Hoop Dreams - QPR FC

Well, maybe not all you ever need to know but in today's time-hungry world, this is a good start. Never need you be embarrassed in a conversation about what year Crystal Palace were formed ever again and you know they come up pretty regularly.

After the blow of their first home defeat, QPR have the chance to get back on their feet against fellow Londoners Palace in a game which was re-arranged from earlier in the season because of torrential rain. A look at the window suggests they'll be okay tonight.

Palace Team News

Palace have a relatively unclogged injury table. The one known absentee at the moment is defender Paddy McCarthy who suffered a recurrence of a shoulder injury in training last Friday.

Palace Potted History

Palace form in 1905 making them one of the younger clubs in London – QPR have 23 years on them for example. Funnily enough they are formed by workers at the Crystal Palace, the nickname for the now defunct Great Exhibition Hall (pictured left). Palace must be in the unique position of having their football ground taken off them by the military which occurred at the outbreak of the First World War and they eventually wound up at today’s Selhurst Park home in 1924.

World War II put a further blip on their progress and it's not until the 1960s and a sucession of promotions that the club reach the top flight in 1969 where, contrary to more recent habits, they actually remain for four years. They don’t return there until the end of the 1970s under the guidance of Terry Venables but once there he decides to drop a division to manage QPR and do the same thing all over again (Palace stay up for two seasons this time).

The future of English light entertainment and football punditry is sealed when Ian Wright and Mark Bright combine as a deadly strike force in the late 80s firing Palace once again to the First Division and then the promised fortunes of the Premier League. Unfortunately they only stay for its first season. Before that, there was an FA Cup Final in which spoilsports Man United defeat the Eagles in a replay and Ian Wright defects to Arsenal as well. They yo-yo between the leagues twice in the 90s, Simon Jordan of Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway Fame (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune:_Million_Pound_Giveaway) saves the club from administration, another future QPR manager (well, for a few weeks anyway) gets the club promoted and relegated again and Neil Warnock goes mental when a clear goal is disallowed. To the present day…

British Pathe Golden Moment

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=40883 Palace lose an FA Cup quarter final to Leeds United in 1965 but it's okay – ‘they’re two-nil down but not down-hearted.’

Highest Point and Lowest Ebb

I’ll cheat with this one. Recent promotions to the Premiership particularly in 2003-4 when the club spent the first half of the season in the relegation zone rank pretty highly in their achievements but in 1990 Palace reached their one and only major final under the guidance of Steve Coppell.

Their attacking side, which boasted the strike partnership of Wright and Bright and a solid midfield including Alan Pardew, Geoff Thomas and John Salako were within ten minutes of a famous 3-2 win before Mark Hughes equalised deep into extra-time. A less memorable replay was won by a Lee Martin goal but United keeper Les Sealey was forced to make a number of saves to allow Alex Ferguson his first major trophy as United manager. So if Palace had won, the whole history of English football could have been different. Ian Wright might have stayed with the club and fired them onto further trophies and Alex Ferguson could have been sacked leading to the terminal decline of one of England’s biggest clubs. Then again, maybe not.

The real high point though has to be the appearance below on ‘Jameson Tonight’ (I've never heard of it myself) – if only footballers still did this:



Grass Is Always Greener - Life as a Palace Supporter

I turned to the members of the Palace supporters' website http://www.holmesdale.net/ for an insight into life following the Eagles. Not massively optimistic is the main mood despite the club reaching the play-offs just two seasons ago - a feat that few supporters believe could be repeated this season. One supporter felt all the club needed was a new owner, manager, ground and fan base for everything to be alright, which isn't an unreasonable request.

Star Man

The current star man at Selhurst Park has to be Darren Ambrose, a shrewd summer signing for Neil Warnock. He arrived on a free transfer from Charlton Athletic and in a Palace team which has struggled since the start of this season, he has been one of few bright points, already contributing six league goals from midfield – an all the more surprising statistic because he has never been a regular goalscorer at previous clubs. Could be considered one of Warnock’s best signings for the club if he keeps up this form.