July 3 2005

Selhurst Park

A pleasant surprise in the post goes some way to jolting Jamesey out of the off-season blues

Back in July 03, I wrote in this column that for the for the first time ever over the decades, I received my CPFC season card several weeks before the season's start.

Well, blow me, it's happened again.

This morning (July 2), a large but thin envelope arrived on the front doormat, containing three bits of paper and my piece of plastic for 05-06.

All we need now to drag ourselves into the 21st century is to be able to use the plastic like an oyster card, rather than hand it to a bloke on the turnstiles, who puts it in a machine, gives it back and then lets you in.

But well done Palace box office and I look forward to our first home starter game against Luton since Lord knows when.

And even before that, a couple of friendlies look extremely inviting (Inter Milan, July 27, and West Ham, July 30), especially if, like me, you can get a concession price of a fiver a game.

So, I suddenly realised that's it's only a few short weeks now before we can get back to the nitty-gritty of our national sports - football - and put behind us the summer fripperies of the Derby, Wimbledon tennis, the golf Open, the NZ Lions rugby tour, etc.

Among the many treats to anticipate in the coming months are home and away fixtures against, in my view, our traditional and deadly rivals Millwall, and likewise against those johnny-come-lately second-string rivals, Brighton.

Also in the First Division (I resolutely refuse to call it the Coca-Cola Championship) are appealing away possible visits to some famous and once top-echelon stadia, among them Molineux, Elland Road and Hillsborough.

t's amazing what a few bits of paper and a piece of plastic in the post can do for a football supporter's well-being...

Email Jamesey with any of your comments to Jevans3704@aol.com

In Depth Jamesey's Veteran View Index