i couldn’t give a goal machine

But seriously, I agree, I’ve always said, I go to watch palace, not who we’re playing against. It’s nice locking horns with the big boys, but only if we’re competive. Give me a scrappy 1-0 win against the likes of Barnsley, Rotherham or further back Grimsby or Shrewsbury over being taken apart by Liverpool, Chelsea or Man.City any day of the week!!

We all enjoy different things about football and Palace. For me the first venture into the top flight over 4 seasons holds most of my best memories. I liked the football back then. I just like seeing the ball in the box, seeing meaty challenges and don't like professional diving and fouling which seemed less prevalent back then + standing + terrific atmosphere.

Winning that last game against Man City to stay up by 1 point, Beating ManU 5-0, Don Rogers Debut Goal, 5-1 Sheff U, 2-2 Arsenal...we saw some great games and some stonking defeats but it was always fun.

For me it has to be the up and down years, with brief forays into the PL followed by the horrendous feeling of relegation but then the euphoria of being one of the strongest sides in the Championship and gaining promotion.

Norwich are experiencing this now and it makes you wonder whose fans are happier, ours struggling to beat anyone in the top half but currently settled in the top league or theirs, beating everyone one league down but in the knowledge they are favourites for the drop the following season.

The thought of going back to the Championship doesn't bother me at all. I enjoy playing Millwall, Birmingham, Charlton (if they're there), Derby and the others. Most games will be at 3pm Saturday. Sometimes you have to take a step backwards first. Those previous rebuilding periods were great. Much more enjoyable than the last 2-3 seasons.

Forever known as TCH (That C unit Hughes"

Edited by Badger11 (25 May 2021 10.27am)

One more point

I completely understand why people have started to explore this question. We haven't found (or for my money seen anyone else our size find) a way to stay in the top flight that isn't often dull and sometimes awful to watch.

What I struggle with is the idea that this predicament translates into: 'Do you want to see dull football in the top flight, or open football in the championship?' or even 'Does it matter what league Palace are in really, so long as you get to go and enjoy it?'.

Firstly, I have stood and then sat through year after year of just as much utter dross from Palace in the second tier as I have in the top flight. It isn't some golden land of laughs and bonhomie. It still costs the earth. Selhurst is usually half empty. Everyone still finds plenty to moan about. It still rains.

More importantly, though, league football is not just about the individual matches in isolation. If anything, it's the opposite, and I think that's what some people are perhaps overlooking.

Most peoples top ten second-tier Palace games/moments will probably include nerve shredders at Stockport and Hillsborough, or play offs like Blackburn, Hopkins at Wembley, West Ham at Cardiff. Even if your favourites are just isolated good performances in the middle of a championship season, or derby games against Millwall, Charlton etc, the fact is that all of these games have significance outside of themselves. Even the most enjoyable league games are not stand-alone test matches - they are part of building, arresting or maintaining momentum. The games matter because they add up to either staying in the league, or getting out of it.

All my life, watching Palace play in the championship is partly about watching the game that day, partly about the context of the league table, and partly about the longer-term direction of the club. To watch championship football with little or no interest in the latter two is an alien concept to me, and one I think people may struggle with more than they relaise.