A Return To Old Haunts In Richmond

Richard Bamber

30th Jul 2014

 

After two days spent in various East Coast cities such as Washington DC, a lot of the touring Palace faithful arrived in Richmond the day before the final tour game against USL Pro (a 2nd tier of sorts after MLS) side, the Richmond Kickers.

 

After we explained why we were in Richmond, it took the barman about 2 seconds to break into 'You'll Never Walk Alone' & proudly explain how he was a Liverpool fan who'd actually been to Anfield. He laughed at our response, a chorus of '3-0, & you f*cked it up'. One interesting fact is that of all the cities & towns in America that tune into Premier League action, Richmond punches way above it's weight in being the 6th market for this.

 

There was only pub to go to pregame, the Commercial Tap House, an establishment that has almost legendary status amongst traveling Palace fans after it hosted us 8 years ago when we played the Los Angeles Galaxy in Richmond. That day Palace completely took over a bar which normally sees a handful of customers. The manager remembered us from years ago & joked that the bar had been surviving on the takings from that day ever since!

 

If you want proof of what the Premier League & good ownership does, you only has to see the crowd who were twice as strong as last time. This included a group of about 15 American lads, who had latched on to Palace in the past year and had formed a local supporters group.

 

The bar really hadn't changed & this was evident by comparing it with old photos posted on the BBS (www.cpfc.org). Apart from drinking, we amused ourselves by trying to recreate the old shots of people slumped over the bar & striking silly poses.

 

A short cab ride to the stadium & we were introduced to realities & disorganization of lower league football, USA style. After two designated away fans section at Columbus & Philadelphia, it appeared that the Kickers hadn't quite understood the message & made the whole stadium general admission. This resulted in pockets of Palace fans, all worried that our chanting, singing & chanting would annoy the locals. After 15mins of hurried conversation & a general stadium-wide round up of Palace fans, we had an away section of sorts.

 

The line-up was the first interesting thing about the game as due to Ward, Dann & Delaney having picked up knocks, our centerback partnership comprised of Glenn Murray & Peter Ramage - not exactly who we are expecting to play there in the Premier League!

 

The game began & apart from the odd attempt by the home side, Palace rarely looked troubled in a 3-0 win with headed goals from 'defenders' Murray & Ramage plus Chamakh. With a relaxed atmosphere, the away end started going through the songbook, much to the amusement of the home fans sitting nearby. Palace fans scanned around for other Premier League shirts, with Liverpool, Chelsea & Arsenal particular targets for songs. I should add that in America it is perfectly acceptable to where any football shirt to a game, regardless of which two teams are playing. Hopefully a few people learnt that the unwritten rules are a bit different in England!

 

After the game we all headed back to the Tap House for a few more beers to wrap up the tour.  There was one final treat in store as I ran into the entire squad at Richmond Airport the next day as we all began our respective journeys home.

 * A big Thank you to Richard Bamber for his coverage of Crystal Palace's tour of America for Burchyspalaceblog.* his twitter # is @ColoradoPalace.

 

Brentford 3 – 2 Crystal Palace: Palace’s Preseason Preparations Hit by Bees Sting in Tail!

Palace travelled to West London for their only preseason fixture in the UK. In what was a split squad with new signings Hangeland and Campbell both sent to Forest Green to play in an XI that included Club Captain Paddy McCarthy and striker Dwight Gayle. 

At Brentford, Palace fielded a strong squad but could not quite find a way to beat a solid Brentford team at the end of their Preseason routine, and ready for their Championship bow against Charlton Athletic next weekend. A game that would see Brentford take their Championship bow with their first match back at that level in twenty one years since 1993.

Palace played under the captaincy of Australian World Cup goal scorer Mile Jedinak and fronted up with a strong squad. Joe Ledley partnered Jedinak in midfield with Yannick Bolasie and Jason Puncheon playing down the wings. Glenn Murray started up front on his own with support coming from deep offered by Marouanne Chemakh. At the back Wayne Hennessey started in goal with Julian Speroni playing the second forty five minutes. Damian Delaney and Scott Dann was the centre back partnership with Joel Ward and Adrian Mariappa playing the wingback positions.

In what was a watchable first half that ended goalless both teams had opportunities but with Palace looking somewhat lethargic after returning from their American tour, it was clear that Brentford was further along their Preseason match fitness programme given their big kick off against Charlton is only a week away. With the Premier League kick off a further two weeks away, the biggest test of Palace’s preparations for Arsenal on the opening day will come against Bundesliga Team Auchsberg in Bavaria Germany next weekend.

Meanwhile at Griffen Park in the second half, Brentford took control with two quick goals from Jonathan Douglas and Andre Grey. The shock of the goals seemed to wake Palace up, and with flares being lit in the away end Palace hit back with two quick strikes of their own. Within minutes the lead was gone, Glenn Murray neatly finished past David Button in the Brentford goal after a defender slipped to make it 2 – 1, then Marouanne Chemakh tapped in an equaliser as red smoke from a flare caused confusion in the box. 2 – 2.

Yet roared on by a passionate home crowd Brentford’s record signing from Leyton Orient, Moses Odubajo capitalised on an error from Delaney at the back to skip past Ward and score past Speroni to give Brentford a surprising yet well-deserved 3 – 2 victory.

Next weekend Palace face Auchsburg in Germany in what will be a tough test in preparation for their League opener against Arsenal. Brentford meanwhile can look forward confidently to the Season opener against Charlton Athletic in what is worth remembering will be their first game in the second tier of English football for twenty one years!