Good Evening all. Around this time in 1990 “ those of us old enough to remember it, will recall that Manchester City came to Selhurst, the week before our Cup Final with United. That day, their fans unveiled a massive banner in the Arthur Wait,& On
The pitch wishing us well against their rivals, which was a complete surprise, but nonetheless very welcome, and a great gesture.
At that time City were very much in the shadow of United, and were nothing like the formidable force they are today. Since then we've always had a mutual respect for their lot and Russell Gregory, one of our own, has built up a strong friendship with a bunch of City fans who always have a pint with him and his mates in the Cherries whenever we play them. This year we thought that we would return the compliment for a number of reasons - firstly because they did us a huge favour in knocking out the Seaweed a couple of weeks ago, secondly because of the huge mark of respect Raheem Sterling showed to our own Damary Dawkins recently following his sad untimely death, and thirdly because one of City's top boys Peter Thompson sadly died in November 2018, at just 52 years of age, leaving a wife Sheena and 3 daughters. “Tommo,” as he was known, was a Blue from birth following the club during the dark days right up until the present, and happily seeing a lot of their recent success.
And fourthly There respect & Donation to the Croydon 7 disaster fund and there fans response on the game after That horrible day
.
On Sunday our banner will be unfurled, welcoming their fans to Selhurst. We will hold the Banner up at half- time, before we present it to one of their fans, who will ensure that it's safely delivered to Tommo's wife.
The respect they've shown us deserves our utmost respect back, and in a time where football fans are occasionally stereotypically labelled, we hope to show the world that our reputation as a club of class fans continues unabated. We are Palace,
Enjoy the game. I wish I was there with you all. But will be watching on TV. PTID
