March 25 2010

Ron Noades

Acres of verbiage have recently been expended on the subject of Ron Noades. Some love him, some hate him. Jamesey gives his view.

Whether our former chairman Ron Noades ever comes back to Selhurst in some capacity or other is unknown as I write.

But there is no doubt that the mention of his name stirs deep feelings among the Palace faithful.

The young anti-Rons in general parrot what their dads have told them. They allege that Ron was a twister, a shyster, sold Palace up the river, etc, etc.

Older and more thoughtful anti-Rons tend to concentrate on the financial side of things, making a case that his financial manoeuvres ultimately left Ron a rich man and Palace in poverty.

I'll declare my allegiance now as a militant pro-Ron who lived though and thoroughly enjoyed the Ron era. I am a pro-Ron, and some.

Firstly, Mark Goldberg and Simon Jordan led the club into the two administrations in its history and not Ron Noades.

And at this point, let me say something that is not often touched upon in the Ron arguments. Do we actually care whether Ron ended up rich at the expense of Palace. That is debatable anyway, but the real issue is the wonderful years of success we enjoyed during the Ron years which are unarguably beyond compare.

I'm not going to repeat the litany yet again of the great times we enjoyed dating roughly from the appointment of Steve Coppell to our five seasons in the top division during the '90s.

I am a football lover and a Palace supporter. I don't do balance sheets and company reports. What happened on the field is what counts for me and what happened was very enjoyable indeed, especially compared with the rather colourless years of the Noughties.

Personally I always found Ron a courteous and hands-on chairman. When I wrote to him several times, he always answered and dealt with the issues and I was nobody to him.

I also found him approachable and he was often to be seen at Selhurst Park and, if asked respectfully, was always willing to have a chat, in my experience.

A lot of people seem out to blacken Ron's name, especially with regard to his so-called racist remarks. It is difficult to see how a man who opened up so many opportunities for young, local black players without fear of a white support backlash (not at all uncommon in those days) could be accused of that particular "crime".

I don't really care whether Ron stamped on kittens and attended Satanic masses, he ran Crystal Palace efficiently and the club's greatest ever successes were achieved under his guidance. That'll do for this fan.

Email Jamesey with your comments to jevans3704@aol.com

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