Palace In Pictures! Behind The Scenes....

So then, it is nearly upon us. What the hell is going to happen this season? who knows.
I'm trying to remember how I felt this time last season. I had no idea what was ahead of me personally as a Palace fan.

So its time to skip up this road, well normally i'm running to get to the Clifton toilets for a wee as I tend to have 3 or 4 cans on the train on the way up!
There is a certain buzz about approaching Selhurst on match day.
I can remember feeling it when i was a kid coming to games with my family, that feeling remains today as I come to games as a fully grown man with mates and twitter friends.







There is certainly going to be a slightly new feel to the squad with some decent names no longer in our changing room.

We have signed 3 quality players and if we can get 2 or 3 more in before the window closes, I think the vacant shirts can be filled well.







However, I think as fans we need to be more realistic about who we can bring in.
Days of signing international superstars from Europe are long gone, as the finances in football are ran better.
We only have to look at Portsmouth and previously Leeds, to see what damage can be done when you go signing players out of your realistic budget.

I am a dreamer, and last season gave us dream moments. 
Beating Man United at Old Trafford to progress to the Semi Final of the Carling Cup led me to feel that despite a fairly average league campaign, we were only 2 wins away from adding to this trophy cabinet.
I think Birmingham have proved recently that if you have a good run and go into cup competitions with confidence, you never know what could happen.





Last season was a strange one for me. Now we all know that we have the most famous set of cheerleaders in the country with The Crystals. 

Last season was a massive one for them as new faces came, they appeared on Soccer AM, and a genius idea came about to grab 8 fans from the stands, train them up on a routine, and get them on the pitch to perform with the girls in aid of Sports Relief.
Now purely because I have always been a fan of dance, I put myself forward and got picked!

This opened some incredible doors for me to get deeper inside and behind the scenes of the club I loved.

Never would I have dreamt of strolling on the pitch before a game, just casually strolling about the pitch, thinking of all that had happened on there over the years.
When I was younger I only thought this would happen if I got the chance to do that crossbar challenge we used to do at half time to win a car.






I even managed to get into the changing room as well, watching players like Julian Speroni prepare for the match.
Again at that point, I pictured the players who had sat in this room over the years, Ian Wright, Mark Bright, Lombardo, Thomas Brolin, Edgar Davids, the great managers like Steve Coppell.....
I couldn't believe my luck, as how many fans get to go this close into their club? How many fans have been in the changing room with the players?

How many fans get to touch the shirts that are about to be worn by their heroes?
How many fans get to sit in the managers dug out?
This was like a dream.





Now all these dream moments were not given to me for nothing, I had the small matter of having to pop a skirt on and dance in front of thousands of fans as well as the BBC Sports Relief camera man .

This was like a dream too in a way, as walking onto the pitch to the roar of the crowd gave me goosebumps, and you can only imagine ever experiencing it at your club if you were to actually become a player!
Walking in front of the packed Holmesdale Road end, the focus of attention, was a dream. Imagine walking in front of your fellow fans and being applauded. How would that ever happen apart from when you dream of playing for your team?

Well it all happened for me, but as you can see, this wasn't happening because i'd realised my dream of being a star striker for Crystal Palace, i had to infact make a bit of a tit of myself.

But when I reflect on all I experienced last season, one thing becomes crystal clear to me.
I don't really think things like this happen at other clubs. Only Crystal Palace.
We are a special club with special people from the stands to the pitch.

So now, as I prepare to witness another season as a Crystal Palace fan, i wonder.........what the bloody hell is going to happen on and off the pitch this season??!!