June 4 2005

Selhurst Park

Most of the time, the bookmakers get it right. Let's hope they have done so for Palace next season, says Jamesey

Now we've all had time to recover from he relegation trauma, it is encouraging to see that William Hill have made CPFC 6-1 favourites to win the Championship and, with a certain bouncebackability, re-enter the Premiership again.

The bookies didn't get it exactly right last year as they made us 2-5 pre-season favourites to go down, accompanied by Norwich and West Brom.

As it transpired, Southampton and not the Baggies took the drop but Mr Hill and his fellow turf accountants were pretty well spot-on.

As a lifetime supporter of the Palace, I am well versed in the elation and depression of promotion and relegation.

Although I have been a fan since the mid-50s, it wasn't until I moved back to south-east London in the early 70s that I really kicked in to being a dedicated Glazier (ancient term, pre Eagle era) again.

At the time, we were being relegated from the old First Division to the Second (72-73), followed immediately by a nosedive into the old Third (73-74).

We got back into the Second, under Mr Venables, in 76-77 and, in 79, the 'Team of the 80s got us back into the top level.

A reasonable season with the elite saw us descend once more in 80-81.

Some real dog years ensued in the early 80s until the then-new chairman Ron Noades took on a rookie manager by the name of Coppell in 84.

By the late mid-80s were beginning to look like a force again and gradually built up a strong bunch of players of the calibre of Ian Wright, Geoff Thomas, Andy Gray, etc, to be rewarded by promotion in 1989.

We lasted for four seasons at the top platform and, although it wasn't always pretty, they were the best years in my recollections as a Palace aficionado.

When we were sent down by Arsenal in 1993, I was there at Highbury and my eyes were moist, I must admit...that relegation was the hardest of all, for me. We had become accustomed to being a top league club.

But we totally conquered what had become the First Division in 93-94 and ascended once more into what had become the Premiership.

Down we came the following season and the process was repeated in 96-98.

More recently. as we well know, the whole shebang went on again, up and down, in 03-05.

So in my estimation, after 33 years serious support of CPFC, I have personally witnessed 6 promotions and 7 relegations.

If William Hill and Co are right I'll be hoping that the promotion figure will be 7 in spring of 2006.

We shall see.

Email Jamesey with any of your comments to Jevans3704@aol.com

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