July 26 2009

Sutton United

Jamesey headed down Sutton way to watch a Palace XI show their paces.

Considering I worked in Sutton for the best part of 20 years, enslaved as a scribbler in Reed Elsevier's giant erection next to the railway station, it is surprising I had never been inside Sutton Utd's stadium.

However, I was able to put that right on Saturday (July 25) with a visit to see our reserves beat United 0-2 (Wright and Pinney) in a pre-season game, probably the only friendly I will be seeing this year.

Sutton United were indirectly responsible for one of the most bizarre plane journeys in my life.

In January 1989, the U's dumped high flyers Coventry City out of the FA Cup, a massive piece of giant killing considering the Sky Blues had actually won the trophy a couple of years earlier.

That same month I was unsuspectingly catching a plane to Malaga to take a break in Fuengirola.

When I took my seat I noticed some familiar and well-known 80s football faces surrounding me - John Sillett, Steve Ogrizovic, Dave Bennett, David Speedie and Cyrille Regis to name a few.

I soon found out that all the Coventry players were being taken to Spain as a sort of consolation prize for being stuffed by lowly Sutton. A good bollocking would have been more appropriate, I tended to think.

Anyhow they proceeded to drink the plane dry and monopolised the cabin crew, all accompanied by a lot of noisy pushing and shoving, arguments galore and cheeky behaviour to other passengers as the booze kicked in.

I can't imagine that professional sportsmen would be allowed to behave like that nowadays but it was an enjoyable and most unusual flight and a great party atmosphere prevailed.

So, thanks to Sutton Utd for being unintentionally responsible for that experience.

As for the match experience, it was enjoyable but scrappy and it was difficult to honestly say that any of the youngsters looked like "Clynes" or "Victors", although Abnett was promising at the back.

Lke Bromley last year, Sutton's ground is a lovely ghost from the past - a Rymans league minnow slumbering in the suburbs and for a veteran like me a real pleasure to visit and wallow in nostalgia for when you leant against a rail to watch the game and moved around at will.

I don't know what the attendance was - "sparse" would be the word that springs to mind but the U's are entertaining Tottenham in a week or two so that would obviously be their big pre-season event.

Palace team: Flahavan, Abnett, Ertl, Hills, Narmani, Comley, N'Diaye, Andulikan, Wright, Cadogan, Cox.

Subs: Thomas, Pinney, Parsons

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