Palace Meet The Crew: A Guest Blog by Richard Bamber! (apologies for colour formatting erors.)

July 23rd 2014

 

Richard Bamber

Palace kicked-off their USA tour with a friendly against Major League Soccer side Columbus Crew. 'The Crew' were crowned MLS Champions by way of a play-off final victory as recently as 2007 however the team as such has done little of note since then. The Crew Stadium was about half full for this midweek match with approximately 100 Palace fans filling a south stands section underneath the giant video wall / scoreboard which gained notoriety last year when it caught fire, delaying the start of a Crew home fixture. Most supporters were already enthusiastic about the local hospitality after attending a traditional American 'tailgate' in the car park hosted by the home fans before the game. Red & blue were happy to mingle with Black & Gold before kick-off. The match started & Columbus went 1-0 up after 15 minutes courtesy of a superb Adam Beddell header. However Palace made their Premier League presence felt throughout the 1st half, which finally paid off when Glenn Murray equalized in the 36th minute.

 

At half-time, several Palace fans were curious what the large canopy & lack of seats was for behind the goal at the other end of the stadium. The answer is that Columbus were the first team to get what the Americans call a 'Soccer Specific Stadium' in 2001. Like many stateside sporting arenas, the venue was also intended to be used for concerts too. The 18,000 for soccer / 25,000 for concerts capacity template has now been copied several times by MLS teams, however newer stadia such as Sporting Park in Kansas feature more elegant solutions than simply sacrificing many attractive seats directly behind the goal.

 

The stadium has also gained legendary status amongst USA national team fans as it is the venue usually selected to play any home World Cup qualifiers against bitter rivals Mexico. The USA have a great record here, with the last 3 contests resulting in 2-0 victories for the Yanks. Because of this, the Spanish inspired 'Dos a Cero' chant has entered the repertoire of many a supporter based over here.

 

The second half started with Palace changing goalkeeper Julian Speroni for Wayne Hennessey with another three substitutions on 51mins. The Eagles went ahead in the 70th minute thanks to a Jake Gray goal. However Columbus's Daniel Paladini equalized with 10 minutes to go & the match ended with the score at 2-2, a quite respectable score for the Americans given that their league counterparts suffered heavy defeats on a night where several English teams played MLS sides.

 

Palace head to the east coast next where a Friday night fixture against Philadelphia Union awaits. Some of the latest updates & pictures from the tour can be found on Twitter via @ColoradoPalace.

 

Many thanks to friend of the blog Richard Bamber for his report live from the Columbus Crew game this last Wednesday Night. Do follow him on Twitter @ColoradoPalace for the latest fan pics and action updates from Palace’s latest American Adventure. Last night Palace beat Philadelphia Union 1 – 0