From the fanzines - Intensive Training

Last updated : 17 February 2004 By Cris Lehmann

It’s not just Palace that are enjoying a good run at the moment. There’s a good run going on right now that goes back to when Steve Bruce was in charge!

Undefeated since 2002. "Certainly not Palace then," is a predictable and factually correct response. I’m not talking about Lennox Lewis either. No, the unbeaten run since 2002 is my own personal when seeing Palace. OK, so the catch is I don’t go that often but it occurred to me on the way home from Bradford, that when I do go to see Palace these days, it’s very rare that I see us lose. Even more impressive is that nearly every game I see Palace in is an away game and the run is more impressive still when you consider that Palace haven’t really set the world alight in the last few years (although that may be about to change!!!)

It started soon after moving north when I ventured off to Bramall Lane to see us at Sheffield United. But for moving house on the first day of the season I’d have been at Rotherham but thankfully I only had another six week to wait before getting off the mark as a northern Eagle.

Thanks to some Dougie magic, a nice Jamie Smith goal and a ‘Hoppo in the last minute’ I saw a very pleasant 3-1 win. A 2-2 draw at Walsall (which we would have won had Morrison not inexplicably fluffed the last gasp chance he had) was OK but next up was another win, this time at Bradford. Two wins and a draw soon became three wins and a draw as Palace once again turned on the style (well, for the first half at least) to breeze to a 3-1 win. I truly was the lucky charm, or so I thought.

Admittedly the thought that I was indeed a secret football god with power to make Palace win just by being present came to a grinding halt with the 5-2 loss at Grimsby (boy did I get some stick locally for that one!) Still, it was nevertheless a decent record of W3 D1 L1. It was also a case of goals galore as I didn’t see a clean sheet for either side in any of the matches.

The 2003 season started late for me and I didn’t get to see the lads until that glorious day when we destroyed the Seaweed. First time back to London in 16 months was well worth the wait. Unfortunately things went rather wrong temporarily with not one but two defeats at Sheffield United. Hmm, this was NOT what the doctor had ordered. Rather handily the chance to get back on track was handed to me just days after the Cup exit when we played Rotherham and lo and behold another sparkling win was achieved.

Liverpool in the Cup game, coincided with a planned trip to see my nan on her 90th birthday, so I could add a 0-0 to my list and since then it’s been all wins! The demolition of Grimsby 4-1 last April was followed by Burnley this season (3-2) and now Bradford just a couple of weeks ago. This all leads to a rather impressive record as follows

HOME P2 W1 D1 L0 F5 A0

AWAY P11 W7 D1 L3 F26 A20

TOTAL P13 W8 D2 L3 F31 A25

So why am I mentioning this now? Well, as with a number of my articles down the years I’m in a quandary as to what to do. You see, there’s one other little run I’ve had and that’s Palace win EVERY time I get the train home. Four times I’ve got a train home from matches and each time (Sheff Wed/ Rotherham/ Brighton/Burnley) we’ve won those games. Even more bizarre is that the run has been kept intact despite being scheduled to get the train home for the Liverpool and Walsall games, both of which were draws. Both times thing went wrong and I got lifts home from Sheffield!

"So what’s the quandary?" you’re no doubt wondering. Well, it’s like this. I like my 13 month unbeaten run and I like Palace winning so I suppose the obvious thing is to get the train to Sheffield this Saturday. The other thing is that I’ve already arranged a lift to Sheffield, although as it stands it’s not quite 100% definite. Do I cancel it simply on the grounds of superstition to keep Palace winning or do I take the lift and get myself home at 6 instead of 8 (yes, the trains round here ARE that bad!) I’ll also have more pre-match drinking time taking the car option plus lugging round 150 Eagle Ayes will be a lot easier by car rather than train.

The more astute amongst will surely have realised what this is all about. Others may not see my motives so I’ll spell it out. PAY FOR ME TO GO BY TRAIN TO PALACE MATCHES AND WE’LL WIN – PROMISE! Just £2 a week from each of you should do the trick. Surely it’s got to be worth it – just think what the Brighton score might have been had I not been there to oversee matters! You know it makes sense. Get sending me that money and I’ll be seeing you in Cardiff come May.



This feature is taken from issue 1 of Eagle Aye. The fanzine is available at Palace away games north of Leicester for £1.50.