Darren Todd

My love for Crystal Palace was passed down to me by my Dad, who in turn had been made into a Palace fan by his old man. From the very beginning, it was stressed to me that following our football club was not about glory or trophies, it was about supporting your local team, having pride in South London when so many at my school chose to support clubs from further afield because they won things, celebrating those triumphs through their TV screens rather than with their own two eyes. I’ve had a season ticket at Palace for 24 years now, have done just under 650 games, been to 46 different grounds and seen us get hammered by the likes of Scunthorpe and Crewe to name just a couple. I wouldn’t change a single second of it but this last year has been completely surreal. To see my team lift an FA Cup at Wembley was something I couldn’t quite my head around, generations before me had lived and died, my Grandad included without ever witnessing a major trophy win, the subsequent European tour has been the stuff of dreams. Last night in Leipzig, I broke down in genuine floods of tears at full-time, not because it necessarily meant “more” than last season’s FA Cup but because I simply never comprehended Palace playing in Europe, let alone winning a trophy at our first attempt. My little boy is now following in my footsteps with his love for the club and he gets to grow up in a time when Palace are multiple trophy winners, it’s a quantum leap away from where I was at 7 years old and I love the fact that he can go to school and genuinely stand with his chest puffed out because of the club’s achievements. I’ll stop waffling bollocks now; I’m just so, so happy. ❤️