August 1 2007

Selhurst Park

Crystal Palace met their first serious opposition in the pre-season run-up, Anderlecht from Brussels, at Selhurst on a balmy July night. Jamesey was there.

It was marvellous to be at Selhurst Park for our penultimate friendly before the real business kicks off on Aug 11.

As seems to be the custom now, Palace had lined up two class teams for our last two home friendlies, Anderlecht and Everton.

Anderlecht are a top-notch Belgian side who regularly win their own league championship and play in the big European theatres. Their playing squad reflects our own Premiership in the sense that native Belgians are thin on the ground amongst a plethora of foreign names.

Anyhow it would be a good test for Palace whether they fielded their strongest team or not. Even if we were playing the Rose and Crown Third Eleven, it was my first live game for a few months and I was determined to enjoy it.

I thought a crowd of 5000-plus wasn't at all bad for a midweek and, ultimately, meaningless game and a band of noisy away fans brightened up the occasion.

That's a long way to come for a friendly, I thought at first. But on reflection, with the help of Eurostar, you could do Brussels to Selhurst in four hours or so.It took me nearly as long as that to get to Coventry earlier this year, thanks to rail replacement bus chaos at Rugby.

The game itself was entertaining enough given the nature of the beast - substitutions and tactical switches, etc - and the 1-1 conclusion was a fair result.

Our new strip disappointed me somewhat. The red shorts and predominantly red shirts overpower the blue and, under the floodlights, we looked as though we were playing in a boring red strip, just like so many other clubs. Maybe in daylight, the blue element will hold its own a little more.

A final thought on life's little ironies.

I am not a militant anti-smoker and, in fact, smoked like a chimney for 20 years until I packed it in at the age of 38.

But I have to say I have been enjoying the unsullied air in pubs since July 1.

As is my custom, I took myself to the Selhurst Arms to enjoy a couple of pre-match pints. It was warm night and the pub's small back yard beckoned.

But, of course, for "beer garden" now read "ciggy area". The smokers multiplied and soon the air was billowing with tobacco smoke so I felt compelled to go back inside where the atmosphere was clean and lung-friendly.

Talk about a turn-round...

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