Crystal Palace v Southampton matchday programme

Directors

Chairman Steve Parish, David Blitzer, Joshua Harris, John Textor Chief Financial Officer Sean O’Loughlin Sporting Director

Dougie Freedman Club Secretary Christine Dowdeswell Head of Sports Medicine Dr. Zaf Iqbal Academy Director Gary Issott Director of U21 Development Mark Bright

Chief Operating Officer Sharon Lacey Chief Commercial Officer Barry Webber General Counsel David Nichol Head of Ticketing Paul McGowan Head of Retail Foz Bowers

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer James Woodroof Head of Safeguarding Cassi Wright

Head Groundsman Bruce Elliott

Editor Ben Mountain

Billy Cooke, Stu Ellmer

Will Robinson, Ian King, Ben Bailey Smith, Toby Jagmohan, Tommy Macarthur, Darren Powell, Paige Bailey-Gayle

Neil Everitt, Sebastian Frej, Pinnacle Photo Agency, Getty, Nico

Printer Bishops Printers

Crystal Palace World Cup guide

Made in south london palace for life -

Join us in supporting Palace for Life Foundation today as they take over Selhurst Park to tell Palace fans about the amazing work they do in our community. Enjoy a special quiz with prizes up for grabs, exclusive interviews and challenges in the Fanzone, or even try your hand at blindfolded football. In our hospitality lounges, there will be a silent auction with plenty of Palace memorabilia to be won, as well as an online raffle, giving fans the chance

to get hold of a piece of Palace history.

Later on, keep an eye out at half-time for some special guests making an appearance on the pitch for an interview, as well as the opportunity to, quite literally, grab a money-can’t-buy Made in South London t-shirt.

The Foundation are asking those Palace fans who can to

donate the cost of a pint from their pre-match routine, so they can continue their vital work in south London. You can do so by scanning the QR code on the back of the programme.

Palace for Life do incredibly important work in our community to improve the lives of young south Londoners. To find out more head to Page 60.

Fan update

On this day: october 29th

Joel Ward was born in Emsworth, Havant, in 1989. He has represented Palace over 300 times across 11 seasons, helping them back to the top-flight and becoming a club icon along the way.

Driving on several residential streets surrounding Selhurst Park has become permit holders only. This will affect supporters who typically drive to or park near the stadium on matchday.

What’s inside

Find out… all about the 2022 World Cup (Page 12), why Joachim Andersen doesn’t get snooker (Page 23) and the reason the World Cup trophy thief could be inside Selhurst (Page 50).

Welcome to Selhurst Park to everyone supporting us today, and welcome also Ralph Hasenhüttl, the Southampton coaching staff, directors, players and visiting fans.

The Everton performance was not good enough as a team. We didn’t compete and we made it too easy for Everton, letting them win first and second balls and eventually receiving the result we deserved.

But it was not representative of our performances this season and there are lessons we must learn. I often use the word consistency; last Saturday was an example of why. We have to stick to our principles, improve our ability to play with them, and consistently perform against every team.

The result before Everton, against Wolves, was more positive, and in particular the secondhalf showed our character and personality. Wolves took the lead and the message at half-time was to keep doing what we’d done for 45 minutes, but to do it better. The players did this well, we scored soon after the break and then showed our determination to take all three points.

The message this week has been the same as it always is: to continue working on the details of our game, to hone our principles and to keep striving for consistently

strong performances. Today’s match is a chance to return to the results we’ve been securing this season, losing only to Chelsea in the six games before Everton.

This is our final match at Selhurst before the World Cup, with three away games coming up after today. We are made stronger by the backing of every Crystal Palace

schedule across November and December. The team’s attitude and professionalism will ensure they do this to their utmost in training, and we will consider ways of replicating match situations where possible.

Finally, today as a club we are supporting two important campaigns: the Premier League’s Rainbow Laces and Palace for Life Foundation’s Made in South London.

Rainbow Laces makes it clear that everyone should feel welcome at football, and at Crystal Palace we support that wholeheartedly. We want every LGBT+ supporter to know that they are part of the Palace family, and warmly welcomed here at Selhurst.

supporter, so of course we benefit from having so many of you behind us when we play here rather than away. But those of you who travel – even this season with so much disruption – give us spirit and resilience even as the visiting team.

The challenge for us will be to sustain our match fitness and competitiveness without the usual

The Foundation do a fantastic job supporting young people across south London. I have seen their work first-hand and have heard the impact it has: they are truly making a difference, so I ask those supporters who can to consider donating to their campaign.

I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable few weeks until I next see you here at Selhurst.

Enjoy the World Cup, and thank you for your support .

Today’s match is a chance to return to the results we’ve been securing this season

We are back at Selhurst Park for our final game before the World Cup break, and need to right a disappointing result in our last match against Everton.

we were not at all happy after defeat at Goodison Park, which was not a performance at the level we know we can play. These days happen and you have to move on from them as quickly as possible, but we are all aware of the improvement we need to show after a week’s training in preparation for today’s game.

Since I last wrote these notes we also took a point from Leicester City and beat Wolverhampton Wanderers. There were a lot of positives in both matches, including claiming a well-earned clean sheet against Leicester which is not easy away from home. They have since won back to back matches convincingly, so are showing their strength again.

Against Wolves we displayed our character, like we had against Leeds. We again came from behind and in the second-half we completely dominated this game. We have shown our ability to regroup after conceding and push back to claim points, and these

will all build up by the end of the season; it is a very important to have this depth of resolve.

So the Everton game was not a show of our ability or attitude. We have had to put it behind us like you do with every result in this league, and we are ready to get back to winning ways before the winter break.

I wish the lads who travel for the World Cup the very best of luck and hope they enjoy the occasion. I played with Serbia in 2018 and it is an experience I will

never forget. Those of us who remain with Palace have a tough job to do: we have to sustain our match fitness and competitiveness without the usual league and cup matches in the schedule.

We can only do this by applying ourselves as fully as ever in training and by using the break to get the whole squad fit, further drilled on what the manager wants, and ready for a congested second half to the season.

It has been a challenging start so far with a lot of the biggest teams in the league as opponents, but we have shown how well we can play against these sides and earned some hard-fought points. We have three more league games and a cup fixture with Newcastle before the season pauses, and have to perform to our maximum in each of these.

Finally, we are also supporting Palace for Life Foundation’s Made in South London campaign and the Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign today, both hugely important causes that we are proud to back.

Make some noise! .

We have had to put it behind us like you do with every result in this league, and we are ready to get back to winning ways before the winter break

A warm welcome to everyone here today for the final home match before the World Cup break, including the directors, staff, players and supporters of Southampton. As the closest home game to Remembrance Sunday, we will remember the service and sacrifice of our Armed Forces prior to kick-off with a minute’s silence and the playing of The Last Post

Last week we reached a huge milestone in our Selhurst Park redevelopment project, securing unanimous approval for the build from Croydon Council’s Planning Committee following an updated application in order to meet new London Plan requirements. There is much to be done including the appointment of construction companies, while also making arrangements for residents who will be affected in Wooderson Close and providing replacement housing stock too.

We’ve learned a huge amount from the Academy build which will certainly be put to good use in the years to come. The Academy truly is an elite facility – comparable with the very best in the country if not the world, and now we need a stadium that’s fit for what we are: an exciting, dynamic, diverse, locally-represented Premier League football club. We are selling out matches quicker than we ever have before, and we need this new stand to ensure we can

meet that pent-up demand, and ensure more and more people can come to support the team. In turn this will help us steal a march on those clubs in and around us.

It is the single biggest project we can undertake to take the club to the next level, and supporters can be assured that we are going full steam ahead on it.

Saturday’s trip to Everton was a huge disappointment, especially so soon after the performance that preceded it against Wolves. I’d like to thank all of the fans who travelled on a(nother) day of strikes and delays which is unfortunately becoming all too commonplace, and I’m sorry the team couldn’t make all your efforts worth it on this occasion. But I’m sure there will be many more memorable away days to come this season.

One positive to take from the day was Wilfried playing his 400th league game for the club, a truly remarkable feat. But knowing Wilfried, I know all he’ll be thinking about was the team performance and result.

Elsewhere, we welcomed Julián Speroni back to the club as an Academy coach, something everyone is so pleased about.

It’s important to ensure a strong presence of former players at the Academy, helping shape the next generation at Palace.

Our Under-21s came back from 2-3 down in the 94th-minute against Manchester City to draw 3-3 last Saturday, which was a brilliant result for them. On the same day the Under-18s had a disappointing loss against Leicester City, but I know Rob and his coaching team will use that as a lesson in the team’s development.

These four games beginning today before the mid-season break feel particularly important to ensure we head into it with momentum. As always, I encourage you to make as much noise as possible for Patrick’s team today – and hopefully we can all celebrate tonight with three points.

Up the Palace .

The final whistle today will mark the beginning of nearly two months without Premier League football at Selhurst Park, as the 2022 World Cup puts the top-flight on pause. Palace will hope they’re well represented in Qatar, with four countries potentially including an Eagle. Here, we get the low-down from Jordan Ayew and Joachim Andersen, and share your Crystal Palace World Cup guide

Jordan Ayew could “hear the whole country” through his partner’s phone when Sulley Muntari scored for Ghana against Uruguay in 2010. He was watching from a hotel room with Olympique de Marseille and talking to his partner, who was following the game from Ghana.

“I could hear the whole country in my missus’ house and the whole area,” he remembers, “the noise and people blowing their horns. It was a moment no one can forget.”

On the bench in South Africa Ayew’s elder brothers André and Ibrahim joined the rest of the nation in feeling this could be history for Ghana: a World Cup semi-final on their home continent.

But it wasn’t to be. In one of football’s cruellest games Uruguay equalised through Diego Forlán and took the tie to extra time. Luis Suárez then blocked a goal-bound Dominic Adiyiah header in the 120th-minute with both his hands, and Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty. Minutes later the Black Stars were dumped from the tournament via a shootout.

It may have been heartbreak for Ghana, but for Jordan Ayew seeing his compatriots on the global stage acted as motivation – and this winter he will almost certainly walk in their footsteps against Uruguay once more.

“I saw that the country really, really, really loves football,” he says. “That gave me the motivation to be like: ‘I want to play in the World Cup, do well in the World Cup and I want to be in a squad where we put smiles on people’s faces.’”

Ayew played in the 2014 competition alongside his brother André but was never able to watch his father Abedi Pele on the global stage, with Ghana failing to qualify during his career.

He says walking out alongside André was a “dream come true” for his family, explaining: “I told my dad it was a dream come true. You play with your brothers in the garden and now play in a high-pressure game. It’s a bit different but it’s quite enjoyable. It’s not easy for my parents because they’re always under stress for us to perform but it’s God’s favour. We are blessed. Honestly, our dreams have come true and we are happy.”

Ghana at the 2022 World Cup

Ghana have become familiar faces at the World Cup in recent years, competing in their first tournament in 2006. They missed out in 2018 but will have featured in four of the last five once Qatar gets underway.

Historically one of the strongest forces in African football, Ghana lag behind in the FIFA world rankings in 61st, with Panama and Northern Ireland ahead of them. Their Africa Cup of Nations performances lately won’t have helped, being knocked out in the group stage this year, but with the Ayew brothers and a roster of Premier League names like Tariq Lamptey, Mohammed Salisu and Daniel Armartey, they will feel they are better than their ranking suggests.

Their group makes for a punishing start, however, with Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay all posing serious challenges. The Uruguay game on December 2nd offers a chance at redemption for 2010, but breaking out of Group H will take a remarkable effort.

Ayew has been a mainstay for Ghana since 2014 and has played 10 times for them already this year. He is almost guaranteed to be called-up by the Black Stars. Jeffrey Schlupp was a regular with Ghana for several years but has only played sporadically since. A player of his calibre will no doubt be coveted by the national team.

Ghana’s Group H fixtures

November 24th: Portugal (16:00)

November 28th: South Korea (13:00)

December 2nd: Uruguay (15:00)

I saw that the country really, really, really loves football. That gave me the motivation to be like: ‘I want to play in the World Cup, do well in the World Cup and I want to be in a squad where we put smiles on people’s faces’

There’s a little trademark confidence to Joachim Andersen when discussing Denmark’s World Cup chances. Perhaps that’s not surprising: they beat favourites France last time out and took England to extra time in the European Championships semi-final.

Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest during the tournament meant Denmark’s efforts were backed worldwide and, from the outside, has given the nation a unique look of unity and purpose.

Andersen says their togetherness is palpable, but that it pre-existed the 2020 Euros. “We are really, really good friends – everyone – outside the pitch, which is really, really important,” he says. “You can see that on the pitch in the way we work together, the togetherness, really compact, really hard to beat. It’s all to do with outside the pitch. I enjoy playing for them.

“Many players have played together for a long time in the national team or with other clubs. That’s where the connection is from. I played together with a lot of the guys for a long time and we just have fun together. I don’t know

We are really, really good friends – everyone –outside the pitch, which is really, really important

what we do to get that connection, it’s difficult to say how it is in other teams but we just feel really connected and have a good laugh.”

In qualifying Denmark conceded just three goals, two of them in the same match, showing a defensive solidity Andersen plays a central part in, alongside Barcelona’s Andreas Christensen.

The central defender again credits team spirit for that attribute: “This togetherness, we are so difficult to beat,” he says. “We work so hard, everyone, from the strikers to the defenders. We are a unit, so compact and it’s hard to beat us. We have an amazing goalkeeper [Kasper Schmeichel] as well who makes some good saves. So I think it’s down to that: simple, working together.”

So what about that trademark confidence?

“I always think we can go all the way otherwise I wouldn’t play,” Andersen says with a smile. “Every game we want to win and in the end you win the World Cup. But of course it’s difficult because there are a lot of nations. We showed we are a good team, showed we have quality and can go along in tournaments.

“We just beat France, so you never know. We beat France in the Nations League but obviously they are world class, a world class team. I think we have good possibilities to go through from the group.”

denmark at the 2022 World Cup

Denmark have developed a ‘dark horse’ tag given their excellent

qualifying campaign and success in the UEFA Nations League. They’re ranked 10th in the world and are in at roughly 30/1 to win the tournament outright.

With a squad including Danish icon and AC Milan defender Simon Kjær, Christensen, Eriksen, Martin Braithwaite and Tottenham Hotspur’s Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Denmark may even see their dark horse label as unfair. They have a relatively winnable group, too, facing France, Tunisia and Australia.

Andersen holds 19 Denmark caps and has played eight times this year; he is highly likely to make their final squad.

Denmark’s Group D fixtures

November 22nd: Tunisia (13:00)

November 26th: France (16:00)

November 30th: Australia (15:00)

I always think we can go all the way otherwise I wouldn’t play. Every game we want to win and in the end you win the World Cup. But of course it’s difficult because there are a lot of nations

USA at the 2022 World Cup

Chris Richards’ home country missed out on the World Cup in 2018 but were a mainstay of the tournament from 1990 onwards. Failure to qualify has put them onto a new path under former Palace player Gregg Berhalter, who has been tasked with reshaping a national setup for a country finally treating football as a priority.

They have qualified for the next competition as co-hosts and will be looking to show themselves as a footballing force before welcoming the world in 2026.

Berhalter will lead the country out with one of the youngest squads in the tournament, considered something of a golden generation for the States. They face England, Wales and Iran, and will be targeting a second-place finish – provided England hold their nerve.

Richards has been part of the USA squad over the last three years but hasn’t started as regularly as some of his compatriots. He is a popular, respected name with the USMNT and will certainly have his eyes on a ticket to Qatar.

November

November

(19:00)

November

england at the 2022 World Cup

Palace have several names linked with the England team but no players with a guaranteed spot, such is the depth of the current Three Lions squad.

Marc Guéhi and Tyrick Mitchell made their debuts this year and Sam Johnstone was part of Gareth Southgate’s setup at Euro 2020. Eberechi Eze will also be in contention given his blistering form this year; the midfielder was offered a callup the day he sustained his injury at the end of 2020/21.

England haven’t enjoyed the best preparation for this tournament as they were relegated from their Nations League group. A semi-final last time out and Euros final last year however make this their most successful spell, and many will be hoping for another flourish under Palace Academy graduate Southgate.

Their group offers them a sturdy challenge although not one that should prevent them from progressing. Could three consecutive tournament successes be too much to ask?

the

As he prepares for the final few Premier League games before entering the World Cup finals Joachim Andersen may have more important concerns than whether he quotes Friends or not. But we’ve asked all the same.

followthe follow -up -up

#30 What’s the hardest atmosphere you’ve played in?

When I played at Lyon against Marseille, it’s a really, really crazy atmosphere. I would say a lot of hate

I could feel, which was crazy. But it was good fun and I enjoyed it.

#21 What sport do you not understand?

I was just thinking about snooker. Snooker or darts, for me, is not a sport. It’s a concentration game. For me when I think about sport you think about athletes, you think about good shape, being physical. I like it [snooker and darts] but it’s not a sport.

#59 Which TV show do you quote the most?

The TV show I watch the most is Friends, I know every bit of it. But quote? No, I don’t quote much.

#07 If you weren’t a footballer which sport would you play?

I think I would play tennis. I like that a lot. I play when I have time, not seriously but just occasionally.

#11 What was the last song you listened to?

The last song I listened to was Velkommen Tilbage by Andreas Odbjerg. A Danish guy – you’ll need to Google that

Worth a try? Probably.

Discover the refreshing, crisp and perfectly balanced taste of Carlsberg Danish Pilsner.

saints saints

Did you know?

Southampton were originally founded by the St. Mary's Church of England Young Men's Association, hence the nickname. Their former grounds, the Antelope and Dell, were named after a neighbouring hotel and valley respectively.

match preview

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Having rejuvenated the squad somewhat over summer and brought the average age – and experience level – down, Ralph Hasenhüttl began the season in hit-and-miss form, losing six of his first nine.

But among those results was an encouraging win over Chelsea, and Saints have since gone three games unbeaten by drawing with West Ham United and Arsenal and beating Bournemouth. These results will have given hope that the new-look squad is gelling, and already there has been praise for recent signings Gavin Bazunu

Caleta-Car.

Walker-

been sidelined for some

a hamstring problem.

Fonte joined Palace on loan from Benfica and signed permanently in 2008. He moved to Southampton in 2010 and helped them from League One to the Premier League in three seasons. Today he continues to play aged 38 with Lille.

Sékou

Southampton

Crystal

It’s the weekend, kick-off is ticking closer and you're first to the pub. Before long hazy memories and almost-accurate stats will be filling the air. Brush-up for your Saints pre-match below.

Aren’t they…

The reason two of Spain’s biggest clubs wear red and white. Southampton and Bilbao were both important port cities in the 19th century, and English workers were credited in part with introducing football to northern Spain. They even helped to form Bilbao F.C, an early incarnation of Athletic Bilbao.

In 1909 a Bilbao representative who played for Atlético Madrid visited the English south coast. There, he purchased 50 Southampton shirts to bring back to Spain, and shared them with his respective teams, both of whom adopted the colours long-term.

In April 2015, Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier was honoured by Bilbao with their inaugural ‘One-

include Paolo Maldini and Ryan Giggs; Bilbao award the honour because of their own history with local talent: they will only field players with a connection to the Basque region.

Conversely, Palace are often accused of taking their colours (originally white and sky blue, then claret and blue) from Barcelona, but the south Londoners did in fact first wear red and blue in 1937/38, some 35 years before Malcolm Allison made the switch permanent.

To further muddy the waters, Palace’s 1906 handbook listed the club’s shades as cardinal and blue for its first professional outings, mirroring the inside of the Crystal Palace building. Who needs Barca?

What’s the deal with…

Lawrie McMenemy’s floating assistant. In the 1970s McMenemy and Crystal Palace got wrapped up with famed illusionist Romark, real name Ronald Markham.

In one of several bizarre tricks Palace manager Malcolm Allison hired Romark to gee the team up psychologically, giving

talks about positivity and addressing the crowd pre-match. But when the pair fell into a dispute, Romark sought revenge.

Palace were preparing to face McMenemy’s Southampton in the semi-final of the 1976 FA Cup; for the third-tier south Londoners it was arguably the highest-profile game in their history. Romark was aggrieved, so paid McMenemy a visit before the game, promising his support for the Saints.

McMenemy, writing in the Southern Daily Echo years later, recalled: “When he came in, his eyes immediately struck me. He had peripheral vision, both eyes staring in different directions.

“He surprised everyone by asking for two chairs to be placed in the centre of the room facing away

[he] got an apprentice to put his head on one chair and heels on the other. When he took the chairs away, the lad stayed suspended in mid-air

from each other two yards apart, then got an apprentice to put his head on one and heels on the other. When he took the chairs away, the lad stayed suspended in mid-air. I was even asked to sit on the lad's stomach and still he stayed suspended.”

Palace were knocked out by their top-flight adversaries 2-0, so who knows, perhaps there was something in Romark’s control after all.

With so many new faces, and so many of them at the start of their careers, it’s bound to take a while for Saints to gel. They could be a real force after the World Cup, and with Serbian businessman Dragan Šolak having taken over the club in January this year that business looks like good long-term planning.

Do you remember…

Luka Milivojevic first wore the armband against Saints in January 2018, and capped off a remarkable comeback in the process with a well-placed effort from 18 yards in the 80th-minute.

The win marked Palace’s turnaround under Roy Hodgson, who endured just one loss (v Arsenal) in 11 games having taken all three points from St Mary’s. They had famously started with no points or goals from their opening seven games. Milivojevic’s strike was later named 17/18 Goal of the Season.

What’s that about?

Southampton’s crest is one of the most interesting in the Premier League. Its somewhat bizarre combination of items has been the same since 1974.

• Water for the nearby ocean and rivers.

• And a white rose, for the city’s coat of arms.

It’s not quite a terrifyingly large bird of prey on a palace, but it’s better than a seagull on a blue circle .

Pre-match pint

Cronx’s Green Hop 2022. A light and refreshing green hop beer made with freshly picked local hops from the Croydon and Crystal Palace area. Picked fresh and loaded into the brew within 24 hours, this pale is all about showcasing the freshness of the hops. Available in the Lower Holmesdale’s Tap Room.

Pub talk tidbit

Ralph Hasenhüttl oversaw something of a squad overhaul in summer, replacing stalwarts Shane Long, Oriol Romeu, Nathan Redmond and Fraser Forster with younger players like Gavin Bazunu, Roméo Lavia, Samuel Edozie, Juan Larios, Armel Bella-Kotchap, Joe Aribo and Sékou Mara.

It was first designed by Southampton local and graphic designer Rolland Parris, who won a competition in the 1970s, and features:

• A halo: for the club’s nickname, Saints, after their founding by members of St. Mary's Church of England Young Men's Association. A ball and scarf for the club’s purpose and colours.

A tree for the nearby New Forest and Southampton Common.

donate a pint from your pre-match routine below to support palace for life

In memory of Clive ‘Sideburns’ Waters

The club were deeply saddened to learn that former programme seller Clive ‘Sideburns’ Waters passed away aged 70 recently. We remember Clive for his years of service by Entrance 3 of the Holmesdale Road stand, and the thoughts of everybody at Crystal Palace are with his loved ones.

– April 1st,

Zaha and

Benteke

Ben Bailey Smith on patience – it’s a virtue

Paige Bailey-Gayle explains why 2022 has been historic for Jamaica

assistant manager Darren Powell talks Walcott, Bale and Lallana

Vicente Guaita

doc browndoc brown

Ben Bailey Smith, aka Doc Brown, does it all – acting, rapping, writing, directing, you name it. The multifaceted Palace fan is also a patron of Palace for Life Foundation. In each edition, he offers his unique take on the world in SE25.

The waiting game

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‘Patience is a virtue,’ they say.

I don’t know who ‘they’ are, but they definitely say it. And they’re spot on, these faceless philosophers, whoever they might be. But I realised that – until last weekend’s disappointment against Everton – I’d never fully broken down that phrase we hear so often. A virtue represents behaviour of the very highest standard – it’s profound and it’s precious. That’s what ‘they’ say patience is. So why is it so easy to lose? My kids are profound and precious but I’ve never lost them. (Actually, I think I lost one briefly in a shopping centre once.) But the point is I lose this invaluable virtue all the time. I’m trying to write this article on an overheated, delayed train to Manchester next to some screaming kids – I’m literally losing it right now.

Supporting Crystal Palace Football Club is a fantastic way to test just how nurturing of that virtue you are. I mean, it’s a lifelong challenge. That’s why I reference the Everton game, because I was remarkably Zen, considering how thoroughly and comprehensively

beaten we were and how much we – as Patrick very openly and honestly said after the match –deserved to lose. I could’ve ranted. I could’ve raved. I could’ve ranted and raved (they go great together – like cookies and cream, they say), but I didn’t. What’s my secret? Relativity. Not just the theory of relativity itself (the idea that every action has a positive or negative reaction – for details, see Wilf being surrounded by, battling and defeating no less than four Wolves players to push the team on), but also the idea that everything is relative. Everything is comparable to everything else.

You can compare the Wolves game to the Everton game and understandably lose your rag, or you can do what I do: compare

You can compare the Wolves game to the Everton game and understandably lose your rag, or you can do what I do: compare the Palace of today to every other incarnation of Palace I remember

progress doesn’t always look like an overnight multi-billion cash injection or a marquee signing or even a spanking new stadium with, like, a branch of The Ivy in it or whatever they’ve got at Spurs

the Palace of today to every other incarnation of Palace I remember.

Are you afraid of relegation today? I’m not. Were you afraid of relegation pretty much every year of your life until now? I was. Did you look forward to your goalkeeper rolling it out to your right-back just yards from goal with the opposition breathing down his neck in, say, 2009? I really, definitely did not – in fact, few things in life made me more terrified. But things have changed at Selhurst. The naysayers may disagree, but that’s what naysayers do. They say nay.

I say yay. I yay-say. I’m a yaysayer.

Why? Because progress doesn’t always look like an overnight multi-billion cash injection or a marquee signing or even a spanking new stadium with, like, a branch of The Ivy in it or whatever they’ve got at Spurs… Progress can often be such delicate, tiny baby steps that it’s almost imperceptible to the naked eye. In 2022 we humans have everything delivered to us immediately – that’s simply the level of service we expect now. If that webpage doesn’t load? Outrageous. If Jeff Bezos can’t get that cheese toastie machine to our door by 7pm? Scandalous. And if our football clubs don’t do exactly what we want, right this minute? DEFCON 4.

I get it. As fans, there’s way more passion, emotional and financial investment in our football clubs than in our Cheesy-Heaty 2000TM®. But to me, that’s the same reason we should nurture that most delicate of virtues: patience.

What Steve wants, what Pat wants – it’s ostensibly the same as what we want: success. A successful club, a successful stadium renovation, a successful growth of the fanbase. Real progress. Of course, that has to start on the pitch and – for the first time I can remember – with players like Tyrick, Joachim, Marc, Cheick, Wilf, Ebs,

Bailey Smith

Michael, Malcolm, JP, Jeff (I could go on), we’ve finally got the moving parts to turn the gears of progress in the right direction. But, as ‘they’ say, Rome wasn’t built in a day (seriously – who are they and how do they know so much?) and neither will the newly approved Main Stand. But I love my club like I love my dearest friend, so guess what? I’ll wait. Patiently.

And for now? Well, for now let’s just beat Saints. Now please. Like, today. Quick as you can, chopchop. Let’s go, boys! Come on!

but, as 'they' say Rome wasn’t built in a day (seriously – who are they and how do they know so much?) and neither will the newly approved Main Stand. But I love my club like I love my dearest friend, so guess what? I’ll wait. Patiently

cpfc womencpfc women

Crystal Palace Women

season.

club

in 2021/22, and are looking to do the same

each

directly from one of the squad, with Jamaica

explaining her path to Palace.

paige bailey-gayle

Whenever I played against Palace

faced a good side that was hard to break down and was able to finish high in the table. So when I left my last club, Leicester City, I got in touch with Dean Davenport and everything I heard made Palace sound like the perfect fit.

After spending seven years in Arsenal’s Centre of Excellence

signed my first professional contract with Leicester aged 17 in the Women’s Championship. With Aimee Everett and Annabel Johnson in the team we got promoted to the Super League in 2020/21, and after a season in the top-flight I felt I wanted to step back into the Championship to get more minutes under my belt.

Promotion is hard to navigate because you’re playing against world-class players, but the experience teaches you what you need to thrive at that level. At Palace we want to get promoted this season, and a lot of the girls have WSL experience.

I’m happy to have made the decision to move to Palace because the atmosphere here is electric, but my first few weeks were quite tough. I joined as one of the final

signings so missed a chunk of pre-season. That meant the girls had got to know each other on the pitch by the time I joined, and then after a couple of weeks I picked up an injury.

The support I had from everyone at the club was exactly what I needed. It was wonderful. I was focused on coming back, training hard and putting in the work, so I was delighted to make my debut earlier this month. Of course, being sidelined is part of the game and if you’re injured it’s your job to support the team, but it was hard to watch when I wasn’t able to play.

This squad has a fresh vision of what we want to do and everyone’s bought into it because they’ve joined with the same goal. We’re all pulling in the same direction and get on well as a group.

Promotion is of course an ambition, but we’re focused on the next match rather than the end goal. We take each week as it comes and prepare for every game so we can get the results required for what we want to achieve. It’s not all about promotion, it’s about getting three points every time we step out.

To support that, my personal targets are mainly to stay fit, healthy and to help the team. I’m not looking at numbers, more that if I can stay fit I can be effective for the team. Naturally I want to score and assist, but my main goal is to be the best version of myself.

Internationally I represented England at youth levels until 2021, when I switched to Jamaica. That’s a massive honour for me and my

family and it required a lot of thought before changing, but I feel it was the right decision.

We recently qualified for the Women’s World Cup which is another massive honour. I never thought I’d become a full international, and now I am it’s the greatest feeling in the world.

International football is a different calibre and we play with and against players from all over the world, be that CONCACAF opposition or teammates based in Spain, France, Hungary, Sweden and the US. We all learn different styles from all over the globe. Now, I’m determined to stay fit and secure my place to compete in Australia 2023

Promotion is hard to navigate because you’re playing against world-class players, but the experience teaches you what you need to thrive at that level. At Palace we want to get promoted

Whenever I played against Palace before I noticed the fans and the support they created behind the goal, so it’s great to be on their side now

academy academy

Darren Powell: Under-21s assistant manager

The Under-21s are the tip of the iceberg at the Academy because this is the final stage. At this level the question becomes: ‘How are we going to get you into our or another club’s first-team?’

We’re creating an environment where the expectations are as if you’re a professional.

i’m the Under-21s assistant manager. I was working with Paddy McCarthy in the Under18s during our first season as a Category 1 Academy, and when Shaun Derry moved up to the first-team the U21s role became vacant for Paddy, who asked me to join him.

You’re playing against the best of the best with the U18s and U21s at Category 1 level. The first season was really, really challenging for the boys, which is a good thing. Earlier in that campaign we had to find our feet, but in the second half we kicked on and gained momentum, saw an opportunity and the boys kept going, narrowly missing out on the title on goal difference.

The key to doing that was our mentality. Now we try to instil a strong, positive mentality in the U21s as well. Working to your maximum should be a given, but when you train, when you cross the white line, you have to give your utmost and leave it all out on the pitch. If you do that, you give yourself a massive fighting chance.

The gaffer expects you to give your maximum and perform to the best of your ability if you’re called across the road for the firstteam. It’s part of the professional mannerisms that we have to instil and encourage from the players –we’re trying to get them into the professional mindset required here or anywhere else.

The more players that train with the first-team, the better for us. Getting them exposed to the levels and intensity of first-team training is priceless. You want them to go over

there, come back and discuss what they’ve seen and learned. You want them to get across the road and impress; if they can stay over there for as long as possible it’s a win-win for everyone.

When I was playing at Southampton, the young players included Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale, Adam Lallana, Nathan Dyer, Dexter Blackstock, David McGoldrick and Kenwyne Jones. Saints promoted young talents and they had some really good prospects around the first-team.

That’s what we’re doing here. We’ve had talented young players in recent years – look at Tyrick Mitchell, Tayo Adaramola, Jes Rak-Sakyi and Kaden Rodney among others, all still fighting at different levels to further establish their careers. Hopefully we can get more players across the road training with the first-team, or that the likes of Rob Street, Scott Banks and Malachi Boateng continue playing senior football on loan. That’s the job. That’s what we want to do and hopefully that kick-starts a career for them either here or elsewhere

The gaffer expects you to give your maximum and perform to the best of your ability if you’re called across the road for the first-team

over theover theroad roadowen goodman

Getting to know

Owen Goodman

Modern-day goalkeepers are required to be comfortable on the ball, capable of picking out a long pass and starting moves from the back. Under-21s ‘keeper Owen Goodman has had to hone his skills and adapt to this new playing style.

“I'm more on the athletic side for a goalkeeper,” he says. “I’m very athletic, I'm quick and I can jump high. I’m physically there – I’m quite tall and big. So when it comes to playing the ‘modern-day style of football,’ that's something I've had to develop over the last two years. But I'm getting a lot better at that and more comfortable with it.

“If I had to pick a 'keeper similar to me, I would say Robert Sánchez at Brighton. I know the fans might not want to hear that, but he’s a very good ‘keeper! [Aston Villa goalkeeper] Emiliano Martínez is another one. He's quite athletic himself as well and he's a big ‘keeper, so I feel quite similar to him.

“Modern skills are game

and

because when we want

to start from the back I’m thinking: ‘Can I play the pass into midfield? Can I draw the press when I’m on the ball? Can I pick out a pass –whether that’s into midfield; into the striker; into space?' Just having different ranges of passing. It's about being comfortable on the ball, really, because at the end of the day, I'm an extra player for the team to utilise.”

That approach shows the outfield demand on goalkeepers in 21st century football: it’s not simply about being good on the ball, but being the team’s tactical springboard. And Goodman’s adaptability has not only been demonstrated through his willingness to learn what’s required for a modern shot stopper, but also through his ability to step up into first-team environments.

“I've gone across the road, I’ve been in matchday squads,” he says. “I’ve played for the first-team in pre-season. For us [as young goalkeepers], we get to work with really good Premier League ‘keepers: they’re much older, you get to watch them and learn what they do differently.

“Vicente [Guaita] and I love to joke a lot. We play games like head tennis, spike ball, and it’s very competitive. I lose quite often, to be fair, but when I lose V gets in my face about it – which is fine, it’s all banter – but when I win I won’t shut up about it!

“There have been times where V sees a certain thing I do and he wants to talk about it. Jack [Butland] has done it before as

well, so they might spot things and then talk [to me about a save, pass or improvement].

“[Training with them is] the highest standard, so you have to match yourself to their standards. They’re Premier League players… they're gonna be top of the top. So you want to be in their shoes. You’ve got to go there and show them what you’ve got and that's the biggest thing for me – putting myself out there, showing people what I'm really about.”

Vicente [Guaita]

and I love to joke a lot. We play games like head tennis, spike ball, and it’s very competitive. I lose quite often, to be fair, but when I lose V gets in my face about it –which is fine, it’s all banter – but when I win I won’t shut up about it!

I’m very athletic, I'm quick and I can jump high. I’m physically there – I’m quite tall and big. So when it comes to playing the ‘modernday style of football,’ I've had to develop over the last two years. But I'm getting a lot better

Keeping you posted on all things south London. Over the page, we explain how Beulah Hill became the epicentre of an internationally notorious story.

luol deng

Deng, a 6’9” basketball player, was born in Sudan but grew up near Norwood Junction station. He moved to the States aged 14 to pursue his career, and in 2017 was linked with an ownership bid for the club.

Selhurst Park

November 20th, 14:00

Okay, it’s way off yet, but you can get your football fix at Selhurst while the World Cup takes place with this clash. Palace host rivals Charlton, with tickets available via tickets.cpfc.co.uk

everyone knows Pickles the dog, but not many know his 1966 heroics came in Palace territory: barely a mile from Selhurst Park on Beulah Hill.

About halfway up the road running through Upper Norwood is an anonymous bit of shrubbery at the side of an anonymous bit of pavement. Those walking past it would never know they’re at the heart of one of football’s best-known stories.

Pickles, a Border Colliecross, achieved lifetime fame on a walk with his owner David Corbett in March 1966, three months before England were due to host the World Cup finals.

This story winds on a bit, so we’ll start at the beginning. In 1960 England bid successfully for the World Cup for the first, and currently only, time. In January 1966 the Jules Rimet trophy, awarded to the World Cup winner until Brazil became indefinite owners in 1970, came to English shores to be held by the Football Association.

It was mostly kept securely in their Lancaster Gate headquarters, but on occasion was displayed publicly for promotional events. In March the trophy was moved to Westminster Central Hall to sit as pride of place in the Stampex stamp exhibition. A natural home.

The decision clearly made the FA nervous, and the trophy was insured for 10 times its real value while placed under 24-hour security. Four guards surrounded the display cabinet during the day

and two at night, but on Sunday, March 20th, the hall was opened for a public Methodist service, and the guards were not instructed to directly watch the trophy.

They went for a morning coffee, and that’s when disaster struck. At 12:10 guards noticed the trophy was missing, with the cabinet prized open and England’s upcoming World Cup in peril.

The story gets deeper. Two witnesses reported a man loitering by the gents toilets but gave different descriptions and soon theories started to flood Scotland Yard from windup merchants and conspiracy theorists. A woman from Chile knew the culprit, as did a man from Germany. Alternatively, it was hidden on the Northern line somewhere.

The day after the theft Joe Mears, Chelsea and FA Chairman, received an anonymous phone call telling him to expect a parcel the next day. When the parcel arrived Mears found the trophy’s lining inside and a ransom note demanding £15,000 in £1 and £5 notes. If the FA were willing to cooperate, they were instructed

They went for a morning coffee, and that’s when disaster struck. At 12:10 guards noticed the trophy was missing, with the cabinet prized open and England’s upcoming World Cup in peril

to place a coded personal ad in the Evening News and to avoid police or press involvement.

“To me it is only so much scrap gold,” the note said. “If I don’t hear from you by Thursday or Friday at the latest I assume its [sic] one for the POT.”

Soon Mears received another phone call, this time from a man calling himself Jackson. The ransom should be paid in £5 and £10 notes instead, Jackson said.

So Mears contacted the Flying Squad, who by this point had taken charge of the investigation, and placed an ad in the Evening News The police bundled together a suitcase of fake cash and waited at Mears’ home for the next call.

Mears, however, was suffering from angina brought on by stress; three months later it would cause a fatal heart attack. So in his absence the case’s lead investigator DI Buggy posed as Mears’ assistant, and persuaded Jackson to swap the trophy for the ransom at the gate to Battersea Park.

Jackson stepped into Buggy’s car and agreed to lead him to the trophy, but en route noticed Flying Squad vans following the pair. He grew nervous, eventually fled from the car and, after a chase, was arrested by Buggy.

Jackson’s real name was Edward Betchley, a petty thief. He had been convicted in 1954 for receiving tins of corned beef, and insisted he was just a middleman paid £500 to collect the ransom money. A man he

knew only as ‘The Pole’ was the real culprit, he claimed.

The trophy was still missing and Scotland Yard had failed to capitalise on their only lead. So where does a dog, and Beulah Hill in Upper Norwood, come into this? Through pure happenstance.

On March 27th, a week after the theft, Thames lighterman David Corbett left his flat to make a phone call from the booth across the road. Still in his slippers, Corbett took his four-year-old dog Pickles with him. Pickles became fixated with a package underneath a nearby car. Corbett initially feared it was an IRA bomb, so hesitated to pick it up, but upon removing the paper wrapping saw “the words, Germany, Uruguay, Brazil.”

Corbett rushed inside to tell his wife and immediately went to Gypsy Hill police station – slippers still on. Accusations immediately fell his way however, and the south Londoner was questioned until 2:30am the next morning.

Eventually Corbett was released, rewarded handsomely, and began life temporarily in the limelight – alongside Pickles, who featured in the film The Spy with the Cold Nose. He also received

a silver medal from the National Canine Defence League (now Dogs Trust), begging the question: what must a dog do to win gold?

Corbett was invited to England’s victory party and used his reward money to buy a home in Lingfield, Surrey, but for Pickles the story has a sad end. The dog was being walked by Corbett’s sixyear-old son, and broke free while chasing a cat. Corbett searched for over an hour, and eventually found Pickles hanged by his own lead having got caught on a tree.

Today a blue plaque marks the spot where Pickles made footballing folklore in the heart of south London. And as for The Pole, or whoever really stole the trophy, no one else was arrested.

Why did they leave the Jules Rimet on Beulah Hill? Could they have been local? Who knows, they may even be inside Selhurst today. Mind your pockets, Palace fans .

We read in a Mirror interview that David Corbett is a Palace fan himself. We haven’t been able to make contact, but if anyone reading this knows David, do get in touch via programme@cpfc.co.uk We’d love to talk.

The Premier League celebrates its 30th anniversary this season, with Palace there at the start in 1992/93 and still there today – with a few detours along the way. Here, we break down the club’s Premier League spells, letter by letter.

Hat-tricks, headers and home sweet home

in any sport it’s hard to top three of the best, be it Stuart Broad ripping through India in 2011 or Nico Rosberg’s trio of successes in Monaco.

Crystal Palace have taken to the field 513 times since the beginning of the Premier League in 1992. On just one occasion has a Palace player walked off holding the ball under his arm.

It came on an innocuous afternoon in the north-east in 2015. Alan Pardew’s men were sitting pretty in 11th and searching for an elusive first top-half Premier League finish, faced with a Sunderland side fighting relegation.

After a goalless first-half, Palace – and more specifically Yannick Bolasie – sprang into action. Just three minutes after half-time the tricky winger beat his marker and

swung a tantalising ball in for Glenn Murray, who nodded his side into the lead.

But the best was yet to come. Just three minutes later the duo combined again, as Murray nodded down for Bolasie to slot home. Now Palace were cooking.

Less than two minutes later – and just five minutes after breaking the deadlock – they made it a three-goal lead, and Bolasie had a second. It was a real beauty too, as he shrugged off John O’Shea and flicked a delicate lob over the ‘keeper and into the back of the net.

Not content with two, he added his third soon after. This one took real persistence: Bolasie was brought down in the box by goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon, but struggled to his feet and evaded two last-ditch challenges to complete his hat-trick.

To this day, Bolasie’s remains Palace’s only triple-hit in the Premier League, but the wait can’t go on forever. Odsonne Edouard and Conor Gallagher scored braces last season, and Wilfried Zaha’s double against Aston Villa raised hopes of a hat-trick once more.

headers

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When Christian Benteke leapt highest to nod home against Aston Villa in May 2021, he joined an elite club. With his 31st headed goal in the Premier League, the Belgian striker became one of the 10 most prolific aerial strikers since the competition’s inception.

Home sweet home

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The atmosphere at Selhurst Park is well known not just to fans, but to players too. When Romelu Lukaku completed his £98 million move back to Chelsea, he told the club’s website which grounds he was looking forward to visiting most.

“I like Selhurst Park,” he said. “It’s a nice environment. It’s the only stadium in England where it’s like European style. I like it!” A few months later his feelings may have been less positive, however, as he was restricted to just seven touches across 90 minutes in south London, an all-time Premier League low.

With two more headers before his departure to D.C. United this summer, Benteke climbed above Tim Cahill and Olivier Giroud in the standings. In news that won’t surprise many, six-foot, seven-inch Peter Crouch stands way above the rest as the only player to have scored more than 50 headed goals.

Since Patrick Vieira’s arrival, the fortress that is Selhurst Park has ratcheted up a notch. Not only can Palace outfight the very best teams in the league, they can outplay them too.

Famous victories against Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal last season were among the highlights, putting three goals past each of the Champions

League-chasing north London sides, and Manchester United and Manchester City had just as little luck. Indeed, all four sides left SE25 without scoring.

This season, there are already home highlights for the end of season compilation: Zaha’s stunner against Brentford and Tyrick Mitchell’s sumptuous delivery for Jean-Philippe Mateta against Aston Villa included. But as always, the best could be yet to come… .

Brede Hangeland

Norwegian international Brede Hangeland spent two years at Palace before retiring in 2016, featuring 25 times for the Eagles.

It was the end of a storied career, which saw him make more than 250 appearances for Fulham, including reaching the UEFA Cup final. Future Palace boss Roy Hodgson went on to name Hangeland as one the best leaders he ever coached, and of the centre-back’s 91 caps for the national side, 48 were as captain.

ian king

Having been on the brink of collapse in 2010, Crystal Palace earned promotion back to the Premier League 10 years ago this season. Here, Club Historian Ian King tells the story of a dramatic campaign – with a little help from the stars of

Saturday, November 3rd: Palace 2-0 Blackburn Rovers

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New manager Ian Holloway was unveiled to the fans at half-time having signed a four-and-a-halfyear deal earlier in the day. Keith Millen came as his assistant. The woeful start to the season was long gone as the Eagles continued their unbeaten run, moving into third place with this victory, a last game for caretaker Curtis Fleming.

Palace were dominant throughout with both Damien Delaney and Yannick Bolasie hitting the woodwork before Glenn Murray turned in Owen Garvan’s sumptuous cross just before half-time. Midway through the second-half Murray was fouled in the penalty area and the striker netted the subsequent spot kick but was denied a hat-trick when ‘keeper Paul Robinson pulled

off a double save from another Murray penalty. Holloway admitted to having goosebumps on the back of his neck during his introduction and this free-flowing display must have given him confidence.

Palace moved up a place to third behind Cardiff and Middlesbrough while inflicting Rovers’ first away defeat of the season.

Tuesday, November 6th: Palace 5-0 Ipswich Town

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Holloway saw no reason to tinker with the team in his first match, so the same starting XI took to the Selhurst pitch just three days after the Rovers win. The eventual score looked unlikely in the first-half when the only difference was Yannick Bolasie’s first goal for the club after 24 minutes – a deft lob – but that

changed with three penalties in 10 minutes early in the second-half.

Murray converted twice after Wilfried Zaha and Garvan were fouled in the box, and was on course for a hat-trick of successful penalties when Garvan was fouled again shortly after. Murray’s kick was saved by the ‘keeper, but the club’s leading scorer was not to be denied the match ball and three minutes later slid home a cross from Joel Ward. The rout was concluded at the death as André Moritz enjoyed a simple tap in. These three points and five goals took Palace to the top of the

Steve Parish tells squad promotion remains the target

Ian Holloway is appointed manager

Championship as both Cardiff and Middlesbrough failed to win.

Saturday, November 10th: Peterborough United 1-2 Palace

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Another unchanged team found themselves a goal down at London Road after just six minutes as a deflected shot allowed Grant McCann to wrong-foot Julián Speroni. It looked like a frustrating afternoon as the Eagles dominated possession but Posh carved out the better chances. After the break Palace became more dominant, with scoring opportunities for Murray, then as the game entered the last 15 minutes Holloway sent on Moritz and Aaron Wilbraham and the two combined for the former’s equaliser.

The turnaround was completed two minutes later when a counter attack from a Posh corner was led by birthday boy Zaha, who sped upfield, beat a defender with ease and then squared the ball to an unmarked Dikgacoi, who buried his shot into the corner and sent the 3,000 travelling fans celebrating for the second time. Holloway tweaked the formation at half-time to pin back Peterborough’s wingbacks, allowing Ward and Parr to move forward and Palace to ensure victory .

november 7th

yannick bolasie player in focus

I knew we had to get a manager in that could lead these players and give them something even more if we could, and I knew we had to do it quickly. For me there was only one name, and it was Ian Holloway

Steve Parish

november 11th

Curtis Fleming joins Dougie Freedman at Bolton

Wilfried Zaha is called up to the full England squad

proud and

As part of the Rainbow Laces campaign, we’ve handed over to the club’s official LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or sometimes questioning), and others) fan group Proud and Palace to share their views on the issues facing LGBTQ+ people – and the ways you can help.

so, it’s Rainbow Laces again, a time when sports leagues, teams and organisations across the UK come together to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion. We know that for many people this comes with a feeling of: ‘Why do we need this? No one has a problem with it anymore.’ So we wanted to use this space to explain a bit more about the current situation for LGBTQ+ people in the UK and around the world, and how you can be an active ally to them.

It might surprise you to hear, but in the UK things are as bad as they have been in a long time. According to LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, two-thirds (64%) of LGBTQ+ people surveyed had experienced anti-LGBT+ violence or abuse. Only one in eight of those people reported the most recent occurrence to the police. Yet a recent Freedom of Information request showed police-recorded instances of hate crime are still soaring, with 14,670 hate crimes in 2021 versus 10,817 in 2019. Imagine what those numbers would look like if people were reporting in full to the police…

Add to that the fact we are having to fight, protest and petition for conversion therapy [changing an individual’s sexual orientation] to be banned, the constant vilification of transgender people by mainstream media and highprofile individuals on social media, and the return of Section 28-era conversations about recognition of LGBTQ+ people’s existence in schools, and things are bleak for us at the moment.

These are worries we like to leave behind at the football. Like many Palace fans, going to the game or watching at home is a chance to forget about the things that are weighing us down during the rest of the week. Thanks to the amazing Palace fanbase, football is a place where we can just worry about our midfield… a not unsizeable worry, to be honest!

But football can still let us down. While for us the sport is about our corner of south London, there is no denying the Premier League is a global entity. This time last year we were protesting

the takeover of Newcastle United by a group strongly linked to the royal family of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Next month we have a World Cup in Qatar, where in the last few days Human Rights Watch has published findings including the arbitrary arrests, maltreatment, and beating of LGBTQ+ people by security forces.

So, does Rainbow Laces help any of that? In isolation, to be honest, probably not. Next week the rainbow armbands, laces and corner flags will be packed away for a year and hate crimes in the UK will continue, the World Cup will go ahead in Qatar, and legislation that takes away our fundamental protections will continue to be discussed and debated.

But it can make an impact if football fans pause and reflect, and consider how they can be active allies to the community. ‘Not singing those Brighton songs any more,’ is just level one. So here’s three more things you can do right now to be an active ally to LGBTQ+ people.

1. Continue the conversation about football’s support of regimes with a history of human rights abuses

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The upcoming World Cup in Qatar will be the second in a row that has taken place in a nation with a terrible human rights record. Football cannot turn a blind eye to it and as fans we need to make our voices heard – something Palace has always been excellent at. We were delighted to see that Suhail al-Jameel, the gay Saudi influencer who was imprisoned and beaten and who so many of us protested for, has now been freed. Changing the status quo on this is not just in the interest of LGBTQ+ people, it is in the interests of all global citizens. It seems baffling now that just four years ago we

had a World Cup in Russia, leaving the government there not just unchecked, but rewarded with one of the most coveted sporting events in the world. Look where we are now.

2. Speak to your MP about conversion therapy

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Ban Conversion Therapy’s website includes great resources for how to write to and speak to your MP. Despite the World Health Organisation removing homosexuality from its list of diseases in 1990, it is still legal to try to ‘cure it’ through conversion therapy in the UK. A draft bill to make that illegal has been in the works for some time, but crucially does not include protections for transgender people. Over 50,000 people have used Ban Conversion Therapy’s online tool

to write to their MP – adding your voice will go a long way.

3. Don’t just stand with us. Sometimes you need to stand in front of us -

‘I stand with you,’ is language used a lot by allies. But what about when you need to stand in front of us? If you hear a homophobic comment, are you prepared to challenge it? If you see someone getting abuse on social media, are you ready to step in and take some of the heat for that person? In your friendship circles, are you ready to have those conversations with someone who crosses the line on ‘banter’?

It’s not easy to do, and it might make you uncomfortable in the moment, but leaving that behaviour unchecked can leave people at risk .

Support Palace? Support Palace for Life

Today’s game against Southampton is a special one for Palace for Life Foundation, as we take over the stadium to help spread the word of our work to even more Palace fans.

Here’s why and how you can support

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Who are we?

Palace for Life Foundation is the charitable arm of Crystal Palace F.C. We use the power of football and the Palace brand to help transform the lives of over 15,000 young people across south London every year.

Why is our work important?

Because south London is a hotbed of talent, but growing up here is tougher than ever. Last year alone:

• Thirty children were killed in London, five in Croydon;

• Croydon was the most violent borough in London, with 1,617 violent crimes reported;

• The youth unemployment rate in London for 16-24-yearolds is 3.7 times higher than for 25-63-year-olds.

On top of this:

• Knife crime has risen by 60% in London in the last four years;

• Many areas of south London we work in are in the bottom 10% of the most deprived areas of London.

Because of this, we’re determined to ensure young people in our area are given every opportunity to succeed.

How do we help our community?

• Engaging all corners of our community through sport;

• Disability sport;

• Inspiring the next generation at school;

• Helping young people reach their potential with training and employment opportunities;

• Diverting young people away from crime and gangs;

• Engaging the next generation of footballers.

How can you help?

Our expert staff run a range of successful projects to help youngsters fulfil their potential while staying safe, healthy, and active across our boroughs.

We’re proud of what we have achieved so far, but there are so many more people we can help. We can scale our successful projects, but this comes at a cost – so earlier this year we launched Made in

palace for life we’re determined to ensure young people in our area are given every opportunity to succeed

South London, a campaign to raise £1million over the next three years.

That’s why we need help from you, the Palace fans, to help us to continue to transform the lives of even more young people. So, what can you do?

Learn: Learn about the work we’re doing in the community. We’re so much more than just a football club and an organisation that offers young people the chance to play football.

Browse our website or read our annual brochure.

Donate: Donate what you can to support us. You can give a single donation or set up a regular donation.

Alternatively, why don’t you donate a pint from your pre-match routine today? Just scan the QR code opposite.

Want to give a philanthropic gift or know a person or business that does? Email Fezzan on fezzanahmed@palaceforlife.org

Share: We appreciate times are hard and not everyone has the means to donate right now. But you can help us to spread the word: tell friends and family about the work we’re doing. Follow us on social media and help us reach even more people.

• Twitter: @PalaceForLife

• Instagram: @PalaceForLife

• Facebook: @palaceforlife

• TikTok: palaceforlifefoundation

• LinkedIn: Palace for Life .

Support Palace for Life in our mission to raise £1 million to help us transform thousands of more young south Londoners’ lives. donate a

from your

routine

Everything is snapped in 2022, football included. Here, we speak with south Londonbased photographer Nico Froehlich, who explains why our half of the capital is worth documenting – and why it must be done now.

“

historically you didn’t always get photographers who represent their own communities,” says Nico Froehlich. “Photographers were always outsiders.”

Froehlich’s south London accent is clear as day as he looks over the streets of Lee, Lewisham, where his subjects live. This photographer is very much not an outsider.

Born in Sidcup, Froehlich is a photographer currently working on South of the River, “a visual documentation” of “my perspective of south-east London, the south-east London I knew growing up and the south-east London I love.”

He has gained acclaim for his series of people and places across south London – largely within Lewisham – that captures everyday life in the capital’s working-class communities.

There is a fully-suited man in a Bermondsey pub, Union Flag draped over the scaffolding behind him; women shopping; children riding bikes. The series captures those areas of London often overlooked for the sparkle of skyscrapers and bustle of tourist-filled Monopoly streets.

Froehlich says: “It’s always very tempting to go abroad or go to places that are beautiful or dramatic and striking to take photos, but if you can find

stories and things to photograph on your doorstep in your local area, there’s so much.”

He grew up moving across south London, where his Swiss father and Israeli mother migrated to. “There was something about the British way of life my mum was fond of, so she said: ‘Let’s go to Britain and make a life there.’ She loves it here. She loves the fact people kind of keep themselves to themselves but are warm,” he says.

As a teenager Froehlich wanted to be an actor, and used to travel into central London to hone his craft by watching how people behave. It’s then he decided to pick up a camera and began to notice the quirks of ordinary life that once made him wince.

It’s always very tempting to go abroad or go to places that are beautiful or dramatic and striking to take photos, but if you can find stories and things to photograph on your doorstep in your local area, there’s so much

“My mum was always different and eccentric in everything she did,” he explains. “Where we used to live always had these colourful, funky curtains and we were known as the house with the curtains. That embarrassed me a great deal.

“[Sidcup] wasn’t as diverse as much of south London but I wanted to fit in a bit and wanted to hide those parts of my identity, how my mum was. At the same time I was taking it in and it was incredibly enriching for me because my mum would hang about with friends from different communities and I was exposed to this diversity which I didn’t appreciate as a youngster. Now as a photographer and an adult I go around and look for that and really celebrate that stuff while it’s still here.

“I gradually just discovered how enriching the whole area is, how incredibly diverse and beautiful it all is, how colourful it is.”

So Froehlich rides around his local community, looking for scenes or people that “fit into the story of south-east London.” Once he spots his subjects, he begins the process of capturing their portrait.

show me what they’re about, their environment, and I try to capture that in a portrait.

“I take a few and I find usually the last picture I take is the best one because they’ve relaxed a little bit… There was one guy on Lee High Road between Lee and Lewisham who’s always sitting on a chair outside his little café. He’s part of this Algerian community on Lee High Road, always outside bickering and gossiping; they’re really vibrant. He’s really well dressed, usually wears a suit, and I call him the Godfather of Lewisham.”

Photographers may historically have been outsiders, embedding themselves into alien communities to first uncover and then capture their essence. But it’s a different task for Froehlich: he knows his area intimately, and wants to help preserve its image as times change.

“It’s not just my perspective I’m sharing, I am collaborating with people in the area,” he says. “I’m very much part of the community here and I think it’s very important to convey that.

“I go up to them and talk to them, tell them what I’m working on. Then it’s collaborative, so I want them to

“It’s personal as well because I grew up around here. I’ve always said to make it personal, because when it’s personal it’s powerful and it’s relatable. I’ve noticed how quickly the area’s changing with all these developers coming in. And the pace of change is increasing, so I think I really need to be doing this now before it gets to a point where you don’t recognise the area.” .

I gradually just discovered how enriching the whole area is, how incredibly diverse and beautiful it all is, how colourful it is

from the

The page for Palace supporters: taking your comments from the terraces into the programme. Want to get in touch? Use the details below.

On Saturday 29th October James Musallam celebrates his 27th birthday. His girlfriend Sophie has treated him to a surprise visit to Selhurst Park to celebrate! His Mum, Dad and brother Joseph send their best birthday wishes!

Mike Coeshott’s first home game was against Southend United in 1963. He now travels up from The Isle of Wight for every home game in the Main Stand. Hope you enjoy today’s game from the Directors Box!

Happy 18th birthday to Dom Foote, celebrating in Speroni’s today. Born and raised in Wiltshire but Palace through and through. Here is the moment when Yohan Cabaye asked Dom to take a selfie!

Welcoming Josh Gallichan to Selhurst Park for the first time! His two great loves: the Eagles and baby Grace. Have a great time Uncle Jo!

Welcome back to Selhurst Park Jaxson. Following in dad’s footsteps as a Palace fan. Fingers crossed for 3 points again for you, love daddy.

Congrats to Palace buddy, Gwyn James on turning 60 and cycling Lands End to John O’Groats, raising over £2,000 for Clowns in the Sky! From Pete W

Happy 40th Birthday Matt Bance, love from Emma and Zachary, Mum, Dad, Marcus, Antonia and all the family. EAGLES

Happy 14th Birthday to Spencer Pinner. Enjoy the game son. Love Mum, Dad and the Croydon Crew xxx

Happy 65th birthday Tony, love Kim & Andy xx

Happy 60th Birthday to Antony Jarrett, long time Palace fan, from Christine, Neil and all your Besties

Welcoming the first group of Academy Founder Members for their tour on Friday, 21st October. Download the picture on John Vince’s Facebook page.

9 year old Jake, an enthusiastic Eagles fan, had his day made when he saw some of the team during his trip to Merseyside. Jake had made the long trip from Sussex to cheer on the Eagles against Everton.

Thanks Dad for giving me 50 years of fun and tears supporting Crystal Palace, Enjoy the Day

In loving memory of Ken Sweet who recently passed away aged 87. Lifelong Palace fan for over 75 years. Will be greatly missed by family and friends

Very Happy 70th Birthday to Tony Boulter, an avid Palace supporter and has been for many years. With love from Barbara, Paul, Roma, Alfie, Daz and Natalie.

Happy 40th Birthday Daddy / Ahmed. Have the best day at the game - I can’t wait to be old enough to join you! Lots of love Ben (and Mummy!)

Mark Willis is attending today’s game against Southampton as part of his Stag weekend and would be well chuffed to see this in the programme.

Remembering Brian Epps (01.01.5027.01.04) lifelong, dedicated Palace fan whose ashes were brought to Selhurst Park from Australia in 2006. Brian’s grandson, Luca, attends his first match today with Kieran

Happy Birthday Aaron, lots of love Sara Wayne Joe Rose Poppy Palace Nanny Grandad Rory Mummy Franky Ruby Oli Emily Ellis Jimmy and a heavenly birthday wish from Nanny Bubbles xxxx

John Pearce passed away recently, he was a season ticket holder in the members stand for many years. His children Debbie, Zoe and Ben and four grandchildren miss him greatly.

Email programme@cpfc.co.uk with a message of 30 words or fewer and an image to feature on our messageboard.

next up: west ham

On

Travel:

Best memory: Palace earned their first away point under Patrick Vieira by twice coming from behind at the London stadium to draw 2-2, Conor Gallagher bagging a brace.

Elizabeth

the

south

National

or London

best

and then

Pre-match:

to Canada

for choice

central London

a few minutes away

Tube.

Westfield in Stratford has a range of bars close by, and nearby Hackney has a breadth of

BEAT BRIGHTYBEAT BRIGHTY

In each

it

how

Scoring:

club

calls it how

the day’s

team stats: women

Elise Hughes Hughes was nominated for the league-wide Player

of the Month.

AUGUST

Mon

Fri

Fri

Fri

Tue

Sat

Fri

Sat

Tue

Sat

Mon

Fri

Mon

David Omilabu Omilabu bagged a brace

Man City

Sat

Sat

Sat

Jake Grante Grante was calledup for Ireland U17s for the first time, and scored against Armenia.

Mon

Mon

Mon

Fri

Mon

Chloe Arthur 5 Paige Bailey-Gayle 3 Kirsty Barton 5

Annabel Blanchard 71 Charley Clifford 1 Rianna Dean Polly Doran 7

Aimee Everett 6 Anna Filbey 6 Fliss Gibbons 2

Shauna Guyatt 5

Coral-Jade Haines 61 Elise Hughes 74

Annabel Johnson 6 Fran Kitching (GK) 6 Natalia Negri (GK) 1

Leigh Nicol Ellie Noble 4 Hollie Olding 3 Chloe Peplow 5 Kirsten Reilly 4 Molly-Mae Sharpe 71 Isabella Sibley 51 Hope Smith (GK) Lizzie Waldie 5

Tayo Adaramola 6 Josh Addae 3

Victor Akinwale 13 3 Kofi Balmer 9 Ryan Bartley 1 David Boateng 1 Maliq Cadogan 6 1 Owen Goodman (GK) 10

John-Kymani Gordon 11 11 Seán Grehan 11 Danny Imray 3 Jackson Izquierdo (GK) 3 Fionn Mooney 3 Jake O’Brien 2 Ademola Ola-Adebomi 12 2 David Omilabu 12 5 David Ozoh 12 1 Killian Phillips 12 3 Dan Quick Jesurun Rak-Sakyi 1 Jadan Raymond 5 Kaden Rodney 11 Laurence Shala (GK) Cardo Siddik 3 Rob Street 42 Matthew Vigor 1 Noah Watson 11 Jack Wells-Morrison 12 1 Joe Whitworth (GK) 2

Cormac Austin 6

Kalani Barton 7

Dixon 89

Eastwood (GK)

Grante 7

Izquierdo (GK)

Jemide 8

Kporha 8 Giulio Marroni 2 Zach Marsh 62 Hindolo Mustapha 6 Adler Nascimento 74 Laurence Shala (GK) 2 Basilio Socoliche 82 Vonnte Williams 8 1

AUGUST

SEP

OCTOBER

DateOpposition attendance/ KICK-OFF ResultPosition

Fri 5 Arsenal 25,286 L 0-2 17th

Mon 15 Liverpool 52,970 D 1-1 16th

Sat 20 Aston Villa 25,012 W 3-1 9th

Tue 23 Oxford United 9,564 W 2-0 Second round

Sat 27 Manchester City 53,112 L 2-4 12th

Tue 30 Brentford 25,043 D 1-1 13th

Sat 3 Newcastle United 51,863 D 0-0 15th

Sat 1 Chelsea 25,125 L 1-2 17th

Sun 9 Leeds United 25,002 W 2-1 15th

Sat 15 Leicester City 31,298 D 0-0 13th

Tue 18 Wolverhampton Wanderers 25,099 W 2-1 11th

Sat 22 Everton 38,939 L 0-3 13th

Sat 29 Southampton 15:00

Sat 5 West Ham United 15:00

NOV

Wed 9 Newcastle United 19:45

Sat 12 Nottingham Forest 15:00

DEC Mon 26 Fulham 15:00

Sat 31 Bournemouth 15:00

Wed 4 Tottenham Hotspur 20:00

Sat 14 Chelsea 15:00

Sat 21 Newcastle United 15:00

Sat 4 Manchester United 15:00

Sat 11 Brighton & Hove Albion 15:00

Sat 18 Brentford 15:00

Sat 25 Liverpool 15:00

Sat 4 Aston Villa 15:00

Sat 11 Manchester City 15:00

Sat 18 Arsenal 15:00

Sat 1 Leicester City 15:00

Sat 8 Leeds United 15:00

Sat 15 Southampton 15:00

Sat 22 Everton 15:00

Tue 25 Wolverhampton Wanderers 19:45

Sat 29 West Ham United 15:00

Wed 4 Tottenham Hotspur 20:00

Sat 13 Bournemouth 15:00

Sat 20 Fulham 15:00

Sun 28 Nottingham Forest 16:00

TBC Manchester United

Brighton

Hove

Michael Olise Jordan

Eberechi

Wilfried Zaha Vicente

Schlupp

McArthur

Johnstone Odsonne Edouard Malcolm Ebiowei Chris Richards Cheick Doucouré Nathan Ferguson Joe Whitworth Kofi Balmer Jaïro Riedewald John-Kymani Gordon Killian Phillips Owen Goodman Kaden Rodney

1216-413

1025-1513

1116-512

1119-812

2124-311

1318-5

2375 18-13

2378