated for BAFTAs, Golden Globes and Academy Awards.

free jazz sundays

2nd April 2023

Although you can never rely on the sun to shine in London, you can always hope for the best – and if it is a beautiful day why not provide a fitting soundtrack too? Enjoy a lazy Sunday afternoon with some beautiful jazz music, with food and drink available from local restaurants and bars surrounding the square.

Bermondsey Square

in 1976, Vince Hilaire watched the Crystal Palace first-team prepare for the weekend with envy. He knew his time would come, but as the senior players boarded the coach for Lincoln City, he was, once again, watching from afar. Then Terry Venables approached him, and his life changed.

“I was just 17-years-old, and was told by Terry Venables that one of the lads had fallen ill,” Hilaire remembered years later. “Not for one minute did I think I would get in the 12 selected, but as we were a bit short of attacking options, I was put on the bench.

“We were losing the game and assistant manager Alan Harris kept prompting Terry, saying: ‘Get him on, what have we got to lose?’ I wasn’t quite sure how to take that!

“I prefer to think that he thought I might turn the game for

I was just 17-years-old, and was told by Terry Venables that one of the lads had fallen ill, Not for one minute did I think I would get in the 12 selected

us, as opposed to being the only option. It was a special moment.”

Hilaire was introduced with 15 minutes remaining, but couldn’t prevent Palace from slipping to a 3-2 defeat. Nonetheless, it was the starting point for one of south London’s great cult heroes.

Although he received an enormous amount of support in south London, there was a darker side to his playing days. As a black player competing in the 1970s, racist abuse was commonplace.

“You could probably say most away games for black players like myself, it would probably be threequarters of the ground: monkey chants, Nazi salutes and general derogatory name calling whenever you received the ball,” he recalled.

“In my early days, it was the norm. To be honest with you, because of the time it basically didn’t bother you because you expected it. Thankfully, the majority of people over the years have been made aware that it’s not acceptable to use that sort of language by the people that have said: ‘No, I’m not having that because that hurts.’”

Hilaire has spoken of the need for more education, and his hopes that – while the situation has markedly improved – things can get better still.

“An ignorant person can be changed, a racist person cannot. Luckily for people in this country, there are more ignorant people than racist people and that’s a fact. That is an absolute fact.

“You can’t have kids growing up in the world now thinking that

anything other than a player playing in a different coloured shirt does not deserve their support. But if they’ve got a different colour skin, that has got absolutely nothing to do with it.

“If someone’s a dirty player, he’s a dirty player. A dirty black player is not relevant. A skilful player is a skilful player, they’re not ‘a skilful black player’. You don’t define people by the colour of their skin or what religion they are, you define them as a person.”

Hilaire pushed on from his debut in 1976 and quickly established himself in the first-team, going on to win the Player of the Year award in 1979. It was during this season that Palace had one of their finest hours, as a record crowd of 51,482 crammed into Selhurst Park to witness a promotion clash.

Palace went into the game in fourth, but, with the season finishing at different times for different teams, they had a game in hand, and would gain promotion with a win. Burnley were the opposition.

“The magnitude of the game didn’t sink in until we got onto the coach and started going up towards the ground, then we understood the magnitude of the game and it did seem like a final,” Hilaire remembers.

“The common practise for a midweek game would to report for 5pm. But in that particular game, because of the importance, Terry [Venables] wanted us to report at around midday for a spot of lunch to get us away from the pressure.

“We were under no illusions that it was another game. We

came out of the hotel and in the coach it took us about 45 minutes for a five minute journey because of the crowds.”

Hilaire played a huge part in Palace’s win, but as the crowd poured onto the pitch he was in a daze. In truth, he cannot remember too much of what happened later.

“Early in the match I took a bang on the head and the game was a little bit of a blur because I was slightly concussed,” he says.

“I got two assists in the game so a few people said: ‘I think you should play concussed more often!’”

It may have faded from Vince Hilaire’s mind, but it’s a memory that will live forever in the minds of the thousands that celebrated long into the evening. It’s why, to this day, his name can elicit a smile on the streets around Selhurst Park .

Early in the match I took a bang on the head. I got two assists in that game so a few people said: ‘I think you should play concussed more often!’

THROUGH THE LENS

The Premier League celebrates its 30th anniversary this season, with Palace there at the start in 1992/93 and still there today – with a few detours along the way. Here, we break down the club’s Premier League spells, letter by letter.

t t touchline

If you’re reading this at half-time, you may be thinking: ‘What is going on down there in the dressing room? How does a manager really mastermind an important victory?’

Well, throw away anything you’ve seen in a Hollywood blockbuster. The motivational speeches that characterise cinema’s great works of sporting fiction are just that: fiction. The reality is far more technical – as Roy Hodgson once revealed, looking back on Palace’s victory over Chelsea that put an end to a disastrous seven-game losing streak to begin the 2016/17 season.

“In those days, we’d only just started working with the team,” Hodgson explains. “All your messages are relatively new, and there are so many important messages you need to reinforce that you’re never short of things to say at half-time.

“We would have focused on aspects of our defending: making

sure the back four didn’t drop too deep, that we got up to players on the ball and recovered our positions when we lost the ball.

“We were getting Wilf [Zaha] and Andros [Townsend] to drop in a bit deeper when we lost the ball, to stop [Cesc] Fabregas going deep and having the freedom of the park, and thereby preventing other players like [Yohan] Cabaye and [Luka] Milivojevic and [Jeffrey] Schlupp to [have to] leave important positions to pressurise the ball.

“We were working on the basis that we had done well to get ourselves in this position. Now, let’s make sure we keep sticking to our principles and our gameplan, and all the things we believe are necessary to try and keep this advantage and not let them back into the game.

“It’s always a wonderful feeling when it pays off. There’s always going to be a relief if you’ve

played the game you prepared for all week, and you see the players do the things that you hoped they would do, and give performances you hoped they would give.

“That is not only satisfaction and great pleasure, it’s also relief because you know going into that game other outcomes would have been possible.” It may not work coming out of Brad Pitt’s mouth, but in the Premier League it’s not about scripting fine moments, it’s about results.

u u under the radar...

In football, we tend to focus on the ‘sexy’ things. At one end, it’s the goalscorers, the skilful wingers and the dynamic No. 10s. We inadvertently let out a satisfied noise when they weave around an opponent, slice through a seemingly impenetrable back-line or smash the ball – with almost inconceivable purity – off the crossbar and into the back of the net.

At the other end, it’s the defenders. We become wide-eyed when they skip past an onrushing attacker, we go positively weak at the knees when they smash into an advancing opponent with such timing and precision that it brings spectators to their feet. Hell, we even

applaud incomprehensively when they play a fairly simple pass from one side of the defence to the other.

But there are so many players for whom the limelight is not available. Week after week they plug away, and only years into their career are they appreciated for their integral role to the team. Take Claude Makelele, arguably the most important cog in a Real Madrid side chock-full of far bigger names and more glamorous players. He was packed off to Chelsea to make way for another star signing, and redefined the Premier League’s idea of a defensive midfielder.

At Palace, there have been so many of the same ilk. Cheick Doucouré is never going to lead the back-pages

andros townsend

Coming through the Academy at Spurs, Townsend’s turbulent early career saw him make nine loan moves before breaking into the first-team, but it was at Palace that he finally found some stability.

Signing in 2016 with 13 England caps to his name, the winger made 168 Premier League appearances for the Eagles, filling the No. 10 slot vacated by Yannick Bolasie and scoring some iconic goals in the process.

He had an eye for the spectacular – much has been written about his Puskas Award nominated strike against Manchester City in that iconic 3-2 victory in 2018 – and he has won the Premier League’s Goal of the Month award three times.

by virtue of his position, but Palace are a far stronger side when he plays. He gets on with his job quietly and efficiently. James McArthur was absent from the pre-season previews of so many pundits, but how much have the Eagles missed his calmness and experience in midfield?

For a club like Palace, there is often a sense that players are overlooked due to the badge on their chest rather than their capabilities on the field. That seemed to change last season, however, when – for the first time since 1991 – the Eagles saw three players called up to the national side. Tyrick Mitchell, Marc Guéhi and Conor Gallagher were recognised by Gareth Southgate, just as Geoff Thomas, Ian Wright and John Salako had been years earlier.

Three Palace players featuring for England, managed by a former Palace captain?

Having been on the brink of collapse in 2010, Crystal Palace earned promotion back to the Premier League 10 years ago this season. Here, Club Historian Ian King tells the story of a dramatic campaign – with a little help from the stars of When Eagles Dare

March 5th: Palace

4-2 Hull City

It was a top of the table clash at Selhurst Park as fourth placed Palace welcomed second placed Hull City during a full midweek programme of Championship fixtures.

Injuries meant Kagisho Dikgacoi appearing at right-back. Both teams were on the attack from the off and after 30 minutes Jonny Williams was felled in the penalty area, but Glenn Murray saw his spot-kick saved. Just before half-time the Eagles were awarded another opportunity from 12-yards for handball; Kevin Phillips’ effort was almost saved but had enough power to beat the ‘keeper.

Within eight minutes of the restart Phillips completed his hattrick, slotting home Wilfried Zaha’s square pass and then curling

home another, but the Tigers reduced the arrears with 15 minutes left. The Eagles replied immediately, as Zaha played a one-two with Murray to race through and score. In the dying minutes, Hull added a second but the Eagles had a vital victory in their push for promotion. Hull were the only side in the top six to lose that evening and the Eagles were only one victory away from second place.

March 9th: Palace

2-2

Leeds United

A brace for Glenn Murray saw him break the 30-goal barrier for the season but the second came late on to save a point for the Eagles. Starting brightly, it took nearly 30 minutes to break down the visitors defence when Zaha linked with Williams and the latter’s pinpoint cross to the far post found

march 5th

an unmarked Murray to head home. Barely had the second-half started before Zaha had a glorious opportunity, but he curled his effort narrowly wide. Then, out of nothing, Leeds were level as the Palace defence were found out of position for Steve Morison to tuck home.

Worse was to follow 20 minutes from time as a long ball forward from the ‘keeper found Morison who, on the run, volleyed past Julian Speroni. Ian Holloway sent Phillips on as Williams flashed an effort wide and Stephen Dobbie

Jacob Butterfield plays his last game of his loan from Norwich City

fired over, but with six minutes left Damien Delaney strode forward and his cross-field pass found Murray to volley home at the far post.

The Eagles could have moved into second place as Watford lost at home to Blackpool.

March 17th: Brighton 3-0 Palace

With Watford and Hull both suffering defeats the previous afternoon, there was a glorious opportunity to move into an automatic promotion place with victory at our arch-rivals.

For most of the first-half the Eagles had marshalled the Brighton attack well and carved out a couple of openings, the best falling to Jonny Parr when Zaha played him through. Two minutes before the break the Seagulls managed to score twice as Leonardo Ulloa’s scruffy header was deflected beyond Speroni and David López curled an unstoppable free kick off the crossbar.

Phillips and Andre Moritz were brought on at the start of the second-half but within a few minutes Ulloa netted his second as the ball was headed back across the Palace goal for him to volley past his fellow Argentinian.

The Seagulls were able to regain sixth place in the table but were still six points behind the Eagles .

march 9th

ashley ‘jazz’ richards player in focus

BORN:

12th April 1991 – Swansea

APPEARANCES: 11 GOALS: 0

‘Jazz’ made his debut for Swansea City as an 18-yearold in 2009 but at the start of the 2012/13 season found his opportunities limited and asked to go out on loan. He arrived at Selhurst Park in the January transfer window, making his Eagles’ debut away at Huddersfield. He settled in at right-back, covering for the injured Joel Ward, appearing eleven times while providing a couple of assists and unluckily having a goal chalked off for offside as the team fought its way into the play-offs.

I love the way Ian [Holloway] sees football. That’s how I grew up back in Argentina: the way we keep the ball and the way the players move around the pitch. I love that style of football

Julian Speroni

march 12th

Neil Warnock returns to Selhurst Park as manager of Leeds United

Manager Ian Holloway celebrates his 50th birthday

from the

Times have changed over Crystal Palace’s rich and storied history. In each edition, we dust off the archive and reprint a story from one of the club’s historical programmes. This week, we republish an interview with a young new signing still adapting to the Palace way of life – whatever happened to him…

joel’s goal

After arriving last summer, Joel Ward is nearing the end of his first ride on the Selhurst rollercoaster. Unbeaten runs, managerial changes, blockbuster transfers, injury layoffs and winless sequences have brought towering highs and unexpected lows. But reaching the play-offs could provide a few more thrills and spills yet to come… 2013 didn’t get off to best of starts for Ward. A groin injury picked up against Huddersfield at Selhurst just before Christmas saw his promising start in a red and blue shirt hit the buffers. As the bleak winter months reluctantly gave way to spring sunshine, he embarked on a gruelling rehabilitation programme only to see a knee problem arise as the end of the tunnel loomed large. It takes someone who possesses plenty of character to put it all behind them, forget the hardships and keep striving towards the goal, and the 22-year-old has

that in abundance. Despite over three months away from first-team action, his class display against Barnsley showed he is already back to his pre-Christmas best.

picture and getting game time. Hopefully we can make that final push and be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.

“The team have done fantastic this year; we’ve got a great bunch of guys that I can’t speak highly enough of and we’re a determined and resilient group. It was frustrating for me to come out of that and be sidelined through injury but I’m the kind of person who stays mentally strong, keeps pushing on and do whatever I can to get back and stay fit and that’s what I’m doing.

“It’s been a great first season but it’s also been a tough one with the injury,” he said. “I feel as though I’ve settled in well here and I really like the club and the ethos around the place and I’m enjoying being back in the first-team

“We will do everything in our power to make sure we give ourselves the best opportunity of getting into the play-offs. They give us a great chance to get promoted; I’ve never experienced them before and don’t know what they’re like but it’s a great chance for us. If we do our jobs the way we have been this season and focus hard then there’s no reason why we can’t go on and potentially come out on top.

“Promotion would be a massive achievement but we’re taking baby steps and looking at one game at

Crystal Palace v Leicester City –April 20th, 2013

It was frustrating for me to be sidelined through injury but I’m the kind of person who stays mentally strong, keeps pushing on and do whatever I can to get back

a time and I feel that’s the best way to approach it. Hopefully we can keep moving forward and give ourselves the best chance we can to get us to where we want to be. “

Such is the topsy-turvy nature of Palace’s season that the last time they faced the Foxes seems like a hazy blue with all the changes at Selhurst this season. Lennie Lawrence and Curtis Fleming masterminded the Eagles to their first ever victory at the King Power Stadium, having seen Dougie Freedman move to Bolton Wanderers six days earlier.

them. With Holloway at the helm, the momentum was maintained and now it’s Palace who sit in the top six ahead of today’s opponents.

“These things happen in football, opportunities arise and people move on. Dougie was a very good manager and I’m thankful that he brought me to the club. Every manager has their different ways of doing things and under the gaffer now I’m happy. He’s brought extra things to the team and is imposing his way on us.

“When we last played Leicester it was important that the lads came together and when those things happen it highlights how much of a tight-knit group you are, and I think that showed. It didn’t affect our play and we continued to do our jobs and stuck together.”

The last two performances at Selhurst haven’t gone to plan, but the fact remains that only Watford and Birmingham have won on Palace’s patch this season. Ward believes that this has to remain the case for today’s game and a final day showdown with Peterborough to give his side the best chance of prolonging their campaign past the 46 game mark.

The majority of the squad saw the departure of the man who inspired them to move to SE25 and such a blow could have derailed the promotion dream before it even got started. However that game back in October proved a squad of consummate professionals such as Ward never allowed it to affect

“I’ve always said that your home ground needs to be a fortress. For the majority of the season we’ve done that and we’ve been unfortunate in the last few games. We need to make sure we stay focused and try to continue to make this a ground where opposition players fear to come to.” .

Promotion would be a massive achievement but we’re taking baby steps and looking at one game at a time and I feel that’s the best way to approach it

palace for life

Disability Sport at Palace

this weekend marks the Premier League Supports campaign, which celebrates some of the amazing work clubs across the country are doing for their communities, and at Palace we’re focusing on our Disability Programme, which is partly funded by the Premier League. Keep an eye out for some of our participants dotted around Selhurst Park this matchday, including our season-sofar unbeaten Powerchair team!

At Palace for Life, we have been delivering Disability Sport

sessions in south London for over 20 years, and over this time have worked with hundreds of people living with a disability, helping them develop their physical and mental well-being through sport.

According to the latest census, almost 14 million people have a disability in the UK, which represents around 22% of the total population, and in Croydon alone, this is nearly 55,000 people, 15.8% of the borough’s population. According to Sport England, disabled people are almost twice as likely to be physically inactive (43%) compared to those with a disability (23%). We know that physical activity is beneficial to everybody, and we believe that everybody should be able to access sport. Our Disability programmes are designed to do just that.

All of our programmes are designed to improve motor skills and physical fitness, but a big part of our programme is also to improve overall wellbeing and selfconfidence and to give opportunities for social interaction with new friends and the wider community.

Our extensive schools programme is designed to enhance the motor skills and social and communication abilities of children with disabilities. Our experienced and specialist-trained disability coaches deliver a mixture of curriculum lessons and afterschool clubs tailored to the needs of each individual. We work in special educational needs schools, or mainstream schools to deliver disability-specific programmes.

We also offer Vision Impaired and Blind Football, a monthly visually

almost 14 million people have a disability in the UK, which represents around 22% of the total population, and in Croydon alone, this is nearly 55,000 people

impaired sport session in partnership with the Royal Society for Blind Children for young people aged between five and 25 with a visual impairment. These sessions focus on improving spatial awareness, communication, and sport-specific techniques through fun activities.

Our Down’s Syndrome football team stole the hearts of Palace fans when visiting first-team training last season. Our sessions provide a safe and fun environment for people with Down’s Syndrome to play football and make friends, with weekly indoor football training sessions and the opportunity to play for the DS Eagles in friendly football matches and national festivals.

Our Powerchair football team currently sit unbeaten and top of the league. These sessions offer a fast-moving indoor game played in a four-a-side format, open to players aged eight and over. We offer people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to play any form of football the opportunity to be part of Palace, with weekly training sessions focusing on chair movability, ball control, passing, teamwork and tactics, and the opportunity to play for Crystal Palace Powerchair F.C. in the Wheelchair FA’s south-east regional league.

We always want to welcome new participants and continue to build a more inclusive and diverse community through sport, so if you know anyone who might benefit from our sessions, please do get in touch.

For more information about our Disability Sports programmes, head to palaceforlife.org .

Support Palace for Life in our mission to raise £1 million to help us transform thousands of more young south Londoners’ lives. donate a pint from your pre-match routine below

From audacious signings to headline-grabbing ownership bids, Palace have built a collection of tall tales over time. Here, we pick apart the most outlandish rumours from club history, with today’s focus on a member of the current squad…

david Nugent needs no introduction. Signed by Palace under Peter Taylor in 2007, he went on to score 103 goals in 228 games for the club in all competitions, including that memorable winner in the 2009 play-off final at Wembley. He is credited with almost singlehandedly keeping Palace in the top-flight in 2010, and his 16 Premier League goals ran Didier Drogba close for the Golden Boot.

He scored in every round of Palace’s successful League Cup winning campaign in 2012, including the winner against Cardiff City in the semi-final and the winning penalty against Liverpool in the final at Wembley. Wild celebrations marked Palace lifting the trophy, and a European adventure awaited.

The Eagles shocked the continent by reaching the knockout rounds of the tournament – Nugent scored in all three away games, against AEL Limassol, Marítimo and, most memorably, Inter Milan – before dreams of the final in Amsterdam were put to rest at Lyon. The dodgy offside call is still bemoaned in pubs around south London to this day.

Nugent left the club in 2015, signing for Major League Soccer side New York Red Bulls. As an established England international, earning 22 caps and scoring eight times under national team boss Harry Redknapp, he had earned the chance to spend the final years of his career in the Big Apple.

We should probably stop here. Make-believe is fun, but this

alternative universe is beginning to sound a bit too appealing. Of course, you may have realised by now – unless this is your first Palace game, in which case we apologise for grossly misleading you – that all of the above never happened. But it could have done.

In 2007, Palace were indeed interested in a young England Under-21s international playing at Preston North End, who had impressed since his arrival from Bury just a few years earlier.

It was to be his first and last England cap, but it didn’t seem so at the time. The sky was the limit, and Palace wanted to get in at the ground floor.

“David Nugent is a player that we are interested in, but I feel that he is probably looking to get into the Premiership,” Taylor revealed. “We are waiting to see what develops there.” Wait Palace did, but the rumour mill was churning.

In the midst of endless rumour and unsubstantiated reporting, where better for a reliable source of information than an online forum? Suddenly, Nugent had been spotted in the car-park outside Sainsbury’s, and his signing was imminent.

It didn’t matter that no such proof of the signing existed. He was in south London, he was ready to sign – he was an Eagle in all but name. Except, of course, he wasn’t.

Nugent signed for Portsmouth for £6 million, and completed his dream move to the Premier League. He struggled in the top-flight but scored some important goals, representing Burnley, Middlesbrough and Leicester before dropping back down the divisions.

the Crystal Palace goal in the FA Cup, away, where I basically sprinted from the halfway line, took on about five players and put it in the top bin,” he later recalls.

While still at Preston he received his first call-up to the England senior side, scoring on his debut against Andorra and achieving ‘one cap, one goal’ status. He was the first Preston player to receive an England call-up since Tom Finney, and the first outfield player to represent the Three Lions while playing in the Football League since Michael Gray in 1999.

For those at Selhurst Park, their abiding memory of Nugent will be two-fold: a non-appearance in a Sainsbury’s car park, and a wonderful solo goal at the Holmesdale Road End – only for the wrong team.

In 2007, as Taylor’s interest was picking up, Preston arrived in the FA Cup fourth round and Nugent danced around the entire Palace backline before slotting past the goalkeeper. “I always remember…

We all remember it here, too, David. If only you had been wearing red and blue while you did it. Dreams of European trips to the San Siro may seem fanciful now, but isn’t that the beauty – and the tragedy – of the rumour mill?

A player becomes a crucial part of your future. You begin to imagine a life together, a happy future where all your dreams come through. But before you know it you are reminded that it was a mere flirtation, a cruel glimpse of an alternative reality, and your carefully plotted path to success is pulled from under your feet.

Sainsbury’s legend David Nugent – what could have been? .

David Nugent is a player that we are interested in, but I feel that he is probably looking to get into the premiership, We are waiting to see what develops there

peter taylor

always remember… the Crystal Palace goal in the FA Cup, away, where I basically sprinted from the halfway line, took on about five players and put it in the top bin

david nugent

The page for Palace supporters: taking your comments from the terraces into the programme. This week, we print your messages. Want to get in touch? Use the details below.

Happy 4th Birthday Zachary Sharkey. 4th Generation of PALACE supporters! Lots of love Daddy, Mummy, Nana, Grandad, Uncle Marcus, Auntie Antonia and all the extended Bance family! EAGLES

In loving memory of Terry Panting, a wonderful man and a lifelong Crystal Palace fan. He will be missed dearly by his loving wife and family.

Charlie Dennis Ellacott. Your story touched the hearts of the Crystal Palace Family. Your strength and determination was inspirational. You will always be loved, and always remembered. Rest in Eternal Peace Charlie. #EPIC

Happy 14th birthday to Cian Jones. Enjoy the footy and your day out. Lots of love from Dad, Mum, Orrin, Rigby and Uncle Dean

Congratulations to my Dad Terry Crane celebrating his 78th Birthday, lifelong Palace fan and a bloody great Dad

Happy Birthday Dad! Picture of you and grandpops to put a smile on your face at todays game. War veteran, Palace fan and Croydon legend. RIP Grandpops miss and love you.

Happy 40th Birthday Andrew Foley! Love Becky, Emily and Ryan x

Have a great day Jae at Selhurst Park today, first time here at the mighty Red & Blue

Peter could light up any room, an incredible man who has impacted so many communities, families and grass roots football. You’ll be missed by so many but what a fantastic life.

RIP Mark Myers, 91 years young. CPFC fan for over 65 years. Much missed by all of his family already. Never forgotten x

In memory of Keith Beach who sadly passed away recently. He attended his first game in 1974 and was a season ticket holder right up to the present day. He’ll be sadly missed by all those who knew him.

Belated happy 12th birthday Thomas, hope you have a great day. Love Mum, Dad, Freddie, Ivy and Maryann. Xxxx

match. They met while both working for the MP for Leicester East.

today’s CPFC vs.

In memory of Steve Styles , a lifelong Palace supporter and season ticket holder. He leaves behind his loving wife Marilyn and son Stuart. Steve will be sorely missed by all his friends and family.

Happy 70th birthday dad/grandad. Lifelong Palace fan. Have a great day, love all the family. Eagles

It is Elliot Burr’s (aged 5) first visit to Selhurst Park, enjoy your first Crystal Palace football match. Love from Mummy, Daddy, Nana and Grandad, Uncle Harry and Auntie Laura

Happy birthday Sally Clarke for tomorrow (2nd April) season ticket holder Block F. Love from Martin

Mark Hoda (Croydon) and Heather McDonald (Bovey, MN) celebrate 23+ years of friendship at

LCFC

next up: leeds

It’s a trip to the north west for Palace as they head to Elland Road to take on Leeds United on Saturday, 8th April (17:30 BST).

Travel:

Leeds Train Station is a 40-minute walk from Elland Road, but shuttle buses run regularly to the stadium and cost just £2.50 for a return ticket.

Pre-match:

There are a variety of pubs around Leeds, all of whom accept away fans. In the past, The Drysalters has been a regular haunt, while Howard’s Bar at the stadium has accepted travlling fans in the past.

BEAT BRIGHTY BEAT BRIGHTY

In each edition, club icon Mark Bright calls it how he sees it and predicts events from the day’s football. See how you fare and try to Beat Brighty!

Scoring:

One point for every correct result, three for a correct scoreline.

Best memory:

Palace have enjoyed some famous days at Elland Road, but the surprise victory against the beaten European Cup finalists in 1976 stands out, as Peter Taylor and co. marched towards the FA Cup semi-finals.

Manage to Beat Brighty? Keep track of your total score above!

team stats: women / U21s / U18s

Coral-Jane Haines

Haines scored the winner as Palace Women secured a vital three points at Brammal Lane.

AUGUST Sun 21 London City Lionesses

Sat 27 Coventry United

SEPTEMBER Sun 18 Southampton

Sun 25 Blackburn Rovers

OCTOBER Sun 2 Bristol City

Sun 16 Sunderland

Sun 23 Bristol City

Sun 29 Durham

FEBRUARY

Sun 5 Southampton

Sun 12 Durham

Sun 26 Sheffield United

MARCH

Sun 5 Bristol City

Sun 12 Sheffield United

Wed 22 Birmingham City

Sun 26 Blackburn Rovers

APRIL

Sun 2 Sunderland

Sun 16 Birmingham City

Sun 23 Lewes

Sun 30 Charlton Athletic

Ademola

Ola-Adebomi

Ola-Adebomi notched a brace against Arsenal to take his personal tally for the season to eight.

Asher Agbinone

Agbinone scored twice as the Under18s came out on top in a barnstorming encounter with Arsenal.

SEPTEMBER

Tue 6 Hertha Berlin W 1-0

Wed 28 Paris Saint-Germain W 7-3

FEBRUARY

Sat 4 Dinamo ZagrebL 1-2

Wed 8 SC Braga W 2-1

MARCH

Fri 31 Liverpool

Brighton & Hove Albion D 2-2

Sat 25 Arsenal W 1-3

MARCH

Sat 4 Tottenham Hotspur L 2-4

Sat 11 Arsenal W 4-3

Sat 18 Leicester City W 5-1

APRIL

Sat 1 Southampton

Sat 15 Norwich City

Sat 22 Chelsea

Sat 29 West Bromwich Albion

1 bri1813 32 30 9 +2142

2 lon1811 34 3617+1936

3 bir1710 25 2818+1032

4 cha17 944 3021+931

5 sou18 765 1612+427

6 cry18 909 1927-827

1 whu1816 02 6425+3948

2 cry1810 35 4835+1333

3 ful16 934 5026+2430

4 tot16 916 3430+428

5 che16 826 3933+626

22/23 FIXTURES & RESULTS

Home fixture Away fixture Cup fixture (Crystal Palace score shown first) Started Used sub Unused sub Goal(s) Yellow card Red card

PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE 22/23

Crystal palace f.c.

Joel WARD

Tyrick MITCHELL

Luka MILIVOJEVIC

James TOMKINS

Marc GUÉHI

Michael OLISE

Albert SAMBI LOKONGA

Jordan AYEW

Eberechi EZE

Wilfried ZAHA

Vicente GUAITA (GK)

Jean-Philippe MATETA

Jeffrey SCHLUPP

Joachim ANDERSEN

Nathaniel CLYNE

James McARTHUR

Will HUGHES

Sam JOHNSTONE (GK)

Odsonne EDOUARD

Chris RICHARDS

Cheick DOUCOURÉ Naouirou

LEICESTER city f.c.

Danny WARD (GK)

James JUSTIN

Wout FAES

Çaglar SÖYÜNCÜ

Ryan BERTRAND

Jonny EVANS

Harvey BARNES

Youri TIELEMANS

Jamie VARDY

James MADDISON

Alex SMITHIES (GK)

Kelechi IHEANACHO Harry SOUTTAR

Patson DAKA

Kiernan DEWSBURY-HALL

Nampalys MENDY

Wilfred NDIDI

Dennis PRAET

Timothy CASTAGNE

Daniel IVERSEN (GK)

Luke THOMAS

Lewis BRUNT

TETÊ

Wanya MARÇAL-MADIVADUA Boubakary SOUMARÉ