After the Arsenal game I decided to go back towards Croydon, rather than go home. I ended up in the Clifton Arms having a beer with a few Palace fans who I didn't know. Somehow didn't want to go home. Got slowly "mashed". Anyway about 10:30 pm some guy comes in and says that there were a load of MANU in the George and that we should all go up there. I think that 3 of us went in and it was full to the brim of Man U doing the can-can and singing Eric Cantana songs. In my sloshed state I had a moment of clarity and decided that I shouldn't be in here and decided to go home. I headed back to Gravesend and let myself into my flat I had there. Trouble is I had actually moved out of the place about 3 months earlier and was trying to rent it out. I actually should have gone back to Sidcup where I was living with my wife of the time. Took some explaining that one.
One last point.....A guy on the train back to East Croydon much earlier in the day could see I was pretty cut up about the relegation and put his arm around me and said something along the lines of "Don't worry mate. It happens. If you want to support a team like Arsenal or Man U who win every week then you can, but when you support Palace there are ups and downs, but it makes those days when we do do something special.........."Really Special". Think it was only a passing comment, but it stuck with me.
__________________
"I’ve always said about the Palace fans that the away support is as good as any I’ve ever experienced. "
Matt Lawrence .....May 2010!
|