One More Point - The Book (Covering fanzines, Palace and football in the 80s/90s)

[stumpy feelers]

How about" win or lose we'll have a booze "

[Grim Reaper]

Originally Posted by voyeur

Happy Birthday OMP "still only £1"

Had good, if occasional, times drinking with your gang in the Cherries back in the day. Even wrote an article under name Emerald Eagle. Had to be done really.

I remember that era and your article.

(Only taken me three months to respond!)

After 15000 words written in two months, everything was put on hold (darn life always getting in the way!) but the book starts again today.

The good news is at the point I'm at Palace are about to go top of the league.

[Grim Reaper]

Originally Posted by stumpy feelers

How about" win or lose we'll have a booze "

Not bad. The more I think about it, that'd make a great T-shirt!!

[Grim Reaper]

Just as an update, I passed the 20000 word mark last night (and still only covered the first 3 issues out of 60!!) That said, this book is not solely about One More Point but fanzines and football throughout the 90s. The impact of the daddy of all Palace fanzines, Eagle Eye, is covered a fair chunk early on. Here's an excerpt which will hopefully spark off some nostalgia. Please do contribute any memories you have of the 1989-2003 era - its amazing how many recollections have appeared from my Facebook postings lately, so I'll be delighted if you have anything else that can be included



"As I went to more and more home games, part of the day out became about looking for Eagle Eye. There was no internet to advertise when they’d be on sale. It was just pot luck but then on those days when there’d be a salesman on the grassy knoll opposite the chippy on Whitehorse Lane, you knew it’d be a good day, win, lose or draw. Frustrating draw versus Sheffield Wednesday? Not to worry, EE will entertain me on the two hour journey home. And it really did – you’d have the gallows humour surrounding the recent defeats coupled with the glory of re-reading about the wins and some well-meaning wag would write in the Letters page that ‘Palace just need a creative midfielder and we’ll be Top 6’ and the world would be a great place once again.

It didn’t matter that Palace were flirting with relegation during that 1990 season because the humour in Eagle Eye made the defeats fun. The timing couldn’t have been better to counteract the infamous 9-0 loss to Liverpool on 12th September 1989. The ninth issue of EE hit the streets soon afterwards with the cover proudly stating ‘Issue 9 Palace 0.’ Genius! The previous year Gillingham had sacked their manager after a 6-0 defeat (OK, losing to Aldershot is different to Liverpool) – whereas at Palace a defeat 50% bigger than that had the resilient red and blue army supporting the players and manager more than ever!

And just as a footnote to that was the follow-up in the next three matches. As a kid I bought a book from a jumble sale that was packed with ancient football trivia. My favourite snippet was the one from decades previously about Middlesbrough once losing 9-0 and fielding the same eleven players the following week. Who in their right mind would ever do that? No club would surely ever do such a strange thing ever again. Palace bettered it by fielding the exact same eleven four days later.

But, such was the spirit in SE25, that team, who’d been ridiculed nationally since Tuesday night, ground out a 1-1 draw at Southampton and backed it up with consecutive wins against Forest and Everton to let the First Division know that we weren’t just around to make up the numbers."

[Grim Reaper]

25000 word mark now been passed. Looking to get this finished by the end of February. 1000 words a day should do the trick.

Two subjects I want to cover in the next couple of chapters are:-

1. How did the loss of Holmesdale Terrace and subsequently heft price rise affect you? Could you even afford to go (from £9 in 1994 to £18+ in 1995 - it was a fat rise)

2. The biggest news story was the whole Cantona debacle. What are your recollections of this? Do you remember the fanzines' coverage (Echo/OMP/Eastern Eagles) ? My own recollection is that Eastern Eagles actually stepped up and did the best article on this. Wouldn't mind reading that again - probably the best single article Eastern Eagles ever did. It was impressve.

[stumpy feelers]

Looking forward to it mate, available on kindle?

[Penge Eagle]

Juts out of interest, what years did each of the fanzines run?

From Suffer Little Children onwards...

[Pistol Knight]

Eagle Eye was just THE BEST

[jaspercpfc]

Originally Posted by Pistol Knight

Eagle Eye was just THE BEST

we were blessed with some fine fanzines at that time.

Originally Posted by Grim Reaper

25000 word mark now been passed. Looking to get this finished by the end of February. 1000 words a day should do the trick.

Two subjects I want to cover in the next couple of chapters are:-

1. How did the loss of Holmesdale Terrace and subsequently heft price rise affect you? Could you even afford to go (from £9 in 1994 to £18+ in 1995 - it was a fat rise)

2. The biggest news story was the whole Cantona debacle. What are your recollections of this? Do you remember the fanzines' coverage (Echo/OMP/Eastern Eagles) ? My own recollection is that Eastern Eagles actually stepped up and did the best article on this. Wouldn't mind reading that again - probably the best single article Eastern Eagles ever did. It was impressve.

1 - I was 14, and Noades didn't offer kids/subsidised tickets in 94/95, so I was left to pay £18 a game (this was 20 years ago!) Where in 93/94 I could pay £5 and jump on the terrace with my mates, that immediately went out the window. Gone were the days where we all went to a game together. Most of my school mates who weren't necessarily Palace fans opted to watch Wimbledon for a 1/3 of the price.
I only managed to do 7-8 home games as a result, but then for the 95/96 campaign I purchased a junior season ticket for £60 in the LH. The younger fans really lost out during the 94/95 campaign.

2 - I'll expand on my brief reply in the coming days. For me, he should never have been aloud to play football again. 94/95 was ridiculed with controversy, Merson/Armstrong drug scandals, George Graham and the bungs, and then this. For me, Paddy Crerand emerged as the real tosser from the fall out
The likes of fantasy football (which was massive at the time) did exactly what we expected from the incident, and made a mockery of it, with Statto replicating the incident in the opening credits. I remember the guests they had on that week included a certain Nick Hancock, and he was so patronising and smug.

[Dorking .Eagle]

Originally Posted by Grim Reaper

1. How did the loss of Holmesdale Terrace and subsequently heft price rise affect you? Could you even afford to go (from £9 in 1994 to £18+ in 1995 - it was a fat rise)

.

By sheer luck I got a season ticket in the Whitehorse, was only £100 for the 94/95 season. A lot of Holmesdale regulars were excluded simply because of the limited capacity (3 sided ground) rather than the price hike. A season ticket was essential

[Grim Reaper]

Originally Posted by Pistol Knight

Eagle Eye was just THE BEST

It was. Simple as that and while this book has been semi-labelled the OMP book, I spent quite a bit at the start writing about Eagle Eye as well as the whole fanzine scene in 1989-1993. Simply brilliant.

In fact, I'm still trying to think of a title that reflects this.

[Grim Reaper]

Originally Posted by stumpy feelers

Looking forward to it mate, available on kindle?

I've looked into all this malarkey. Not something I'd thought of back in July when this started but I will certainly be going down that route thanks to advice from James who authored The Palace Addiction.

[Grim Reaper]

Originally Posted by jaspercpfc

2 - I'll expand on my brief reply in the coming days. For me, he should never have been aloud to play football again. 94/95 was ridiculed with controversy, Merson/Armstrong drug scandals, George Graham and the bungs, and then this. For me, Paddy Crerand emerged as the real tosser from the fall out
The likes of fantasy football (which was massive at the time) did exactly what we expected from the incident, and made a mockery of it, with Statto replicating the incident in the opening credits. I remember the guests they had on that week included a certain Nick Hancock, and he was so patronising and smug.

Thanks - didn't know about the Nick Hancock part. I'll try and find that.

I've still got several newspapers from that week. What was fascinating is that after The Sun won the bidding to get the interview from Matt Simmonds, every other paper then changed its angle to 'Cantona's a martyr' 'Simmonds is racist.'

I ended up doing a Radio 1 Newsbeat interview and boy did I get stitched up on there. That'll be going in the book.

[Grim Reaper]

Originally Posted by Dorking .Eagle

By sheer luck I got a season ticket in the Whitehorse, was only £100 for the 94/95 season.

Similar story - I got lucky and ended up in the Whitehorse. Didn't feel very lucky after the 1-6 v Liverpool though!

[Grim Reaper]

Originally Posted by jaspercpfc

For me, Paddy Crerand emerged as the real tosser from the fall out

I always felt Ferguson was the real tosser (gagging Richard Shaw FFS!!) but I'm always happy to hear alternative views. What did Paddy Crerand do?

[eagle mart]

Originally Posted by Grim Reaper

What did Paddy Crerand do?

Stoked up the flames before the FA Cup Semi final, whipping their fans up into a froth. And out for revenge.

[Big Fella]

Originally Posted by eagle mart

Stoked up the flames before the FA Cup Semi final, whipping their fans up into a froth. And out for revenge.

Think he was on every media outlet for the week before. TV, radio, there he was stoking the fire. It lead to THE most unpleasant match I have been to.

[Maidstoned Eagle]

It wasnt just Crerand, that twit who "discovered" Joy Division and all that Manchester stuff, Tony Wilson, made some ridiculous comments re Croydon and it's residents.

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[Grim Reaper]

Cheers Maidstoned - just had a trip down Memory Lane reading that thread. Had no knowledge of that programme being broadcast in 2001 - that said, it came at a time when my own life was in something of a controlled turmoil, so at lot that summer in 2001 passed me by as far as TV was concerned.

[Tom's Old Man]

Originally Posted by Big Fella

Think he was on every media outlet for the week before. TV, radio, there he was stoking the fire. It lead to THE most unpleasant match I have been to.

Weeks before. I remember travelling up to Forest for our FA Cup tie, 4th round I think, he was tearing into Palace on the radio big time. Out and out wanker. My despise for that club soared in 1995.