December 23 2025

It’s behind you! Palace history becomes a January panto

CPFC recently announced that they would be sponsoring a pantomime "The Art of Waiting and Faking" in the Crystal Palace Park subway in January 2026.

Our Holmesdale.net theatre critic Ron Datemate was able to attend the press preview of this FA Cup exhibition and can give us an insight into the delights we can look forward to.

The Crystal Palace story is well known to the club’s supporters. They are familiar with the tale that is part myth, sometimes true and recently has just been made up on the spot. The opening is a panto classic.

The villain, the wicked Baron Parish of this Parish, introduces himself to the audience announcing "Crystal Palace Football Club was founded in 1861," to which the knowledgeable crowd scream back: "Oh no it wasn’t!" And so the fun begins.

Unsurprisingly the Sleeping Beauty period, 1876-1905, when everyone living at the time thought the club no longer existed, because it didn’t, is glazed over.

The scene depicting 1905, where ghostly players emerge Brigadoon-like out of the mist from the Penge Gate, is moving and uses theatrical effects to the full, as does the 1973 passage where an ancient glazier is transformed into an eagle.

If you can suspend disbelief and you immerse yourself in this land of make believe this panto is a perfect way to escape from reality for an hour or so. It is suitable for all ages, and without giving the plot away, does have a very happy ending.

What the other critics say:

"How many times do we have to tell you? It’s complete nonsense. Please go away as we are busy counting this pile of cash from FIFA."
The Football Association

"Unbelievable…"
The National Football Museum

"It’s silly and preposterous but at this time of year why not just sit back, have a laugh and not take it too seriously?"
Football Historians Everywhere

"The acting was as wooden as the seats, my view was obscured by a pillar and don’t get me started on the toilets."
Arthur Wait

"As it’s free nobody is going to complain about being fleeced or having the wool pulled over their eyes."
Daphne Knott-Wright – The Wool Street Journal