I remember standing in my Nana’s kitchen. Dad was wearing an official Cup Final t-shirt and Mum was fashioning one red earring and one blue.
They were setting off for the final at Wembley. I was five years old twenty-six years ago, and at the time did not really understand the enormity of what they were doing or where they were going.
I have supported Palace pretty much the whole of my thirty-one years on planet Earth. I could not tell you my first game as I was around two years old but I know that I have always loved it and still get the same buzz every game.
That excitement that builds when walking up the steps to your seat. The smell of the pies, the sea of red and blue that you are surrounded by and of course the cheering and songs that blare around the ground. Nothing ever beats that feeling.
It is fair to say that this season has not been our best in the Premier League. The second half has been abysmal and really for a team about to enter their fourth season in the top flight we really should have done better.
We (eventually) secured safety and shall look forward to another ten months in greatest league in the world. However, amidst the greyness of our league form has appeared a glittering performance which sees our beloved club for the first time in twenty-six years reach the FA Cup final.
Opportunities like this really do not happen very often to clubs like Palace and the excitement that everyone is feeling is completely real.
There are the people that were there back in 1990 and there are those that were unable to go, too young to understand or not even born, but every single one of us is feeling the same.
That elation that sweeps over you, the knot in your stomach that gives you that ‘we could actually do this’ feeling, the emotion that makes you dream every single night of Wilf burying the winning ball in the back of the net and fans screaming ‘ZAHAAAAAA, OH YES!’ and the simple fact that this is our chance for revenge. Plus, we really are due something against ‘them’.
Whether on Saturday you will be at Wembley, or watching wherever you can, one thing is guaranteed, those ‘two colours unite us all’. We will sing our hearts out, cheer every single one of the team and no matter what happens we should be proud of the fact that we have come this far.
We have one hand on the cup. The whole country will be watching us. So let’s watch our boys and go ballistic, as we pray that Jedi steps up and lifts it high above his head, Glad All Over ringing out throughout the stadium….
Be loud. Be proud. Be winners.
