We must not forget 1992-93, the first season of the Premier League, and the reason so many Palace fans are still cautious.
1st of May 1993 we beat Ipswich T at home 3-1 and celebrated as though we were safe.
Oldham on the Sunday beat Villa 1-0 away.
We then drew 0-0 at Man City away while on the same night Oldham beat Liverpool 3-2 at home.
So going into the final game we were 3 points clear of Oldham with a -10 goal difference, and they had a goal diff of -12.
And as everyone who know's their Palace history we lost 3-0 at Arsenal and Oldham beat Southampton 4-3.
We were thus relegated on the same number of points but with a -13 goal diff and Oldham by their results with a -11 goal diff.
This is why so many fans will not admit we are safe until it is mathematically impossible for us to be relegated.
I know it will take a huge effort and some strange results, which we have contributed to by our magnificent win against Chelsea, for us to be relegated.
Same focus and effort, as in the past few weeks, against Villa this Saturday will be another huge step towards safety.

Yes Johnnyeagle, it was gutting to have Wrighty score the first goal which led to us being relegated, but he was only doing what he does best.
I do not hold a grudge against him. He is still a legend and one of the greatest players I have seen in a Palace shirt.
I also recall going through the torture of watching MOTD that night and there being a blatant penalty for Southampton which would have put them 4-3 up and even with our result almost certainly made us safe.

Edited by grinstead (07 Apr 2014 12.18pm)

Bad memories abound...going down as the 4th bottom team in 95, and conceding with 8 mins to go at Charlatan in 05.

Being a Palace fan for 35 years brings has left me with contradictory senses of improbable impending doom and yet an unfathomable optimism. As a football fan I am thus a wierd combination of Dad's Army's Fraser ("we're doomed" and Del Boy ("this time next year we'll be millionnaires."

So against more relegations than I care to list, multiple administrations and above all Mark Hughes' equaliser at Wembley, I set days at Villa Park, Stockport, the Millennium and Wembley...even Boro's old stadium when we clinched the Div 1 title in 94. And all in all, I wouldn't have been the fan of any other club. It has taught me far more about the ups and downs of life than my dad could ever have imagined when he first took me along in 79. Following a football club is never going to be a fully satisfying experience, but it's certainly been a handy learning curve.

I don't believe this club is cursed to be relegated at the first attempt every decade. Does Murphy's Law really exist? Is there a god of luck who constantly vomits on Palace's eiderdown? Naaagh! Here's to staying up* and going through the whole gut - wrenching process again next year, hopefully with a more consistent start to the season and a little more attacking panache.

*hopefully

I was at the Ipswich match in 93 and will never forget the events of the week that followed. There's probably some people in Oldham who made a fortune out of it at the bookies - they must have been an unbelievable price to stay up!

I think there should be an induction for new fans - a little booklet or something - which goes through the extraordinary and innovative ways that Palace have developed to get relegated, promoted and narrowly avoid both of the above over the years. Then they would know what is in prospect: frustration, despair, joy and elation - Palace should come with a health warning - Beware all those who enter Selhurst Park!

Audentis fortuna iuvat (Virgil, 19BC)

All us palace fans are the same. I still think we could hammer villa 13-0 and the inna palace fan in us would still be looking for at least a point at man city to guarantee safety. I'm no different and think we need to get to 37-38 points. If Fulham beat Norwich and with Fulham playing us on the final day they will have belief they can stay up.

Villa are the sort of team we could lose to and throw it wide open again. Can you imagine if Crystal Palace got to 37 points with 5 games to go....it wouldn't be palace without if going to the wire.

Let's hope palace are feeling a little change this year.