This feels a bit "after the party" but it's the first opportunity I have had to post, and to be honest, I am desperate to post about yesterday. I am 57 years old, 50 of them as a Palace fan. Yesterday was one of the very best of those days as a Palace fan, and you may think I am sad to say so, but was also one of the best days of my life.
If you are part of this site you almost certainly get what it is to be emotionally invested in your football team. I have a pretty logical brain and 57 years of life experience, which should both tell me it's just a football team, and that Palace's fortunes should not have such a deep impact on how I feel. A mild disappointment or a moment of excitement perhaps, but not more than that.
Yesterday I went to the game with my 20 year old daughter, who has become an ardent fan over the past 18 months despite seeing a pretty small proportion of wins in the game she has been to. We watched one of the best Palace performances ever, made all the greater by the occasion itself.
I am trying to think of my other highlights - Burnley in 1979, the cup final in 1990 (not the replay !) where we got so close and I couldn't believe I was watching Palace walk out onto Wembley's turf for the cup final, and I think both the wins against Brighton and Watford in 2013 were all brilliant (and even the unspeakable relief of Stockport in 2003 was very memorable). But to turn up as underdogs against a very good Villa team (I was expecting to lose), to play brilliantly with heroic individual performances to a man, to score 2 fantastic quality goals, then to celebrate a 3rd goal that sealed the deal, and celebrate amongst the our fans with pure, unbridled joy...it was priceless.
My daughter claimed she saw a tear in my eye - I denied it but I was lying 🤣. And to think I launched a thread about this season being a bit dull ! Whatever happens in the final, yesterday's occasion cannot be taken away from us. COYP.