This link will explain things accurately. And it’s actually by someone not in the HF but with connections in block E.

[Link]

Ok, here goes. A subject that has divided the fanbase in a fashion I have never previously seen in my 25-years of going to Palace matches. People that I have previously universally agreed with when it comes to Palace are falling completely on the otherside of the fence to me. Remember, regardless of what follows, we are all still Palace and we can all still be friends.

The fact that I have had to use ‘vs’ when it comes to this topic is demoralising. We should all be “Together as one.”

Short of Hodgson, excuse my crudity, dying over the summer, I really couldn’t see a way we could screw this season up. Instead, here we are.

When Alex McCarthy is telling the Evening Standard after the game; “Is it less intimidating? Yeah, it is a lot quieter without them there,” it makes a mockery of Hodgson saying that it won’t affect the team. If the opposition are turning up, expecting a cauldron of noise only to hear the odd song reach beyond more than just the posturing fans that want to be the new noise makers - then it is affecting what is going on on the field.

Of course, we have been far from unbeatable at Selhurst Park since returning to the Premier League, but to say that the Holmesdale Fanatics haven’t consistently driven one of the if not best, atmospheres in the Premier League would be ludicrous.

Now they are gone. For good? Who knows. After this statement from the Club, regardless of the banners of support for the HF that are popping up across Europe, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the end of the group.

I never claim to be “In the Know.” I am not doing that now. I have heard bits and pieces from various different people and I have deduced what I have from said bits of information. I might be way off the mark, but this is how I see it.

The HF asked to move to behind the goal. The position they have taken up at Selhurst Park in the early rounds of the League Cup, Julian Speroni’s testimonial etc. At the end of the last season was not the first time that they have asked. They have asked, from what I can work out, for the last three seasons. The Club has promised them that they will make it happen. Take this promise as fact, as I know it to be true.

“The club, and particularly the chairman, saw merit in this idea and when season tickets went on sale we held back the entire Lower Holmesdale with the intention of looking at it further and hopefully implementing.”

I hate to write this line, but that is the only line of that statement from the Club that comes across as completely transparent. Unfortunately, it is then used to kick-start a practical smear campaign against the HF.

Pause. I have no particular agenda here. I have no allegiance to the HF. If anything, my thoughts on them have slightly deteriorated over the past couple of seasons, however, that is due to the behaviour of a few of them, not the many. The way that a few of them have conducted themselves at away games in the past couple of seasons has been bad and the superiors in the group need to reign them in.

In what I am writing here, I am just saying it how I see it and I see it that most of the blame falls on the side of the Club.

Press play.

"News of the proposal leaked out and we received a large number of written and verbal objections from supporters in the area that would have been affected. Many of those supporters writing to us pointed out that they had been in their seats since the stand opened and were strongly opposed to what they saw as them being forced out of their seats."

I am sorry, but in 2018 this is completely unacceptable, as was holding back season ticket renewal for the lower Holmesdale with no communication as to why they were being held back.

The situation is that Parish has had multiple requests from the HF to move. Parish has entertained those requests. If at the start Parish had said ‘no, it is simply not possible’ and then the HF offered an ultimatum that, ladies and gentleman, would be throwing their toys out of the pram - as I have seen so many people claim they are doing.

So, the request has been entertained and Parish is all for it only for “a large number of written and verbal objections” after “a leak” to scupper his enthusiasm for the move. How many does “a large number” constitute here? 5? 10? 20? 100?

Instead of reacting to “a large number of written and verbal objections,” why has the Club not sent a survey out to everyone in Block E instead of relying on the responses from the small percentage people that have complained? Let’s be honest, if a person is writing in to complain based on “a leak” and not concrete information, they’re likely a person that will complain about anything.

The entire process is so far from robust it is laughable! Go to survey monkey, pay a few hundred quid and send out a survey and canvas the opinions over everyone in the block. I almost guarantee that 100 people would have been willing to swap their seats, especially if an incentive was offered. Perhaps a reduction in ST price for a season? As we all know, we were on the list of 10 Club’s that could play in front of an empty stadium and still make a profit. So, offer 100 people 50% off their ST price for a year and I guarantee people will take the deal. The cost to the Club? £22-25k? Peanuts for something that the Board, other seniors members of the Club and the players have admitted will help the players on the pitch.

Instead, the Club have not conducted anywhere near approaching a robust canvassing of opinion of the actual people that sit in Block E and have had the cheek to say; “We explained to the Fanatics that we felt it would be hugely unfair and disruptive - as well as potentially cause a great deal of ill feeling towards their group”

You “thought” based on basically zero market research that it would be “hugely unfair and disruptive”? I am sorry, what?!

Well, the Club were right on one thing, it has caused “a great deal of ill feeling towards the group.” However, it has also caused a huge amount of ill feeling to the poor b******s sitting in Block E (especially the large number that I know that sit there that have told me they would move) and now everyone is at each other's throats. The statement was designed to throw the HF under the bus, but it has backfired and it is a mess. A mess that could have easily been foreseen. For a multi-million pound organisation, we can be awfully League Two off the field - and sometimes on it as this Saturday showed!

I hope this is resolved. I hope that we can all be friends again. We need it. The atmosphere is suffering, the players are suffering and Crystal Palace FC is suffering. None of us wants that.

How can it be resolved? Simple. Start with a proper survey of the fans in Block E. I would be amazed if 100 people were not willing to give up their seats. Then all that is needed is for everyone to shuffle forward a few rows. If there are people unwilling to do that, they need to take a long hard look at themselves.

This robust surveying is the least the Club can do for a group that through displays and driving unrelenting atmosphere have put our fans on the map.

Of course, it such a survey revealed that not enough people wanted to move, the HF would have to accept that and wait for another opportunity. With the Main Stand and Safe Standing seemingly just around the corner, that opportunity would not be far away. Unfortunately, all the mudslinging, almost exclusively from the Club's side, seems to have clouded all logical thought in both camps.

No one is winning here, except maybe "the good ol' days" when racism and homophobia was widespread and football was just for the lads, lads, lads, as this appears to be where at least a small contingent of our fans are trying to drag us back to.

To end, the statement said; "Should the group choose not to return, we know the 23 plus thousand of us that remain will do our level best to make the atmosphere at Selhurst Park as vibrant and positive as it has always been." My response to that, I put up on Twitter:

Attachment: A75B797A-F902-463D-A7B4-37C443ED56FE.jpeg (139.64Kb)

COYP

It is a massive fck up by everyone involved.
The one thing that was overlooked by moving the Fanatics to block E was Customer Service issues.
When I had an ST, it was always in the same seat in the Lower Holmesdale, block G, coz we liked the view, we knew the people around us (although that sweaty bloke always turning up after kick off was a pain)and we liked the facilities. And we paid for it, and had first dibs on renewing those seats. - That's good customer service.
I've been in all the stands and the AW is the worst by a fair bit. food and beer outlets are very poor, toilets are rammed and flooding in pl55 (the gents, anyway) and the top rows get an excellent view of a TV gantry.

I love what the HF did to raise the club's profile, and I contributed to their coffers on a few occasions.

To say the atmosphere is now 5hlt, is probably something to do with our results so far. The HF did a fantastic display for the opening game against Huddersfield last season. At 3-0 down, even Huddersfield fans were taking the pl55 that our support was silent.
My experiences of encountering the HF personally hasn't been pleasant. Trying to intimate me to move from my seat at away games. Throwing of a firework at my feet at Selhurst (Block G, then running back to block B). Some fat middle-aged unit shouting in my ear to sing, when 3-0 down at the Majeski.

Now this slanging match has hit the media, there is going to be a massive amount of pl55 taken out of us on social media,...and at Selhurst.

Edited by Forest Hillbilly (04 Sep 2018 12.23pm)

"The facts have changed", Rishi Sunak

what the actual f***? A totally uncalled for response that's entirely uninformed to boot. why can't you just communicate with a basic level of civility?

If you want to live in a world full of kindness, respect and love, try to show these qualities.

Hahahahahaha - brilliant one!

All good. Nothing bad.

I assume that you're including Steve Parish as he fits your description perfectly

Recent events seem to show that they care more about themselves than the club and if they "commit themselves to supporting the team" it's only on their own terms

I read it and, to be completely honest, I still don't get it.

Did the club balls up over the singing section? Probably yeah. But I also think that the idea of sending out an email survey is a massive over-simplification of what would have needed to happen.

Again though, the HF lost absolutely nothing in that decision. They have consistently received preferential treatment (which I'm happy for them to do for things like Wembley etc) from the club, and if we find ourselves in similar situations again would almost certainly have still got that treatment.

That's why to me, it's still a bit of taking their ball and going home. They are the ones trying to hold the club hostage.

Why not turn up, be as loud as ever, and then start explaining to people that you're frustrated and what the reasons are?

Why not wait until the obvious opportunity of the new stand and build a campaign around this move in the lead up to that?

Employee of the month is a good example of how someone can be both a winner and a loser at the same time.