A big question this one, I know but I am genuinely interested in reading your replies.

Can you remember when you first developed a thing for the club? Did you visit as a youngster? See a great bit of skill/ a memorable game or atmosphere?
Please let me know.

I look forawrd to reading your replies.

No sh1t sherlock........LOL

He's also spelt forward in a welsh stylee.

The name.. 'Crystal Palace' sounded great when I was a little boy, the other I liked was 'Queen of the South', though I had no idea where either club were.

When I saw a friend in a Palace shirt for the first time ( the sash ) that was it for me.. very similar to England ( white with red & blue stripe from the shoulder to the cuff of the sleeve )

When I found out a year or two later that they were actualy my local team that was it, off i went (dragging my mum) until I was old enough to go on my own or with mates.

OK I started with the begginings of the team of the 80's getting promotion from the 3rd division, but then I was one of the 6-7,000 that endured much of the 80's with Trevor Alott and associated crap players.

So keep the faith. As a result I saw us in the Cup Final and winning the ZDS and remember fondly the semi final of thr Simod cup away at Forrest with a sending off and us wearing a white shirt never seen before or since. Then founder members of the Prem and the up's and downs since.

Being a Palace fan is often reguarded as being a roller coster ride. But I wouldnt have missed this one for the world.

PTID

Red and blue army!!!!!!!!!!!

Not an odd question, at all.

people support clubs for all kinds of weird & wonderful reasons, don't they.

I started off as an Aston Villa fan (much to the mirth of my girlfriend who supports Birmingham). My friend supported Fulham (yeah, weird!!) and put me under pressure when I was about 10 to tell him who I supported so I went through the sticker album and blurted out Aston Villa because I liked their blue and red stripes!

My dad, both grandads and uncle were all Palace fans as we originate from Croydon and it must've broken my dad's heart to decorate my bedroom with Aston Villa wallpaper (which was hideous!). Around that time Crystal Palace played Liverpool in a certain FA Cup semi-final that some of you may remember. Despite claiming Villa as my team I was very much behind Palace and as a young kid I got totally wrapped up in the semi final and final and could tell just how excited my dad was by it. Three of our neighbours in Sussex were also Palace fans (in quite a small street) and all of the families had red and blue banners and balloons up for the FA Cup finals.

We all know what happened but I became a huge fan of the whole Wright and Bright thing and wrote to Mark Bright who sent me back a signed photo and a letter encouraging my dad to take me to my first game. He took me to Selhurst for my first game where we beat Derby 2-1. I think Peter Shilton was playing for Derby and I don't need to list the stars Palace turned out.

Despite that I carried on with my Villa wallpaper, but as secondary school continued I felt more and more like I had done the wrong thing. When I was 15 I painted over all the Villa wallpaper and printed a big picture of the Holmesdale to cover my school diary. All my mates went "I thought you supported Villa" and I just responded with "no, what are you talking about? I have always supported Palace". Unlike other kids who change their club at the drop of the hat, I am pretty sure Villa were doing better than Palace then and there was no glory hunter aspect to it. I was a Croydon kid with a family of Palace fans and I just grew up to understand I had done something quite unthinkable.

Essentially it was the FA Cup semi final that got me hooked, but Mark Bright's letter and the game against Derby County contributed big time too. Living down South it is fairly pricey for me to get to the games and I tend to only go to one or two a season (the rest I have to painfully try to monitor on the BBC website) but in a way it makes each game I get to much more special. I remember the hair standing up on the back of my neck when I walked into Arthur Wait stand for the first time (and I still wear the Palace keyring my dad bought me from the club shop in 1992) and I have to admit, the hair still stands up on my neck a bit when I walk into Selhurst Park to watch a game, whilst other people return from the pie shop 15 minutes into the second half!

Edited by Part Time James (03 Jan 2013 9.40pm)

Thanks for everyone's contributions so far.
Please keep them coming as I am enjoying read the replies.