This article has been triggered due to the end of season home game versus Liverpool.
This amazing and historic season as a whole, recent articles, posts seen on twitter and increased media coverage about the atmosphere created at Selhurst Park on television and in the papers.
It started in the Premier League with coverage of the game back in August against Tottenham with the excellent support and display in the Holmesdale. It built and swelled even more as the season progressed culminating with the game against Liverpool with another excellent Holmesdale Fanatics display and the loudest, most vocal support I have heard anywhere in years including Wembley in my opinion.
I may well be biased (obviously!) but what the fans have created this season is something not seen on these shores before, certainly not on such a consistent basis (home and away) and has been admired by many across the land.
What we have bought as fans is something very different to what the media, other clubs, authorities and fans across the nation have witnessed previously. Support that has been looked on with envy and been admired by so many and ultimately something that has raised the bar and set the standards for football support in the Premier League and other divisions.
Palace fans have bought the new face of support to England in recent years, set a new standard and have nonchalantly thrown away the shroud of previous support ‘expectations’ and all that went with it such as hooliganism. We have managed to be noisy and raucous without causing trouble and this is something the authorities will have to slowly get their heads around.
As fans, we haven’t sat there silently, watched on in our seats or shown our dis-approval if the team have not played well. We have not sat at home with our remote controls, sat clapping approvingly from the executive boxes or left early at games. We have turned up in our masses home and away to get behind the team from the first minute to the last with passion, noise, belief and love of our team.
Our fans have built up a reputation for giving their full and unconditional vocal backing whether we are winning or losing as witnessed against Liverpool. You can’t tell me that the noise and support generated that night did not play a very big part in that amazing comeback. The crowd was loud, we were supportive throughout and baying for blood once the first goal went in. The optimism lifted on and off the pitch and we could smell the Liverpool panic in the air and put them to the sword.
Much has been said all season about the excellent support that has been apparent home and away with Crystal Palace. A great deal of the noise has been generated from the Holmesdale Fanatics who have been the catalyst that has got the stadium rocking at Selhurst for every home game and also away at so many grounds around the country.
This catalyst has been very contagious amongst the other fans and has turned Selhurst Park into a boiling cauldron, an amphitheatre, a coliseum. This atmosphere generated by the volume of the noise, its relentlessness and the close proximity to the pitch has made it colourful, vibrant and thrilling and also importantly, intimidating for opposing teams to play amongst. I am sure that Terry, Rooney and Suarez will not be looking forward to returning next season now that they know what is in store for them.
This enthusiasm and support has been apparent all season but hit a crescendo at the Liverpool game when all four stands were on their feet chanting which made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and bought a little tear of pride to the eye (well it did for me!).
Normally, any Ultra group can be seen in a key area of a stadium (normally behind the goal or one of the curves) but this felt different as the whole stadium sprung into life, were pulled along and sucked in by the atmosphere, the performance and the sheer thrill, pride and excitement of supporting our beloved team which was just breath-taking.
This support has certainly not gone unnoticed by our players who appear to have thrived and performed so well knowing that thousands of fans are gunning for them to do well no matter what happens which has been reflected in our results home and away.
I am personally certain that our fans can take the credit for a good handful of points this season with our ongoing passion which has in turn rubbed off on the team in a ‘never say die’ kind of manner and with the players giving it their all with blood, sweat and tears until the final whistle.
Going back to the Holmesdale Fanatics, the term ‘Ultras‘ is normally associated with football fans in Europe and is not seen in other parts of the world. The word is actually derived from the Latin ‘ultrā’ and is based around enthusiasm ‘beyond the normal.’ The description and features that go with it fit very well with what we have seen at Selhurst even though the word ‘normal’ appears a little misplaced as to our fans, support is normal now and it is what we expect every game.
In the majority of cases, opposition fans have really liked what they have seen from our fans but there is always a small amount of people that like to mock and cast their opinion (which they are entitled to). But that is because their clubs have poor support, are jealous or because they just don’t get it. Getting it is what it’s all about and if this means that I am a ‘Stripey Nigel’ then long may it continue as it is our gain and their loss.
Ultras are predominantly known for elaborate displays, banners and relentless vocal support and the Palace fans have embraced this in a way that has not been seen before in England. Many of the characteristics associated with this type of support at Palace have been there for the world to see.
The main attributes associated with any Ultras group along with those described above are around enhancing the atmosphere by remaining standing for the entire game, attending as many games as possible and outstanding loyalty and passion for their team and even the stand in which they are located (we’re the Holmesdale over here!)
As well as unconditional support, the Ultra groups regularly demonstrate ‘Against Modern Football’ as it goes against the way in which they support their team and goes against their personal and group principles. This is actually a really good thing in the current climate and at least offers another voice against the authorities that run and are in turn spoiling the game we all love.
This article is not about being an Ultra but more about being a fan of your club. It is about getting behind the team and club no matter what and it is about igniting that love that resides in us all. It is about that very spark that was set on fire when we first went to our first game and chose our club for the rest of our lives.
This feeling is beautifully summed up in the quote below from the late great Bobby Robson, forever may he rest in peace. It encapsulates what many of us feel.
What is a club in any place?
Not the buildings or the directors or the people that are paid to represent it.
It’s not the television contracts or the get out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes.
It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city.
It’s a small boy clambering up the stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.
This has been an incredible season and one that I am very proud of at a club, team and player level. It is also one that I am very proud of because of our fans and the way that we have behaved, represented our club in towns and cities across the nation as ambassadors and especially for the way we have gone about supporting our club at games.
As mentioned, we have now raised the bar and set the standard for support very visibly and in clear daylight for all to see at games and on television screens across the world. The key now is to keep pushing upwards, evolving and to continue to set the pace as pioneers for support in our leagues.
I hope that we can capitalise on that amazing atmosphere next season and beyond.
Not sure if I have mentioned it before but ‘we are staying up’ and long may everything continue both on and off the field.
