As Crystal Palace look set to spend another year in the top flight, attentions turn to ways in which the cub can thrive and become competitive both on and off the field.
There is another attribute that will be crucial in helping us become a liked and well known club and that is reputation.
If you are wondering where I am going with this, check out my previous TEB article ‘Building A Reputation’ and hopefully the following will all become clear.
How do we go about harvesting a reputation on the pitch?
I believe our reputation can grow in the way the players and management conduct themselves on the pitch.
Over the last couple of months we have seen things on a football field that should not really happen. Take the Champions League tie between Chelsea and Paris Saint Germain for example. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off but the actions of the Chelsea players was poor. I saw a picture which showed at least nine players crowding the referee and hounding him to make sure the enigmatic Swede received his marching orders.
The way Palace behave on match day can go a long way in conveying what type of club we are to the surrounding public and most importantly, to opposition fans.
Opposition fans tend to have pre-conceived ideas of every club they travel to and if travelling fans come to Selhurst Park knowing that they are going to watch a fair and hard fought contest I think that is something us fans can be mightily proud of.
How can the fans influence a good reputation?
The fans are an integral part of any football club, but at Palace the fans have a special affinity. After all, it was a bunch of fans that saved the club from going bust in 2010. That alone proves why we have seen the emergence of the Holmesdale Fanatics.
People have their views on the Fanatics group but whatever you say about them they create an atmosphere that is unique in the Premier League. Love them or loathe them, they will have a big say in the future of our club.
What they represent is good for football. They don not like the way the Premier League is turning into a multi billion pound industry while ticket prices and television subscriptions increase. They have a voice. They are in a unique position which they can reach out to try and influence the game in a small way. However, they cannot abuse the privilege and voice that they have garnered over the years.
They will only have a big say on the future if they keep a lid on it. It is great they are in the Holmesdale end, creating an intimidating atmosphere but they do have to be careful not to cross the line in terms of behaviour.
We have seen some unsavoury incidents involving football fans over the last couple of months. We had a few Chelsea fans in Paris shouting racist chants from a train and we cannot forget that some of our fans have thrown coins, the high profile one during the Newcastle game at Selhurst.
Other than the coin throwing incident Palace fans generally steer clear of trouble and we have to keep that way. To grow a positive image for our club the fans have to have some responsibility in maintaining the image of Crystal Palace.
If we can all do our bit from the stands and we leave Steve Parish and company to do their thing, it is up to the the players to strut their stuff out on the pitch.
Then we can watch Palace with the knowledge that our club is reputable both on and off the pitch.
