Good question.

In recent (more sanitised) times, it's hard to see past Man Utd fans on the tube after Wembley, they really didn't give a flying f*** about the cup they'd just won. If that's success you can keep it.

Back when football was a bit more unpolished I would walk to the ground from my house, so all my encounters with nutcases were on the terraces rather than the train. If I get the train to Palace nowadays it's from the South, so I rarely see any away fans on it, though I do recall some mob from Luton coming into the Witherspoon's opposite Thornton Heath station one year before a game, obviously looking for a Palace mob to fight. They were closely monitored by a bunch of Old Bill, who I presume had the pleasure of babysitting these Stone Island morons all day.

Like others, I've seen some cringeworthy behaviour from other Palace fans here and there down the years, and I suppose that is bound to stick in the mind a bit more than anything away fans do. The sight of the 'Ultras' marching en masse down Wembley way, frothing at the mouth and spitting insults at whichever United fan they could see was embarrassing beyond belief. One lad, about 5,9", Asian appearance, was especially embarrassing, screaming 'c***, c***, f***ing c***!' at everyone he could make eye contact with. If that was you, and you are reading this, I can only presume (and I suppose for the sake of what it says about your character otherwise, hope) that you do actually suffer from some form of mental illness, as appeared the case. Every United fan near me was laughing their tits off at you and the other silly kids you were with, and though at first I presumed the Police escort was there to stop the Ultras attacking anyone, I soon realised it was more so that you didn't get your head kicked in.

Good support inside the ground to be fair to them, but Christ what a bunch of deluded little dickheads outside.

On a similar note, I remember the home leg of the play offs against Sunderland when we scored a late goal, and some of our fans down the front of the Holmesdale went onto the pitch after. Harmless enough I suppose, until some of them decided to approach the Sunderland fans down the front of the away section, which mostly seemed to be women and kids from what I could see. I'll never forget the methodical, almost organised manner in which the Sunderland kids and ladies were politely ushered up to the back seats by their own fans, whilst their big lads calmly and purposefully made their way down to the front from the back of the stand. Needless to say, the small number of dickhead Palace fans weren't quite so brave once the Mackems had organised their defensive lines.

Best ones? Dunno. As a 17 or 18 year old I was in a foul mood when Peter Beardsley scored a last minute winner for Newcastle at Selhurst in 1994. After, in the crush of bodies trying to leave the Arthur, I was loudly cursing 'that deformed little b******' (as I so eloquently put it), when a truly massive, rockface, brick s***house of a man leaned right into me, and hollered in a broad Geordie accent: 'He may'n be a deformed little b******, but he's got the fooking feet!'.

Overlooking what would have been the better point to make (that he was in the home end when he shouldn't have been, and so should probably expect to hear, and accept, some raw emotion in such circumstances) I rashly challenged him, if not to a fight, then at least to escalate the heated discussion. He looked at me. I looked at him. Both of us knew that I was half his age, weight, strength and, by the looks of us, an awful lot less battle hardened.

I said something like: 'You can't tell me that you deserved to win that f***ing game'. He stepped even closer, narrowed his eyes, and said, in a low, even voice: 'Well, I might not disagree with you there'.

Then he let me go. He'd obviously decided not to t*** me. Which was good of him I suppose, so I should probably put him top of the list of nice away fans!

Edited by TheBigToePunt (12 Mar 2021 6.33pm)

WORST I've seen in the UK was *us = Palace* on a little outing to and from the Goldstone on boxing day 1979. I was 15 years old and it was pretty grim. I'm not sure I was ready for the beatings I saw that day even though I went to a pretty rough school. A lot of s*** went down on the terraces with sharpened coins and glass milk bottles. Some of the fencing dividing us from the Brighton was trashed and there was a lot of surging and fighting. I don't remember any police in the ground !

Then after losing 3 nil, we got escorted out of the ground only for it to all kick off at Brighton station where some Palace were throwing Brighton onto the actual rails. We had a punch up with the weed and the old bill, and I somehow got away back on a train rammed with Palace back to Norwood J which then got totally trashed. It was like Gazza x 5000 on a rampage going ballistic. We was all wearing Dr. Martins (many with steel toecaps) and black harringtons. I don't think there were any passengers that weren't Palace.

Apart from that... nothing ever like that on trains.

It mostly used to go off outside grounds, not on trains, or otherwise inside grounds just before kick-off in the 70's-early 80's.

BEST away fans... no idea, judging by what ? Anyway I live in South America where going to football can be very dangerous. In Argentina they banned away supporters more than 10 years ago, because of the number of deaths, mostly by shooting.

Mine's a light and bitter.

Not necessarily their way to palace matches, but in my travels in and out of KX on my way to Selhurst.

By way the worst are Leeds, struck in the 80s mentality, obnoxious thugs.

Thanks all, been a good read so far.

4 playoff finals, Claridge, Hopkin, Shipperley, Phillips....

Life's never dull!

I noticed how the HF hang around while the police escort is being organised and how slow they walk in it. Even through Victoria station on a Sunday with no other fan groups around on the day. Virtually pigeon steps: a bit weird. Decades ago that would be an opportunity for a rival group to get to them, but not now.

COYP