Wembley triumph!

Last Monday night topped a remarkable season and an amazing turnaround within 3 years. In 2010, Crystal Palace were so very nearly liquidated, saved in the 11th hour by CPFC2010 consortium and the vast number of fans that marched on the bank in protest, to help push through the deal. The deal was reached and the Eagles were saved, after avoiding relegation on the final day, with a points deduction that season too. The rebuilding was on, the 2010-2011 season saw Palace again survive relegation, this time the week before the final game. 2011-2012 will be most remembered for the Carling Cup run, beating Manchester Utd at Old Trafford with 'that goal' (see intro post), but ultimately falling at the final hurdle losing on pens to Cardiff City in the semi final and slumping down the table too. After losing the first 4 league games this season, Palace suddenly clicked and transformed with a 12 game unbeaten streak, topping the table.

 A managerial change when Dougie Freedman left for Bolton and Ian Holloway came in hadn't seemed to make too much difference until after Christmas, when the Eagles form become very hit and miss, it worsened after the 3-0 defeat by Brighton when Palace then only won 1 from the last 10 games, fortunately staying in the playoffs on the final day. Brighton awaited in the semi, who were on great form, everyone wrote Palace off, especially after the 1st leg 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park and the loss of star striker Glenn Murray. Palace had other ideas, being fired up before the game after arriving in to their dressing room to 'poogate', the Eagles played with real intent and the whole team really played their hearts out, winning 2-0 thanks to Wilfried Zaha. So Wembley it was, against 3rd place Watford, who narrowly missed out on automatic promotion to Hull City.

It was a sunny bank holiday Monday, Wembley looked supreme and every fan was up for it. Both teams known for their attacking football, but Palace started the better and throughout the whole match seemed to create more chances but former Gunners keeper Manuel Alumnia was on fine form and kept Aaron Wilbraham at bay a couple of times and too Stuart O'Keefe, who had come on after 15 minutes for the injured KG. It didn't look like it was going to be the Eagles day and when Zaha stumbled away a chance in injury time, I started to think we'd pay for the missed chances.

 At the start of extra time, Watford rallied and started playing like they had all season, although a last gasp save to hook the ball away from Hornet's Troy Deeney boosted Palace again and they found their flow again. When Wilfried Zaha again terrorised the full backs, like he had all game and took it into the box, Watford's Cassetti committed and took Wilf down, PENALTY. Kevin Phillips steps up to take it, someone next to me mentions the fact KP has bad luck in playoff finals, having lost all 3 before this, I swiftly watch him take it through my fingers, as if it were some horror film with a gruesome murder about to occur. KP smashes it, keeper dives the right way but it's too powerful and accurate.... GOAL!! The Palace fans go wild, all 33,000 (me included) seemed to be singing their hearts out all game to little come back from their Watford counterparts, the celebrations were some sound wave, a Wembley sonic boom!!

The second half of extra time was very nervous, Watford threw everything but the kitchen sink at it, and in the last 30 seconds a swerved outside of the boot shot veered past Speroni in a crowded box, only for Joel Ward to pop up and head it away off the line. Palace defended to the death and when it was cleared back to the corner flag after another Watford corner, the ref finally blew up for full time. Palace had done the unthinkable, promoted to the Premiership, starting the season as 2nd favourites for relegation. The celebrations were fantastic, after wildly celebrating with everyone around me, I must admit to having a tear in my eye reflecting back on all the team have battled to get here in the past few years and how proud I was to be part of such a great support that the club have received all season. The players felt it to, seeing Damien Delaney overcome with joy walking up the Wembley steps, was a nice touch, it meant a lot to him, as it did to Wilfried Zaha, his last match in a Palace shirt, and didn't he make it count and deliver the dream he wanted to achieve. A fantastic day that will always be remembered, thank you CPFC2010, the staff and players, the HF and the rest of the fans. What a season to remember.

That Wembley moment:

Play-off Semi Pride

What a couple of days it was for the Championship play offs, both semi-final ties packed with drama. Leicester on the brink of the final, with a 90+ minute penalty, saved only for Watford  to break and score within 90 seconds, to win the tie 3-2 on aggregate. The next day was the Brighton & Hove Albion vs Crystal Palace second leg, the first leg finishing 0-0 at Selhurst Park. 

After a fantastic save by Speroni and a goal line clearance by Moxey, in the 69th minute, the ball was played across field towards Yannick Bolasie, he turned to run into the space on the wing, knocking the ball on with his shoulder before catching up and controlling it before taking on the defender, making space and delivering a menacing in-swinging cross only for who to pop up and score a diving header, Wilfried Zaha. The Brighton fans fell silent as the Eagles' support celebrated wildly. 1-0 Palace. After that Brighton looked a beaten team, hardly looked too threatening and Palace grew stronger as the minutes ticked on. With a couple of minutes to go, Palace had it in Brighton's corner, playing for time, but with a quick pass back inside and the ball played around, Dikgacoi played the ball to Zaha marked on the edge of the box, Wilf held off the challenge and rolled the ball around the defender before powering it with his left into the roof of the despairing Tomasz Kuszczak's net. The tie was effectively over, Crystal Palace were going to Wembley!

So, Monday 27th May, Watford and Palace battle it out for the last place in next season's Premiership, from the two league fixtures this season, it should be some encounter!!

Football shirt fanatic?

Not sure if I'm in the minority, but I really enjoy owning football shirts, it's the closest thing I have to 'liking fashion', and it's all down to opinion too. Some people's crap is another's gold, as they say.

I'm not sure when it started but I had the idea of collecting shirts from places I've been. Since then it's become places or clubs I hope to visit for a match and also owning a shirt from every major continent. I generally buy a Palace shirt every season, so nothing too odd about that but on a trip to Slovakia,  I wanted to buy a shirt of one of the Bratislava clubs, but ultimately couldn't find one!

For some reason this willed me on to buy my first foreign football shirt, all the way from South Africa,  an Orlando Pirates home shirt. I was pleased by the thought of having a shirt that most wouldn't have in the UK but a tad embarrassed I hadn't visited the country, although it hasn't stopped me! I also like retro tops, the typical England 66  and Palace 70's retro tops already in my possession,  I then got a Pelé New York Cosmos green away shirt.  More recently I have fulfilled my urge to have shirts of my favourite South American teams, getting Santos with a Neymar print and a very nice River Plate away kit (I'll blame the latter on Palace's lack of a sash kit for a couple of years for this!!).

I doubt I'll end up with hundreds of hoarded shirts, but possibly 'more than the average bear'...! I have a few more on my wishlist, some will be harder than others to get hold of, as I like to make sure I get the shirt in the right size for me, so I actually get some use out of them!

Next target purchases (no time frame on it, as and when):

Cruzeiro HOME - always loved their kits, and follow them Brazilian football wise, so would like this whether it be the latest or a retro shirt.

FC Wacker Innsbruck HOME - A huge fan of the country of Austria, particularly the Innsbruck/Tirol region and although I've not seen the team play, have seen the stadium (year before the Euro's held there) and so follow the results of that club.

Real Betis preferably AWAY - I've liked Betis since the mid/late 90's and become a bit more obsessed with them when they signed Denilson (and the disappointing journey that followed!), I'm not a big fan of their home green and white stripes, but their away or third kit of multiple Greens normally looks the dog's.... well normally.

A team from Bratislava - this one will be tricky, Slovan would be the easiest to get hold of, but even that will be hard to do!!

Dortmund Home - This one should be very easy to obtain, so loses the appeal a tad unless I can get it very cheaply.

More updates on shirt purchases, as and when!!

CPFC - New badge for a new era.

So after last year's 'badgegate' where many Palace fans strongly rejected various options on a new badge, CPFC2010 took heed, went back to the drawing board (quite literally), and set about creating the new badge again, above is the finished article. Personally, I'm really very happy with this badge, it looks professional, the eagle looks dynamic, we still have the Crystal Palace (with towers) on the badge and we now have the year we were founded too. Brilliant. I will be proud to wear this badge from the start of the 2013/14 season and for many more years to come.

Also new kits unveiled for next season:

I found the home kit design a tad predictable, perhaps it will grow on me, maybe the long sleeved version will increase it's appeal to me. The black away kit, has been called for the past couple of years, dubbed 'The Evil Sash', it's something new and I think will sell well for the club, I will certainly be pre-ordering once the club allow it, as I believe it looks class!

Last day of the season drama, you can't beat it!

I have to admit, I love the last day of the season drama (well, when Palace do well anyway), there's always that jeopardy feel throughout the game, checking your mobile or if not at the game, various channels, 'as it stands' tables as well as any live stream you can find on the internet!!

Today was no exception, the last day of the Championship again gave extraordinary drama. The battle for automatic promotion for Hull City (vs champions Cardiff City) and Watford (vs Leeds Utd), the battle for the remaining play-off places, contested by Palace, Bolton, Forest and Leicester. Finally the fight for survival, involving Sheff Wed, Millwall, Huddersfield, Barnsley, Peterborough Utd and Wolves (who were almost certainly down).

So much changed over the 90 minutes, as I watched the Palace match I got reports of what was going on elsewhere, but Palace's match was enough to contend with. Early parts of the game Palace dominated, only to be hit by a goal against the run of play, but a great goal from Tomlin it was too, our heads dropped a little until the brink of half time when Danny Gabbidon was brought down by the Posh's Zakuani. Glenn Murray stepped up and cooly blasted it down the middle to make it 1-1 going into half time. Second half again Palace had chances, another clearance off the line stopped them scoring again, and again Posh made the most of it by scoring another cracker, coming in from Mendez-Laing beating Julian Speroni on the angle, 2-1 Peterborough.

 At that point Posh were safe, and so too were Palace's playoff hopes, but the Eagles sat in the play-offs precariously, with both Bolton drawing with Blackpool and Forest versus Leicester at a stalemate too, one goal for Forest and Bolton respectively would have dumped Palace out of the play-off places. Ian Holloway quickly made some changes, bringing on Jonny Williams, Kevin Phillips and Stephen Dobbie, all within 10 minutes.

And then Selhurst erupted, as a certain veteran striker wheeled away celebrating another career goal, that man was Kevin Phillips, who with limited space controlled the ball and smashed it into the top corner. 2-2, Palace back secure in the play off places, then on hearing Leicester had retaken the lead at Forest made everything nearly safe. Up to this point, the Posh had been safe and further more so hearing Barnsley were drawing  at Huddersfield, leaving their fans cheering in the away end of Selhurst, but the Phillips goal rocked them and silence fell from Posh fans, Palace had their tails up and soon made them pay a dear price. In the last minute of normal time Dobbie swung in a freekick and Mile Jedinak rose and redirected the ball to the near post, completely wrong footing the Posh keeper Olejnik. Selhurst Park reverberated with celebrations, play off place assured, on the other hand a sudden sense of dread flooded the Posh fans as they realised they'd been put into the drop zone in the dying seconds. The final whistle went after 5 minutes injury time, and Palace fans duly celebrated the play off place and a mouth watering semi-final versus arch rivals Brighton & Hove Albion. Peterborough players and fans sunk at the news that Huddersfield and Barnsley had finished level, meaning the Posh had been relegated to League One.

It was an incredible last day, I can only deliver a snippet, the automatic position battle went to the wire too, after the Watford game was delayed, due to a bad injury to their keeper. Let's just say it wasn't the Hornets day!! Palace march into the play offs with their first win in nearly 2 months, and they will have to improve if they wish to avenge that sequence which was started with a 3-0 defeat at the Amex, fittingly the Eagles will get another shot to perform better at the Amex this season, this time the stakes will be far higher though.