As Eddie Nketiah wheeled away to celebrate in front of the away end at Craven Cottage, after scoring the final goal in Crystal Palace’s 3-0 win against Fulham in the FA Cup, the feeling of excitement washed over me - "We are going to Wembley!" The FA Cup semi final against Aston Villa on Saturday, April 26 at 5.15pm will be Palace's fourth trip to Wembley Stadium in the last decade - after the semi final and final in 2016 and then the semi final in 2022 - but as fans we are still to celebrate that feeling of winning a major trophy.
When I started going to Selhurst Park to watch matches about 17 years ago, the idea of Palace going to the biggest stage of them all was a pipe dream. The Eagles were at best a lower midtable Championship side operating on a shoe-string budget. Operating with hard-working journeymen such as Sean Derry, David Wright and Clint Hill mixed in with youngsters from the academy like Sean Scannell and Victor Moses.
It’s well known now by this point that in 2010 Palace nearly didn’t even exist, placed into administration and given a 10 point deduction. The club had to sell star players Jose Fonte, Moses and Nathaniel Clyne for peanuts and only stayed up in the Championship thanks to a draw on the final day of the season with Sheffield Wednesday.
To go from that position to Palace’s position now, a solid mid-table Premier League club with a world class manager is still mind blowing to me. It also means that no Palace fan takes these trips to Wembley for granted, the jubilation at Craven Cottage showed that.
Palace’s two other trips to semi-finals have seen two very different outcomes, in 2016 beating Watford 2-1 (Thank you Connor Wickham), and then a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in 2022 when Conor Gallagher was allowed to play.
This trip feels different, Palace boss Oliver Glasner is a quality operator with proven experience in cup competitions winning the DFB Pokal and Europa League while in charge at Eintracht Frankfurt. It is a new experience for a Palace fan to have a manager who has won something before and makes a clear difference on the pitch.
The Eagles have never won a major trophy, not discounting the Zenith Data Cup in 1990 so having a manager with track record of winning trophies is new for fans in South London. As ever with Palace, you go into every game with a slight sense of trepidation and this semi-final will be no different.
The men in red and blue have played their semi-final opponents Aston Villa three times this season and haven’t lost, so the law of averages would say it would be time for Unai Emery’s men to win against Palace. However, with the South London fan base behind them I truly believe Glasner’s side can do the unthinkable and go all the way.
The occasion will be an incredibly special one with the fan group Holmesdale Fanatics already raising £12,000 for a fan display at kick off. Part of the funding for this was from the players with both Chris Richards and Dean Henderson donating money towards the display.
The players are of course a key reason as to why the Eagles have got to where they are with solid defence headlined by England internationals in keeper Henderson and centre-half Marc Guehi, and a exciting midfield consisting of Adam Wharton and Eberechi Eze, cult hero Frenchman Jean Phillipe Mateta leads the line in attack.
The reason why I love this side so much, is that it can draw comparisons to the teams I first watched in the 2007/8 season, with hardworking players discarded by other clubs like Will Hughes, Ismaila Sarr and Richards mixing in with talented x-factor players like Wharton, Eze and Mateta.
I have being going to Palace with my dad and two younger brothers for 17 years now but as time goes on and we grow up, with university and work, its rare we are all around to go and watch Palace at the same time. This Wembley trip will be one of the rare occasions where we will all be there together, which makes this semi-final all the more special. When that whistle blows and the Palace end at Wembley roars I’ll be trying to take it all in and hoping that this will finally be our year.
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