Turning points in recent club history

[manoftaste]

They say football is a game of fine margins. I've just been thinking how very different our situation today would be if it weren't for just 3 crucial goals:
(1) What if Dougie hadn't broken away and scored that goal a couple of minutes from the end at Stockport County in 2001? Palace relegated to 3rd tier. We might still be there.
(2) What if Kevin Phillips had missed that penalty in the play-off final against Watford in 2013? No promotion with 13 successive years in the Premiership.
(3) What if Eze hadn't scored at Wembley last May (or, indeed, if Henderson hadn't saved that penalty)? No FA cup, therefore no Europe this season with the good chance of more Europe next season.
Three brief moments which could easily have been missed, each of which had massive consequences.

 

[martinelliff]

What if Nigel Martyn had not rushed off his line in the last few minutes of extra time in the 1990 FA Cup and instead allowed O'Reilly to shepperd Hughes away leaving Martyn to save his shot. Palave would have been FA Cup winners and in the Euro Cup Winners Cup which United went on to win. Ferguson would have been sacked. Wright would have probably stayed. The 90s in the EPL would have been very different.

 

[Plumpton eagle]

Proud to have been there for all 3 moments. You could add Wardy clearing off line very late on against Watford, or Jules wonder save from Deeney in same game.

I am sure there are many other examples, we don't often win things by a country mile.

Maybe, the Conference League final will be the exception......

 

[BromleyMonkey]

Many have said that Clive Allen’s goal that wasn’t in 1980 at Coventry knocked the stuffing out of us that season, although early in the season we never seemed to recover from that and a few months later the exodus started led by Venables after we’d already lost King Kenny in the summer. We ended up getting relegated and spending the rest of the decade in division 2