This is probably closer to the truth than you can imagine. I'm surprised that there hasn't been more support for the displaced 400 than has been forthcoming.

What would happen if the E block did their own protest and did a mass exit before the end of a televised game (Arsenal for instance) in protest,with the message that any supporting fan join them in the exodus (from any point in the ground) Would grab the attention of the TV and probably still be a talking point at the 4pm game.

Didn't LFC supporters do something similar when the club advertised the new stand tickets at £70 and many then left the stadium on 70 minutes?

Think the banner shown on TV was something like 'what is football without fans'

Got the club to have a rethink on it's pricing policy.

I have already paid for my seat for next season though, so I am being offered nothing. Got more points than I need too.

And they are the best seats, I have been all over SP. Best seats isn't just about the view, which is very good but not as good as the Main Stand. It's also about atmosphere, the people in LH are more like me

Who knows.

I won't give up without a fight and I know how to do that. I am staying.

Anyone in a similar position, that doesn't mind staying put whilst the HF move all around them, is welcome to compare notes with me.

Edited by Mapletree (19 Oct 2018 12.41pm)

This article is on the whole sympathetic and fair (IMHO) in today's South London Press
Couldn't seem to share so have copied it below.

Crystal Palace News
 
Crystal Palace fans’ anger at ousting from their seats

19th October 2018 Calum Fraser

BY CALUM FRASER
calum@slpmedia.co.uk

Dozens of fans are outraged as football chiefs plan to move them out of season ticket seats that some have held for decades.

Crystal Palace bosses have given the go-ahead to plans to clear a section of Selhurst Park to concentrate a group of fans known as the Holmesdale Fanatics (HF) in a bid to create a “central singing section”.

But this means that scores of season ticket holders, many of whom have held their seats since the Holmesdale Stand was built in 1995, will have to be dispersed around the stadium.

Stephen Kingdom, 48, a Selhurst Park regular since 1984, said: “I think we are all in shock that the club can treat long-term loyal fans in this way, especially when in September they put out a statement explaining why this would be the wrong thing to do.

“The club have clearly been considering this move for a long time, but at no time have they consulted with affected fans.It really feels like – now we’re in the Premier League – we don’t matter to the club anymore.”

The HF were negotiating with the club chiefs over the summer to make room for their singing section. The HF want to be moved from a corner of the stand, block B, to the centre behind the goals, block E.

But the club released a statement on September 2 saying they would not follow through with the plans because they felt “it would be hugely unfair and disruptive”.

Another statement was then released on September 26 reversing this decision. Up to 400 season tickets were pledged to the HF starting next year.
Mr Kingdom, who works in the charity sector, said: “The club’s U-turn makes it feel like this is a panicky decision; and it certainly doesn’t seem thought through.

It’s clear, for example, that the club haven’t thought about the impact on fans whose seats are near the proposed new singing section.”

The fans who will lose their seats will be offered a discounted price on different season tickets. The fans are not happy with this because they will be at the back of the queue for season tickets as other supporters will be given the chance to renew their tickets first.

According to club figures 92 per cent of season ticket holders renew their seat every year.

One aggrieved fan, who has been attending games for almost 40 years, said: “We’ve been through all the highs and lows with the club.

That often means more lows than highs with Palace, but we have always been there.

“Suddenly we’re being thrown out of our seats and told, well you have to scrabble around for what are probably going to be the worst seats in the stadium.”

Mr Kingdom is part of a small group of fans which met part-owner and chairman Steve Parish on Wednesday night.

He said: “I’m pleased that Steve Parish has finally offered to meet some of us. I will, of course, listen to what he has to say.
But it really is at least a year too late. And I and a handful of others can’t represent all 400 affected fans: he really needs to engage with all of us.”

A spokesman for Crystal Palace said: “There is overwhelming support among our fans for the creation of a new, expanded singing section in the central block of the Holmesdale Road stand, creating a wall of sound that we believe will create a unique Premier League atmosphere at Selhurst Park.
“We are working with season ticket holders in Block E, who, regrettably, will have to be relocated next season, to ensure we make this as painless as possible.

“We understand the upheaval this will inevitably cause some season ticket holders, and the chairman will be meeting a group of those affected in the coming weeks to discuss arrangements.”

Nothing is fool-proof - fools are too ingenious

I'm not surprised at the u-turn as ultimately Parish is a marketing man and when marketing the club, the HF give something for the TV cameras to point at.

I do wonder though as to how these seats will be allocated, I mentioned this before, but will it be some bloke in a pub who if you buy enough pints will graciously allow you to apply to be one of the "400"? If that is the case, then it sets an unofficial two tier system for those tickets, which seems morally wrong and disrespectful to those fans who don't fancy being in the HF.

If that's not the case then what's to stop the fans who are being displaced saying "actually stuff the offer of moving, I'm in the HF and want my seat for next year so I can sing" regardless of whether or not they are? If enough of them do that then effectively nothing changes.

I think this is such a sad state of affairs and will only generate animosity towards the HF and the club. It's only a matter of time before someone who's had their seat for years in one of the other blocks can't see the game (what with all the standing) and kicks off at someone in the HF. Personally and even though I sit in the AW, the memory of the hypocrisy of the HF's support won't be leaving me anytime soon and I imagine others feel the same. It has the potential to cause more harm than good and could take years for feelings to calm down.

So much damaging behaviour from all sides from people who all claim to love the club. Doesn't feel like they do to me.

The trouble with computers, of course, is that they're very sophisticated idiots

Parish is a disgrace, he's creating a class system whereby if you have a flag and shout a lot you are treated as a better Palace supporter than someone who might have followed Palace for many years.
I've attended Selhurst Park since 1968, but by the law of Parish I should be pushed aside to accommodate anyone who calls themselves a "fanatic" or a "singer".
It's an absolute pathetic cave in by Parish,who doesn't really care who sits where,because we sell out anyway.
He seems to have no idea of the sense of betrayal felt by many fans.