In the olden days of standing and fifty thousand capacity stadiums derby games were terrific. They were great in terms of entertainment, local rivalries and, of course, crowd numbers thus increased revenue to the club.

Today with Palace playing to almost capacity crowds every home game, with away support restricted in terms of both home and away matches, I do not think it matters that much.

As an example the crowd at home on a weekday night was almost identical for the Fulham and Stoke games. Therefore, in terms of crowd numbers, atmosphere and club revenue generated there is no benefit to having a league packed with local teams.

The situation may, of course, change if we had a 35,000 capacity stadium but that is still a long way in to the future.

For now we just play whoever is put in front of us. If we stay up I believe it is inevitable we will get new fans both in the U.K and most certainly overseas. This is not because of our football, however, but because of our fans whose reputation is spreading worldwide thanks to the coverage the EPL receives.

Personally I do not care if there are ten London teams or no London teams in the top flight. Every game has me on the edge of my seat, and more often completely off my seat, screaming pointlessly at the television screen.

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made. Groucho Marx