August 20 2007

Selhurst Park

Jamesey left his seat and walked after Leicester City's second goal looked like the winner on Saturday.

I was amused to see that "Geoff Thomas" had posted a thread on Palace Talk, very much tongue-in-cheek, about his early departure in the Foxes game.

"Geoff" is a provocative fellow and has a healthy disregard for the sort of people who think they are better than other supporters because they wear Eagles socks, travel thousands of miles to away games and have red-and-blue toilet-paper in their lavatories.

I have had the pleasure of sharing a table in the Selhurst Arms and sinking a beer or two with "Geoff" in the past, and I can guarantee that no-one could be a more passionate Palace supporter than he, although like many of we longer-term fans, the blinding enthusiasm of youth and the discovery of a heady new juvenile passion, has faded as time goes by.

The topic of leaving early is, of course, a recurring one over the seasons and anyone shoving off before the conclusion attracts the most sanctimonious, holier-than-thou, insufferable sort of responses.

"You left before the final whistle...you are the devil incarnate and may you burn in hellfire for eternity..." and so on, it goes.

Well, I left after the second Leicester goal because I could see it coming a mile off and I was thoroughly disgusted at the way we folded in the second half and allowed them to get back in the game and nearly win it. The real Geoff Thomas and his tough and professional team-mates (Ninja, Thorn, Martyn, etc), would never in a million years have allowed that.

Yes, I was delighted to hear that Clinton Morrison had equalised to gain us a point on my personal £5 lo-fi mobile radio as I approached Selhurst Station, but I was surprised. It had needed a one-off bit of cleverness to achieve something our teamwork never looked like doing.

And, while I am on the subject, I quite often leave early because a couple of minutes means I can catch a train from Selhurst to Clapham Junction at 5:01pm. It is rare that anything dramatic occurs in the intervening time over the years.

This, in turn, means I can be in my local in Wandsworth at 5.30pm and I can enjoy an uncrowded train and, on some occasions miss the unwelcome company of nasty away fans, returning to their burrows.

To conclude, if I want to leave early, I bloody well will and I don't really give a toss for the criticism of fundamentalist Palacists, none of whom are likely to have endured some of the horrors I have occasionally gone through in over 50 years as a supporter.

Email Jamesey with your comments to Jevans3704@aol.com

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