This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblog/2013/may/26/london-crystal-palace-championship-playoff-final
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Can Crystal Palace rise again? | Can Crystal Palace rise again? |
| (4 months later) | |
| Tomorrow I'll be at Wembley to watch the Championship play-off final between Watford and Crystal Palace, the south London club whose fortunes over recent decades amount to one of London football's more vivid and varied stories. Having married into a Palace family, I've taken a heightened historical interest in all those surges, slumps, unequal top flight struggles and spectacular giant killings. | Tomorrow I'll be at Wembley to watch the Championship play-off final between Watford and Crystal Palace, the south London club whose fortunes over recent decades amount to one of London football's more vivid and varied stories. Having married into a Palace family, I've taken a heightened historical interest in all those surges, slumps, unequal top flight struggles and spectacular giant killings. |
| Though never securely among the capital's elite, Palace have, nonetheless, at times possessed a shiny glamour and some very gifted players. The Big Match clip below, from March 1973, captures some of those contrasts. Threatened with relegation from the old Division One, the club had just brought in Malcolm Allison, a talented coach and full-on publicity magnet. Allison failed to keep Palace up, yet this win over Chelsea, who were well above them in the league, showed what the team was capable of. | Though never securely among the capital's elite, Palace have, nonetheless, at times possessed a shiny glamour and some very gifted players. The Big Match clip below, from March 1973, captures some of those contrasts. Threatened with relegation from the old Division One, the club had just brought in Malcolm Allison, a talented coach and full-on publicity magnet. Allison failed to keep Palace up, yet this win over Chelsea, who were well above them in the league, showed what the team was capable of. |
| Enjoy in particular the debut impact of future Palace hero Jim Cannon - initially on the Blues' Peter Osgood - and the chalk-and-cheese directors' box shot featuring both the flamboyant, Dartford-born Allison and Sir Alf Ramsey, Dagenham's most famous cold fish. | Enjoy in particular the debut impact of future Palace hero Jim Cannon - initially on the Blues' Peter Osgood - and the chalk-and-cheese directors' box shot featuring both the flamboyant, Dartford-born Allison and Sir Alf Ramsey, Dagenham's most famous cold fish. |
| Allison kept his job the following season despite Palace going down and even survived a consecutive drop to the old Third Division, from where the club launched a glorious FA Cup run. It seemed to eclipse all other concerns at the time. Boy, how things have changed. | Allison kept his job the following season despite Palace going down and even survived a consecutive drop to the old Third Division, from where the club launched a glorious FA Cup run. It seemed to eclipse all other concerns at the time. Boy, how things have changed. |
| Tomorrow at Wembley the club has the chance to once more trampoline into the big time. The Guardian's assessment of the 2012/13 Palace is here. | Tomorrow at Wembley the club has the chance to once more trampoline into the big time. The Guardian's assessment of the 2012/13 Palace is here. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |