![]() |
Quote:
I don't remember much from the game either. Even watching the goal back on YouTube right now doesn't jog my memory. I would have said that we scored in about the 65th/70th minute in the goal that we were behind. I got the timing right (Brighty scored after 75 mins) but it was at the other end. The only thing I do remember is leaving the ground & having to cross a load of unhappy Sheff Utd fans looking for any easy Southern targets. I told the two ladies to hide the scarves I'd lent them, say nothing & look as disappointed & as Northern as they could. :p |
strange little fact
The club's highest ever league finish to date is third place in the old First Division, now known as the Premier League, achieved in the 1990–91 season
|
Quote:
Was all loved up this weekend. Thought Debbie Spencer was the one. It didn't last long though - my obsession with Palace and nothing else drove her insane. Looking back now she did have a point! :D |
Quote:
Funnily enough, my first one was also Sheff Utd and a 1-0 win....all be it the Coleman 1993 one. |
Quote:
|
SHEFF UTD 0
PALACE 1. Bright Att: 17,139 Palace: Martyn. Humphrey. Shaw. Gray. Young. Thorn. Salako. Thomas. Bright. Wright. McGoldrick. Subs: Pardew. Barber. (Unused) https://s2.gifyu.com/images/FB8A2F14...42AFC6B.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/420DDE13...5E610F8.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/918D9130...833F492.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/5A6C5D54...326D928.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/9975C1B8...2A4100B.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/D7D6E9BA...2E9F3CB.md.jpg |
That’s what I find amazing with this season; where else in our history would you see headlines like the above, playing up our realistic title hopes. It will probably never happen again.
This was our ninth game unchanged. Another thing you may never see again! Some classic Coppell comments post match too; he had such a way with words - there have been some great ones over the years. ‘When you’re facing a team at the bottom it’s like approaching a cornered cat. You never know what’s going to happen next.’ Also interesting to read Geoff trying to install belief into us supporters. Things just don’t change on that score; sure I’m not the only one that’s just always expecting the next pitfall to happen. |
Another one who's recollection of that game is non existent!
Palace always seem to mirror my life in that things are going well, there's always something coming round the corner to kick you in the bollocks! |
Didn’t go, as I went out on the Friday and got so plastered that I literally couldn’t get out of bed the next morning. Then went out and did the same again at a work colleague’s 21st on the Saturday. My only recollection of the game is seeing the goal on tv, with both Wright and Bright seemingly giving it to the United fans behind the goal; so presumably they had received some stick during the match.
|
I went to that game. Remember it mainly for getting my programme signed by Dickie Bird, the cricket umpire, but, other than that, just the professionalism of that side. We were so physically strong and could match Sheff U and then the goal - when you watch it back - was real quality. I just remember thinking that everyone knew their roles and we had magic up top. Feel that side is so unappreciated by a lot of Palace fans.
|
Wednesday 16th January.
Yet another abortive trip to Forest for the FA Cup Third Round Replay. This time called off for a frozen pitch. |
Quote:
|
Following the FA Cup postponements we returned to league action on 19 January with a home game against Norwich, which ended in a massively disappointing 3-1 defeat. Our first home defeat of the season.
It should be said that at the time, Norwich were enjoying an unusually long run in the top flight and were sitting comfortably in mid-table. In fact the team was building towards their own best ever league campaign in similar fashion to ours, when they pushed the Wankers hard for the title in 1992/93. Unlike us they also had the benefit of a UEFA Cup campaign to show for their efforts, which featured famous wins against Inter Milan and Bayern Munich. However back to this game and it felt like a massive damp squib after working so hard to get ourselves close to the top of the table. My recollection is that Norwich were a well organised side who picked us off clinically on the break, in many ways a mirror image of the early season game at Carrow Road which we had won easily. Mark Bright scored our goal and it should be noted that this signalled the end of a real purple patch in the league for Bright, the seventh game out of the last ten which he had scored in. His league form fell off a cliff thereafter and he failed to score in any of our remaining 15 fixtures. He tended to be that sort of player and I remember in the following 91/92 season when he had to carry the attack following the departure of Ian Wright that he had both a record breaking scoring run in consecutive games and a massive barren patch. It never really seemed to bother him that much though, he didn't come across as a 'confidence player' and of course his all round game meant that he was usually contributing plenty even when not scoring. Our next scheduled league game after this was away to Forest, but of course we had the FA Cup tie to settle before then and the last attempt to hold the replay at the City Ground had been set for Monday 21 January, just two days after the defeat to Norwich. |
Think Norwich beat us 5 times in a row at Selhurst starting with that game..
|
I went to this Norwich game, I just remember it being quite a tight game but then once they took the lead we fell apart. Jeremy Goss scored a very good goal at the Holmesdale end.
|
Goss was a good player in that era, went under the radar a bit as he played for an unfashionable club but very consistent in the midfield. He had a habit of scoring special goals, the famous one away to Bayern in the UEFA Cup of course sticks in the mind but I also remember that he scored a cracker on the opening day of the season one year (might have been 92/93).
Just looking through the Norwich squad for that season and they had a number of solid top flight campaigners with a sprinkling of good attacking talent thrown in - Gunn, Bowen, Butterworth, Culverhouse, Crook, Fox, Gordon, Goss, Fleck, Phillips. And a very young Chris Sutton finding his way in the first team squad. Edit: opening day of the 93/94 season, Leeds 0 Norwich 4. Cracking volley from a Ruel Fix cross. |
Quote:
The Norwich game was the first time that it looked like falling apart. With expectation high the defeat was bitter. Yet i am not sure we played that badly think we had played worse and won in the season. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
91/92 3-4 92/93 1-2 94/95 0-1 (But both teams relegated) 95/96 0-1 (C'Ship) But, as already mentioned, we beat them in the ZDS semi, later in 90/91, 2-0 at Selhurst (apart from the FA Semi, Pardew's finest hour, in a Palace shirt) |
Quote:
Was on my own for the next game - no one else could face it. Drove straight from work. Made the rookie mistake of putting a tape in the player and didn't listen to any news. Traffic in Nottingham was great and parked up really close to the ground. Only then did I question why was there no one around. F3ck. Bought chips and drove back. One of the girls at work wrote to the club with the story. Got a letter and signed programme from SC. Still have it somewhere. |
PALACE 1. Bright
NORWICH 3. Goss. Fleck 2 Att: 16,700 Palace: Martyn. Humphrey. Shaw. Gray. Young. Thorn. Salako. Thomas. Bright. Wright. McGoldrick. Subs: Barber (for McGoldrick). Pardew (unused) https://s2.gifyu.com/images/13B61B44...E8ADD1C.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/03BCFD0D...A192491.md.jpg https://i.ibb.co/N93nXqG/E1420079-AF...-A4-AA86-E.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/BFF968F3...10A35F9.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/05EA9B38...D3659BC.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/9CDD7CC0...12103F8.md.jpg Bright looks forward to the Forest replay - in hindsight, maybe he was talking about the league game? https://s2.gifyu.com/images/E6511FE2...0B99A83.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/CF6718B9...B768309.md.jpg |
Quite a bit of highlights of the game from Norwich’s season review at 31:53
First home defeat and hurt this one. If ever we went through a sticky patch that season, this was it. After the fantastic home win against Liverpool to end probably the club’s greatest calendar year (1990), January was a relative disaster with one victory from six league and cup matches. Interesting to note that at this stage, Leeds had come within striking distance of us. A win would’ve kept us just 3pts behind the leaders, and the manner of the defeat, the score line and opponents was probably a reality check that the title was in all honesty, beyond this squad. Liverpool and Arsenal especially, were just far too strong that particular season. The following season, both those clubs fell away dramatically, that let Leeds in and makes you realise, that had fate conspired differently and our timing hitting our peak was just slightly later, that could really have been us lifting the title. Leeds in that title winning season funnily enough, mirrored our start to the 90/91 season going the first 10 league games undefeated, then losing no.11. That was against us in a two week period that began our dramatic fall to relegation within 18 months after losing Wright to Arsenal and Salako to a hideous knee injury. While on the subject of fate and regret; Bipe mentions Norwich’s subsequent famous European conquests, and have to say, good luck to them, but still fills me with envy as that could well have been us but two years earlier, but through no fault of our own, we were again in the right place at just the wrong time. |
Agree with all that, bubbs, but what is life as a long-term Palace fan if not one of what-ifs and maybes...
|
Quote:
|
As alluded to in Bubbs' Croydon Advertiser clippings, Ian Wright would have been gearing up for his England debut around now. Must have been a massively proud moment for him, having been stuck in non-league football six years previously and probably thinking that his chances of making it a a professional at any level were ebbing away.
It would have been shortly after this I guess that Wright also debuted as a football 'celebrity' with a somewhat nervous appearance on A Question Of Sport. Back in those days AQOS was still helmed by the authoritative David Coleman and as such it was a popular and credible programme, with the right mix of light hearted fun and serious quizzing. Not the puerile banter-fest the programme descended into under the less than watchful eyes of Sue Barker, Ally McCoist and Matt Dawson. The highlight of Wright's appearance was his giggly description of the 'lickle hill' when discussing a golfing clip in the What Happened Next round. But certainly not the confident, larger than life TV performer which he would later evolve into. On the geopolitical front things were hotting up over in the middle east. After a period of diplomacy and sanctions following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait the previous summer, the realisation was dawning on the west that Saddam Hussein was in no mood for compromise. As such, focus was shifting towards the assembly of military forces in order to kick him where it hurts. |
This Norwich game was painful. Still remember the Goss goal really clearly as I was directly behind the path of his shot. Don't remember the other goals though, not even ours.
The thing that really killed me and my Statto brain was that we were one day short of a full year of being unbeaten at home! 364 days since the 0-2 loss v Liverpool. Pretty sure we haven't managed a full year unbeaten since, not even 93-94. |
Some quite interesting stuff moving into the top ten week ending 19 January 1991:
3am Eternal by The KLF featuring The Children Of The Revolution - Cauty and Drummond hit paydirt with this dance / pop / rock / rap hybrid and rightly so, it stands the test of time effortlessly. As I confirmed over on the music forum the other day to widespread indifference, they have finally started to make some of their songs available on streaming services after having deleted their entire back catalogue over a quarter of a century ago. More power to their elbow. International Bright Young Thing by Jesus Jones - this lot were popular for a couple of years, I remember they were riding high around the time of our 1990 FA Cup final. I had a mate who was big into them but they left me pretty cold. Their vocalist had an annoyingly raspy sound, the Kelly Jones of his day. (I've Had) The Time Of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes - surprised to see this one pop up as I associate it with the film Dirty Dancing (which I've never seen). But I remember the movie as being very much an 80s thing. So either I've got the wrong movie, the wrong time the movie was out, or it was another pointless re-release to cash in on some sort of nostalgia trip (see Grease Megamix from a couple of weeks previously). Which is it? In any event it's a bland and forgettable piece of MOR fluff. |
And so the FA Cup replay with Forest finally took place on 21 January. It ended in a 2-2 draw after extra time, Wright and Salako with our goals. No penalty shootouts in those days of course, you just had to keep on playing each other until there was a winner. So we had to do it all again.
As previously mentioned I didn't go to the game but Salako's famous equaliser in the last knockings of extra time is still firmly etched in my memory, looping the ball in over the goalie's head (presumably Mark Crossley) from near the halfway line. Wright's goal was also good quality, a smartly taken volley at the back post. The floodlights at the City Ground always seemed extra bright to me when watching games there on TV, and they showed off our blue away kit quite nicely as Salako guided the ball home. So our three league and cup games in the season to date against Forest had resulted in three draws, emphasising the fact that these were two well matched teams. |
Quote:
It is also the moment which led to Clough "allegedly", in fact there is no alleged about it, it has been mentioned so many times by various people, but when Clough decked Keane in the changing room afterwards. :moo: In fact it is even mentioned by Keane himself in this... |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
I watched the 2-2 at my brother's flat on Selhurst Road (was it on BSB? - I think he may have been the only person I knew who had it.) Despite being from Croydon, and at that point living virtually next door to Selhurst Park (I used to park at his flat for home games) he's an Arsenal fan. He wasn't very happy with how loud I shouted when Salako scored!
|
FA CUP 3rd rd replay
N FOREST 2. Wilson. Pearce PALACE. 2. Wright. Salako (AET) Att: 23,201 Palace: Martyn. Humphrey. Shaw. Gray. Young. Thorn. Salako. Thomas. Bright. Wright. McGoldrick. Subs: Barber. Pardew. (Unused) https://s2.gifyu.com/images/61D87D72...A693617.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/B9CBDEE9...6CAC4C3.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/D6EAB7BE...825E87F.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/76ACF0E7...E7C89E1.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/1D9F0684...4D7AD5C.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/CA5A1A28...6B8A4B0.md.jpg |
Did it 'win goal of the season hands down?'
Fat fooking chance. |
I was standing right on the edge of our terrace section, right next to the Forest fans. After Salako scored I spent the rest of the match (which apparently was only 20 seconds, but it seemed longer at the time) screaming "HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT DUCK?", or "dook" as I think they pronounce it, at the locals. It was a great moment, one of my favourites followoing Palace.
|
I remember watching it on sports night and not knowing the score as was usual in those days on a black and tv as my dads main tv was broken
|
Quote:
|
It was on BskyB I think it was at the time. Watched it at home and my mate and his family all came over to watch too. I made a complete tit of myself when Salako scored and was so overcome by the nature of the goal, proceeded to run all over the house - including upstairs shouting and screaming. Came back into the room to lots of laughter.
This was our 11th successive match with the same starting 11. One thing that I really recall was Clough’s post match interview when he said, ‘Palace are a formidable side.’ To hear someone of his stature say that really made me feel so proud. Reading the report again above, it made me laugh to read Cloughie also say, ‘Young Keane is devastated. He’ll recover, he’s a talented young man’, knowing now that just minutes before he punched Keane square in the face. |
Quote:
|
"Salaakoooooooooo What a Goal!"
Martin Tyler's most known for 'Aguerroooooooo' but we all know what the original was! Much like Bubbs, it was a run all round the house job. First one of them I'd done since Platt v Belgium the previous summer! Loved that era of BSkyB, with Keys, Gray, Tyler and then John Inverdale with the Football Italia stuff, which is where I fell in love with that epic Sampdoria team. |
Quote:
As for the Pele waffle that used to wind me up. Pele missed. I repeat PELE MISSED when they reference his mega shot in the 1970 World Cup. In fact, as daft as it sounds, Pele's two most famous moments in football were both misses. And in both cases, it took Palace players to replicate them and score (Don Rogers going round the keeper in the Man Utd 5-0 game being the other one) And while I'm on this tangent, the Cruyff turn is something of a joke as well. Can you name what happened 2-3 seconds after the Cruyff turn happened with Holland on the attack? Nope, that's the bit they tend not to show :clown: |
Quote:
Mind you, I'd still rather have had Pele up front! |
Goal of the season musings...I think in 1990/91 ITV had the first division and league cup rights, BBC only had the FA Cup. As such the Gazza goal in th cup semi final at Wembley wouldn't have been in the running except in any second rate BBC competition based on the very limited games they had access to.
As mentioned much earlier in this thread I believe Roy Wegerle won it for his Maradonaesque goal for QPR up at Leeds. Fantastic goal to be fair, better than Salako's. |
Quote:
Cracking thread this Bipe :lux::p |
Quote:
90/91 I fully agree with your comments above. In fact I believe they knew Palace fans were coming along as we all ended up in the same section, which was monitored by the only CCTV camera. They just couldn't be bothered with the hassle of turning us away. |
Thursday 24th January.
Once more the Palace team and fans set off for the City Ground for the Second Replay. There have been postponements so far due to a waterlogged pitch and a frozen pitch, what can happen this time? Ah yes - FOG!! Proximity to the River Trent - remember Derby's old Baseball Ground and the fog rolling in to cause the abandonment of a Palace game there. |
Quote:
|
If I remember correctly the foggy conditions were still causing issues by the time we played our league game up there. There was some speculation that it would also be postponed and although it went ahead as scheduled the match was played with misty atmospherics swirling around.
|
Pretty sure I recall a BskyB reporter at the City ground in the midst of the fog confirming the game was off.
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
He had worse days I guess! :supergrin: |
On 28 January 1991 our epic cup tie with Forest ended in classic Palace damp squib fashion. We crashed out 3-0 in the second replay, a game we were never really in.
The tie had consisted of three matches and three postponements spread across 22 days. As already noted on this thread many Palace fans had suffered aborted or pointless journeys up to Nottingham for the postponed games. The club and fans alike would have been entitled to think 'why did we bother' after the final game saw us crash out in such a straightforward fashion. So in stark contrast to the previous year's journey all the way to the final, this season we exited at the earliest stage. To potentially add salt to the wound, our next league game just a few days later involved yet another trek to the City Ground - although with the wet and foggy wintry weather persisting, there was no guarantee that it would go ahead. Would be great to hear from someone who made it to the 3-0 defeat. |
Songs moving into the top ten week ending 26 January 1991:
Innuendo by Queen - This went straight in at number 1. Certainly a much darker sound than the 1980s Queen incarnation of I Want To Break Free, A Kind Of Magic et al. There had been some speculation about Freddie Mercury's health but it wasn't widely known that he was on his last legs - he would be dead within a year. I never liked Queen so I pretty much ignored this track but there was no doubt that Freddie was a master showman. Wiggle It by 2 In A Room - One of a rash of disposable light dance tracks which were invading the charts around this time (Get Ready For This, No Limits etc). 'Wiggle it, just a little bit, I wanna see you wiggle it, just a little bit'. They don't write 'em like that anymore. I Can't Take The Power by Off-Shore - Another largely instrumental dance track driven on by a pounding house piano groove. Pretty good. Mercy Mercy Me / I Want You by Robert Palmer - The veteran crooner was in chilled out mode on the lead track of this double A side. Inoffensive enough I suppose. As an aside - I dismissed (I've Had) The Time Of My Life as 'bland and forgettable MOR fluff' in the last chart update. Did a bit of research afterwards and found out that it won an Oscar, a Grammy and a Golden Globe, much to my amazement. So what do I know, my opinions are worthless. The song was originally written for Donna Summer to perform but she turned it down because she didn't like the title of the movie. |
Quote:
|
FA Cup 3rd Rd/2nd replay
N FOREST 3. Parker 2 Crosby PALACE 0 Att: 22,164 PALACE: Martyn. Humphrey. Shaw. Gray. Young. Pardew. Salako. Thomas. Bright. Wright. McGoldrick. Subs: Thompson. Barber. (Unused) https://s2.gifyu.com/images/D373DEA7...F491FB8.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/77FED104...19AA0D9.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/311906B2...CA9C3A8.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/FBFBECE9...98637B2.md.jpg |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
29th October: Birmingham City 1-1 Crystal Palace 19th November: Crystal Palace 1-1 Birmingham City (Replay) 3rd December: Crystal Palace 2-1 Birmingham City (2nd Replay) Ironically knocked out by who... Nottingham Forest, a 4-2 defeat at the City Ground in the Fifth Round. |
Quote:
One of my sweetest memories though besides the Bobby Moore meeting of the City Ground was the glorious 1 0 win with Dowie scoring. Before that though I suffered the 5 0 defeat. |
Quote:
|
Salako called the title race correctly then.
I recall the furore at the time about Clough deliberately reducing his side to 10 men. Disrespectful I guess but I can see the sense in it, the game was dead and buried so why not give one of his players a bit of extra rest. Although I'm sure at least one of the subs would have fancied a run out for 10 minutes, if only to collect the appearance bonus! Contrary to some others, as a long term exile in the East Midlands I have something of a soft spot for Forest as it's my local ground - can get there in not much over half an hour from home which is a lovely drive across the Vale of Belvoir. We've had some good games there over the past 20 years although Palace didn't win many of them. A 4-2 defeat under Steve Bruce's brief tenure and a rare defeat during the Dowie season play-off run-in both stick in the memory as open and attacking games which offered great entertainment regardless of the result. |
Quote:
|
I remember watching the 3-0 on TV. We were awful that night, totally outplayed.
|
Quote:
The defeat was 5-1 - now you've robbed Geoff Thomas of a goal :eek: But you are right about the win being glorious! :p:D |
Quote:
Just didn't seem right after being in person at most of the 1990 Cup run |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
I don’t remember being upset about Clough’s ‘substitution’. Maybe if Dalglish had done that it would’ve got my goat up, but Cloughie was Cloughie. I think the overall feeling was one of dejection as Forest did what Forest were capable of, and ripping us to shreds in the second half. And so the cup which brought such amazing lifelong memories just months before, was over at the first hurdle.
I do recall having a strong feeling after that the law of averages would fall our way in the following league game. A rallying cry from Salako in that last newspaper article telling Forest that they won’t destroy our European hopes too. No John, that ended up being our very own FA. :( |
Wasn't this the corresponding weekend 30 years ago, where we got some measure of revenge, on Forest ?
1-0 win at the City Ground, courtesy of a late Eric Young header:) |
Thanks for the prompt Maiden
2 February 1991: Forest 0 Palace 1 (Young) Funny how the mind works. A few of the 1990/91 games have almost completely slipped from my memory. Yet this one, a fairly humdrum and nondescript fixture, still evokes a number of recollections. I can even clearly recall how I was sat on the train up from St Pancras and who was in the vicinity. We had gone up with a Forest supporting mate who tagged along and then buggered off to join the Trent Enders on arrival. Us Palace fans were herded like cattle from train station to the ground, hostile looks from local shoppers as we trudged along. It was a cold and misty sort of day and of course we and Forest were sick of the sight of each other by this time. We started pretty brightly and I remember Ian Wright twisting and turning the Forest defence a couple of times but unable to finish. The goal I think came relatively late on, the floodlights were on and Eric Young popped up with one of his trademark towering headers to seal the points. Wildly celebrated, finally we had beaten these bastards. Then the usual mad scramble up the steps and bank to get over the bridge and across the river to the train station. The other weird recollection from this match is that I'd gone to the kiosk at half time to buy a pasty for sustenance. On biting into it back on the terrace I discovered that it was completely devoid of filling and I don't mean they had been miserly with the contents, it was literally just a pastry shell with zero contents. Massively annoying but no time to queue again and complain so I had to suck it up. Threw the pasty shell down the terrace in delight when we scored, no doubt showering some poor sod with pastry crumbs. All in all a rewarding day out and got back reasonably quickly on the train so plenty of time to celebrate with a few enjoyable pints. In fact I got hammered and spent most of the next day in bed sleeping it off. |
IIRC Coppell played two sweepers that day to neutralise Nigel Clough.
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
90 Minutes for a national football weekly was great and gave Palace more than its fair share of coverage thanks to large % of the staff (inc the editor) being Palace fans :p |
Quote:
|
Quote:
Can laugh about it now but was gutted at the time. A good Millwall mate of mine insisted I join him and a minibus full of his Millwall mates on their trip to Ipswich to cheer myself up. Was a real eye opener. I'd never done a proper away day outside of South London before. Minibus, beers, banter. The fact Palace and Millwall were in different divisions meant the grief I got was minimal and good natured. I made the mistake of mentioning Jim Cannon's handball equaliser from 1988, which I soon learnt not to mention again!! :supergrin: Millwall won 3-0 so they were happy and when I got back to the minibus and heard on Radio 2 that we'd won at Forest, my own celebrations matched theirs. Good end to a very different day and had the desired effect of putting a smile back on my face - thanks Ninja. But fear not, seeing Millwall's decent (and well behaved) support that day didn't tempt me to switch teams! But the thing that did change me that day was I had to start earning the money to start doing away matches - that was a whole new part of fandom and I loved it. |
N FOREST 0
PALACE 1. Young Att: 17,146 Palace: Martyn. Humphrey. Shaw. Gray. Young. Pardew. Salako. Thomas. Bright. Wright. Barber. Subs: McGoldrick. Thompson. (unused) https://s2.gifyu.com/images/2DA4F466...52DEF96.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/7E75A74C...97DAEA0.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/1F645CAB...390781A.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/D5FFFE83...4612EF4.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/6B75FBA2...DFCCE8D.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/252CD282...CABB5E0.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/9ACE8478...FD46F85.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/FA63A06F...428A9AE.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/0188E8DE...C828A69.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/3B68A67C...2185BE0.md.jpg |
Quote:
Typically, I didn't attend this one despite going to all the cup games, incl postponements... |
It just felt it was written that we’d win the league match after struggling through the cup saga. Coppell was certainly a competitive type, and where the previous season he made it a personal challenge to avenge the 9-0 against Liverpool, this season he made sure Forest wouldn’t stop us again.
So into February and Palace are only 3pts off the leaders. Yes, 3pts. Arsenal had lost their first game of the season at Stamford Bridge 2-1, and suddenly we were within striking distance of the leaders. Not sure about you other guys, but even so, I never really seriously felt we we had a real chance of winning the title. Arsenal and Liverpool just seemed too strong. Even Salako thought so, and proof from his comments that third was very much thought to be a European qualification place. |
Quote:
Humphrey Young. Thomas. Salako. (Back four) |
Quote:
|
Quote:
Before all that we had a two week break due to our non-participation in the fourth round of the FA Cup, so an ideal opportunity to nurse any minor injuries, relieve the fatigue and work on how to win those two games. When we did get back in action we also had the diversion of the ZDS Cup to look forward to and a trip down to everyone's favourite branch of Toys R Us to meet up with our old Seaweed friends. |
I didn't do many away games that season, because my then girlfriend was still studying at Leeds University, so I used to visit her every other weekend. But i did do this one. Iirc correctly, you could see me and my mates celebrating the Ninja's late winner on the highlights.
|
Love the fact those betting odds were included in this thread. Ultimately the bookies were right I suppose but 33/1 on a team 3 points behind was insane. Also massive disrepect that we were the same odds as Leeds who were a further 5 points behind, newly promoted and didn't have a recent Cup Final to their name.
As we've seen with Leicester City, when a team is still in the mix 2/3rd into the season you have to treat them as contenders. |
Many thanks for the posts about the Forest Cup replay saga. Some nice stories there.
|
I forgot to do the charts update for week ending 2 February 1991 and I know Grim Reaper has been waiting for news of one particular track, so here goes with the top ten new entries:
Do The Bartman by The Simpsons - the cartoon had taken off in a big way and the inevitable cash in on what might have been a short-lived fad happened. As novelty records went this was a pretty mediocre effort but it sold by the bucketload, spending three weeks at number one. Cry For Help by Rick Astley - a few years after his Stock, Aitken & Waterman generated chart domination, this single was Astley's attempt to break in to the more 'adult' market with an understated ballad. It met with partial success, getting as high as number seven, but let's face it the song sucks and that was pretty much that for his chart career. Hippy Chick by Soho - this is the one Grim has been hanging on for, another one of those tunes which invokes massive memories for those of us enjoying the good life with money in the pocket and no commitments around this time. The song itself is an interesting fusion of Soul II Soul dance loop and Madchester style indie guitar, quite novel. It got to number eight. I Believe by EMF - the follow up to 'Unbelievable' (what would the third single be we wondered - 'Not Sure Whether I believe You Anymore'?), it was less hooky than its predecessor but rode on its coat-tails up to number six. Had a second lease of life in the public consciousness when it was used in an extensively screened Lucozade ad, at the time Lucozade were working hard to reposition themselves as an energy drink for sporty go-getters rather than a medicinal pick-me-up for sickly school children. They originally wanted to use a Carter USM track for the ad but were turned down by the band. |
Which Carter song did they want to use?
|
I think it was one of their more obscure b-sides from memory - R.S.P.C.E. from the Sheriff Fatman single rings a bell. Carter declined because Lucozade was part of the Beechams conglomerate which tested their products on animals.
|
Quote:
As for Do The Bartman, it was the only song that told you to do a dance....but there was no actual dance. Not like Macarena, or The Twist - 'come on everybody do the Bartman' but what was the bleedin Bartman!!!?? Liked it at the time as we all got into Simpsonsmania but my God, it's shocking when you listen now. Terrible song :moo::eek: Actually preferred the follow up 'Deep Deep Trouble' where Homer manages to rhyme 'Doh' with 'boat show'. :supergrin: Rick Astley - I forgot this one. He had what I thought was a belter later in 1991, which I was shocked to find when I looked up years later that it only got to #66 despite a decent amount of air play. 'Move Right Out' was not the 'pop by numbers' of his Stock Aitken & Waterman days and as a bloke you could admit to liking it without getting beaten up. :p |
Due to play Spurs on Feb 9th but the game is called off due to unusually heavy snowfall for London. The 20cm recorded at St James's Park on the 8th was the greatest cover recorded at the site since the severe winter of 1962/63. Snow fell on the following 6 days with no thawing as the temperature remained below zero until the 10th.
However, I presume due to Wembley’s under soil heating, England’s international against Cameroon was played on Feb 6th, and a very proud moment it was for all us Palace fans. Ian Wright took his place in our National side’s first 11 - the first Palace player to get an England cap since Kenny Sansom in 1980. Was amazing to see this kid I’d watched come into Palace as a very rough round the edges, park football playing 22 year old, wearing an England shirt and lining up alongside the likes of Lineker and Gascoigne. He oh so very nearly marked his debut with a goal, but for the sly Walkers crisp thief. See pic at bottom....David Seaman doing some early doors tapping up. https://s2.gifyu.com/images/BEF378DE...0F89658.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/747BDFA1...4516660.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/46D1FF32...EDEC61A.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/A30B1B99...C6B8FB0.md.jpg https://s2.gifyu.com/images/E844B2A6...2741A6C.md.jpg |
As a kid the impact of any International call up for a Palace player was immense. Johnny Bryne followed by Tony Millington for Wales. Then the wait to Paddy for the RoI. The failure of Don and Jackson to get called up. The delight as Peter Taylor was. Then the team of the 80s watching some of them achieve it.
The wait then to Eric Young. The call up then of Ian Wright was so special to actually play more so. After the journeys to Nottingham a trip to Wembley was a relief. However this never happened work took priority and it became clear I was going to have to miss it. One of the guys on the team got the ticket on condition he brought me a programme. I passed it on to my grandson recently when tidying up for house move. Now every other player seems to be called up and as we shall see latter a few of this team achieve it. This though was the call up of this era that made me feel so proud. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
For Lineker to poke home a ball that was already going in from Wright was annoying. Wright himself raised his hand to celebrate but you could see it on his face that he kind of knew it wasn't his goal. Nowadays, he'd be credited with an assist and get a lot more kudos - in 1991, he hadn't scored, didn't have a 'stat' and his overall display was competent without setting the world alight.....unlike his Wembley appearance 9 months beforehand. As we'd soon see across 91 and 92, there were plenty more in the England pipeline coming through at Selhurst |
I mocked this up a while back of all our players that have received England caps while Palace players.
https://s2.gifyu.com/images/323A59AF...D416E4C.md.jpg |
Would have to go 3-4-3 there I think, Gray and Sansom flanking GT in the back three!
The 'great snow' of February 1991 is still a vivid memory. I inadvertently made myself unpopular at work by turning up only to find the building virtually empty. I was told to turn around and go home. However, my entry was recorded via the swipe-in card and as such everyone in my team had to book a day's leave rather than in be treated as a freebie 'snow day' - apparently the convention if the whole team was unable to get in to the office due to the inclement weather. No-one had bothered to tell me but I got some stick about it. Remnants of the snow were still around the side of the pitch when we did eventually play again on 16 February. As for Wright's England debut, as others have said a massive event for Palace fans. We should remember that he was 27 by this time so no spring chicken, and it was hard to see how he would break in to become an England regular, especially with a certain Alan Shearer starting to make headlines at Southampton. He needed to start his England career with a bang, much as Lineker had done on his debut, but it never really happened for him. But what a feeling for Wright himself and for those close to him at the club including Coppell of course and his partner in crime Mark Bright. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
https://s2.gifyu.com/images/BD73BD8B...62FFAEC.md.png |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:41 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.