Saturday was a day, which, as a long-term fan of a football club, you learn to appreciate whilst they are still upon you.
Thanks to the supporter led initiative that was christened Fill Up Selhurst Day, the ground and its surrounding streets were crammed full of Palace fans, some of whom may have been making a long overdue return to Selhurst after years of absence, whilst countless children appeared to be making their first trip to its hallowed turf spurred on by the offer of attending the match for a solitary pound.
The atmosphere inside the stadium was extremely good natured prior to the game, with both sets of supporters directing their attentions towards the appeal of Palace and Barnsley legend, Geoff Thomas, who was making an appearance on the pitch to promote his charity "Football v Blood Cancer".
Once the game started however, the mood turned to one of anxious expectation, with every Palace fan acutely aware of the importance of three points to ease worries of another last day relegation decider. Thankfully, we only had to wait until midway through the first half for some of the pressure to be lifted as Neil Danns intercepted a wayward pass on the half way line and drove towards the edge of the box before slotting a low drive into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
What struck me soon after, was the huge number of children's voices that were joining in with the songs from Block B and Arthur Waite stands. These kids, who prior to the game, may never have set foot inside a football stadium, were now so in tune with the atmosphere that they were bouncing along in time to renditions of "We love you" as if their lives depended on it.
Call me sentimental, but seeing that number of youngsters so excited by the prospect of joining in with the Holmesdale Fanatics, really did hit home to me how important family days such as Saturday's could be to the long-term future of our football club.
I am at heart, realistic about the difficulty Palace have in drawing new supporters through the gates on a regular basis, we don't play in the Premier League, we aren't featured on TV, and if you ask the majority of kids who they support you can almost guarantee the 90% of time the answer will be one of the "Big Four", but, with just one visit to Selhurst Park in the days before the glare of the Premier League works its way into their heads, there is an outside chance that they may catch the bug, as no doubt, a couple of hundred of the aforementioned youngsters did last weekend, and speaking from personal experience there really is no going back once Palace have got you in their sights.
Shortly before half-time, Marlon Harewood managed to ghost in behind McCarthy and Gardner to get his foot on a deep cross and place the ball into the side netting to bring the game all square, a moment which completely deflated our supporters and brought back the familiar moans and groans that surface every time we concede, regardless of the fact that we were unbeaten at home since the 30th October prior to the game.
Luckily though, there was no need for concern, as, after having had a nailed on appeal for a penalty turned down early in the 2nd half, James Vaughan was again fouled in the box and thanks to what appeared to be a random mathematical totting up process in the clueless referees head, a penalty was eventually awarded.
With regular penalty taker Darren Ambrose already having departed as a substitute, Vaughan dusted himself down, and after a pretty heated debate with Neil Danns over who should take it, smashed the ball into the upper right hand side of the net, sending the ground into another round of manic celebration.
He sprinted over to the corner separating the Holmesdale and Arthur Waite stands, kung-fu kicking the corner flag into oblivion in the process. The children, who throughout the game had been so vocal rushed down on mass from their seats in the Arthur and greeted Vaughan and the rest of the team at the front of the stand in frantic joy, emphasising perfectly, just how important a goal it was in the balance of the game.
The team held out for the remainder of the game, sealing a 2-1 win which put us seven points clear of the bottom three with seven games left to play, leaving the majority of our fans, myself included, feeling far more relaxed about our chances of maintaining our Championship status for another season.
As I said at the beginning of this piece, it really was a day to remember in more ways than one, the sun shone, the team won and the club appeared to welcome a whole raft of new supporters into its heart, who may not always have a similar experience to that of Saturday, but you can rest assured that in years to come a fair few of them will recall this moment when they are asked, “So, when did you first fall in love with Palace?”
