July 1 2001

Crystal Palace

Every Palace fan has their own story about the time they saw the light and became an Eagles fan...

Two-Tone

When I was very young I supported Spurs - dunno why, just did. Went occassionally with my dad to watch Palace but only for a bit of fun.

Then came that 1989 play-off final. I was playing in an outdoor 5-a-side tournament. I can remember someone having a car in the middle of the field and the radio commentary of the game.

I remember looking round and seeing so many peole with their ear on the game, and I became intrigued too. It seemed so special, the atmosphere was electric and when Palace won, everyone went mad and I wanted to be a part of it - that, the cup final everything.

That was when the first seeds were sown. Then I became a teenager, watching football with my dad became unfashionable and my support dried up, but never died.

Then when I first started going to uni, going to see Palace seemed like a great opportunity for me and my dad to spend some quality time together - and my support grew from there. Every time I came home from uni, me and my dad would go and spend an afternoon in the Arthur Wait - brilliant.

Supporting a team is strange and cannot be explained. I don't believe it is something you can instil in someone, you have to have a personal connection with it. Once that connection is made the bonds can last a life-time.

It seems strange (and sad) that other relationships do not last so long. Maybe we should look at our priorities...

danny boy

I was always destined to support Palace. My grandad used to go in the 1950s after he moved from Clapham to Croydon. Then he started taking my dad who has been going ever since.

I was taken to my first game aged 18 months against Peterborough in Div 3 in the 1970s. I started wavering aged about 10 with the glory clubs then my dad moved us all from SE20 to bl**dy Ascot.

Well this did it for me, I became obsessed with the belief you have to support the team from where you are from. My teenage years at the local comp in Ascot were spent making the trek with other Palace fans from my school and my dad and brother.

I don't think one desk was left unmarked with "CPFC South London" on it. Aged 18 I moved back to South London to be nearer to the Palace and now aged 28, I live only 15 minutes walk from the ground.

The sad thing is I'm skint more than ever now and although I make all home games I only go to the about 4-5 away games each year, mainly cause I have a daughter who already has a Palace strip and already who snears at all the glory hunting Chelsea fans who live around here.

My wife took her to Sutton the other Saturday dressed in full kit and apparently there was a "parting of the sea" as all the Chels who were shopping rather going to the match spent all afternoon staring at her in the countries greatest kit.

I was at a match while they were there giving a mum and baby stares, which just about says it all about and shows the path I chose was the right one. I've already told her she'll never bring a Brighton, Charlton, Millwall, Chels or Man U boyfriend home.

Steve The Eagle

I have something in common with Two Tone, in that I used to be a glory boy Spurs fan (my excuse, when I was about four, I was bought a football kit of a white top and black shorts - when I asked what team it was I was told Spurs).

Like Two Tone, though, I used to go to more Palace games than anyone else. Around the age of 14, I got very disillusioned with Spurs, and almost stopped being interested in football.

However, one game got me hooked again - and no great game like the play off final. It was a Palace home draw against Cambridge Utd in 1984 and it was awful. But the humour and attitude in the crowd (of about 5,000!) had me wanting more.

So the following season - co-incidentally Coppell's first in charge - I decided to come along more regularly, and I've been Palace ever since.

The Saint

I have not always been a Palace fan - was not really in to football until about 1988. School was always Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal fans.

Being born in north London, I felt nothing for Spurs or Arsenal, which may seem strange - but I did not like the feel of the clubs, I remember watching On the Ball in 1981 and them running some stuff on Palace.

As I had family in Herne Hill and loved the kit and the name... Fast forward to 1988, watching Euro 88 and seeing those great matches (especially the final) I fell in love with football again and as I had no allegiance to anyone north - always thought the East End was not my scene and the West end clubs were all too pretentious - I knew where my roots (some of them anyway) lay.

The first match I remember seeing was the Birmingham match on highights when we won 6-0 and remember the Brighton match (4 pens and all that). I remember seeing the Blackburn highlights and that convinced me to this day it was my duty to support Palace.

The club is family orientated with a great history - great supporters and always exciting support - a club always fighting for something. This is what I felt then and my feelings have not changed - only got stronger.

I have now moved south of the river (a dream come true for me) and will NEVER leave. I am a South Londoner (not born) and will always sing its virtues. It is friendlier and more interesting then the north will ever be.