Countdown to Palace

This week will fly by and then we get another crack at the club we love to hate. I believe we can rub their noses in it again by completing another double over them.

I am pleased that the game is on a Friday evening. There will be a great atmposphere under the floodlights and we can set ourselves up for the weekend. Beating them will also put five points between us although it won't atone for the disappointment of Scunthorpe.

It's hard to pinpoint why Palace have taken over from Millwall during the last 30 years as our most detested rivals but I'll have a go anyway...

1) They've always had ideas above their station (Millwall fans know the limitations of their club).

2) They had a Cup run in the 70's that was all about a flash git with a fur coat and a cigar.

3) They've always been able to pull a big crowd for a special occasion (over 50,000 for Burnley promotion) but their regular support has never matched ours.

4) I was attacked with other boys as a 14 year old at a bus stop after a night-game down there in the 70's. We gave as good as we got and the cowards fled (nothing new there then).

5) They've always liked to throw stones and bottles at us whenever they got the chance before sprinting to safety.

6) The years we ground-shared were the most forgettable of my life, despite our promotion back to the top flight.

7) Palace were the "Team of the 80's - remember!

8) Norwood Junction and Thornton Heath are souless places with a pigsty of the football ground in between.

9) Until recently we have struggled to beat them irrespective of our league placings or how well we've actually played in any of the games.

10) Simon Jordan

11) They somehow manage to travel to and from the Valley in a TARDIS and always have plenty to say when they are safely ensconced in the Jimmy Seed.

12) The Sydenham Cowards - an ugly incident that will have a happy ending.

There, something for everyone.