Mike Ward in last nights programme..

[Charlies Shinpad]

I would like to take this Ward Wanker back to the 70s and see if he would enjoy all the grief we used to get up there with the burning of Cars and going across the tracks at East Croydon Station to have a go at them,and then the rucking in Brighton after all meeting up at The Bosun and then fighting outside the ground before and after the game.

The Youth of today,they dont know the half of it do they Dave?

 

[DJ Leon]

tell it how it is mate

and who is this DJLeon bloke anyway? Was he at Roker park in the 70's being chased all over the place by 10ft high skinheads?

Tell that to the yoof of today, an't'would'nt believe thee

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

A quick precis.

Not entirely sure why I'm meant to hate Crystal Palace. Know and researched the history, Gerry Ryan etc. but all more than 20 years ago. When Palace come to play us here on Nov 20, do we really need to treat them with the same contempt? Is it a local rivalry? No, we just feel obliged to have a geographical rivalry - it's no Celtic v Rangers. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy we beat Palace - recent win will live long in the memory. But for my personal satisfaction, beating Cardiff and Reading are higher up the list. I'm going to get a load if flak for saying this (nah, Mike not at all ) but we do ourselves no favours credibility-wise by making such a big deal about Palace rivalry. I've been as guolty as everyone else, ordered the white shirt, got the PC celebratory wallpaper but I can't say I feel comfortable. We're treating it like some kind of historic giant-killing. Frankly, that belittles us. The sign of us thinking big will be when a victory like that becomes routine.

Thank you !

I don't think it's the worst thing I've ever read. The man's entitled to his opinion and he's quite honest about being a new fan. I think he's wrong but he's entitled to have his say. But God we're all grown up. If people really feel strongly then why don't they write a measured, articulate account of our rivalry for the next edition of the programme?

 

[London Irish]

The Palace rivalry is a difficult one for a newcomer to understand. It's very much a product of the 70's and 80's and it's hard for someone who's supported the club for 5 years to get into all that.

I'm 25 and have supported the club since about the age of 6. In all that time i've seen us play Palace in the league 4 times. The gap between the first and the second game was 13 years. Yeah I joined in with all the chanting about Palace, sang about how much I hated them, but to be honest it's kind of difficult to loath something with a passion when you never really see it. I guess I did develop a dislike of them but it took a fair amount of work. I only really knew 2 Palace fans at school and though we would swap insults about our teams, without any actual games between the two it always felt a little forced.

I found a load of old copies of Scars and Stripes round my parents house yesterday. Flicking through some of them I noticed that in one edition was an article calling on us to drop our rivalry with Palace. This must have been about '98 when the gap between our two teams was about as wide as it'll ever be. The writer talked about how long it had been since the two of us met and how it seemed pathetic to chant about a club that our younger support had never seen us play. It's also interesting to read the old Gulls Eye editions that TGC has on his site. Read the end of the season one and you will find NO mention at all about our 3-1 home victory over Palace. It's not mentioned once as a highlight of the season as far as I could see. There's only a brief mention of the 5 penalties game, and this was when the rivalry should have been at it's height! I do wonder whether our enforced absence from our rivals has made us push a bit too hard and protest too much about how much we hate them?

For me that dark day in October 2002 reignited the rivalry. The shame and humiliation of that day made our victory last month so good. If Palace had won 1-0 in 2002 would it have meant so much to beat them in 2005 by the same margin? I think we needed that pain to get the show back on the road.

I'll leave you with this thought. When we move into Falmer we're going to have to find a lot of new supporters and I guess most of them our going to be "ex-Premiership" ones who won't understand the nuances of being an Albion fan. I think we're going to find a few more Mike Ward's going to Albion games in the future.

Like most on here have enjoyed the RANTS but enjoyed this thoughtful post a lot more. Would be interesting to see that original Scars and Stripes article

 

[El Presidente]

f*** me, I'm not wading through 6 pages.

For my two-penneth, I can't BELIEVE how much some people get their knickers in a twist over absolutely f***-all. Whats the big deal ? So Ward doesn't "get" the rivalry between Albion and Palace, and dared to write this in the programme. WOW - hold the front page. I've just glanced out of the window, and amazingly, the world does appear to still be spinning on its axis and life as we know it has not yet been adversely affected, at least not so's you'd notice.

Get a grip for christs sake. There are FAR bigger issues facing this club than what a columnist thinks of the Albion/Palace rivaly. Demanding apologies ? I can't believe what a load of precious, pious old bollocks is being spouted here. Truth be known, theres a section of people who've never liked the bloke, and have been waiting for something like this to jump all over in full-on self-righteous mode.

What a bunch of ARSE.

Well said Easy. As for people telling Ward to 'f*** right off' on the Ask The Club forum, that is way out of order and they should be embarrassed by such comments.

 

[dwayne]

Ward is a c*nt everyone already knew that

...but what's the betting that London Irish, is, in fact Mike f***ing Ward....or his ghostwriter?

 

[the wanderbus]

mike ward is a nob, football is all about tradition. I dont think anyone could regard palace as our local rivals but they are traditional rivals & its a tradition I'm more than happy to uphold.
if he doesnt feel the same fair enough but to suggest cardiff as a rival.......twat

 

[Beach Hut]

Basically Ward defected for a journalist career move, I do find his writing and commentary rather passe.

 

[dougdeep]

Longest thread for ages. I started a thread questioning the Gullhanger a few months back, but if my memory serves me right most people stuck up for him.

 

[B.W.]

To$$er...

I have supported the Albion since the 70's... this guy should not make statements about something he clearly knows absolutely nothing about...

 

[DJ Leon]

Well said Easy. As for people telling Ward to 'f*** right off' on the Ask The Club forum, that is way out of order and they should be embarrassed by such comments.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[London Irish]

Ward is a c*nt everyone already knew that

...but what's the betting that London Irish, is, in fact Mike f***ing Ward....or his ghostwriter?

I've never met Mike Ward but I do plead guilty to having stared a bit too long at his daughter's arse once at an away game

 

[goldstone]

Well said Mike Ward.

This whole "hate Palace" thing is as big a piece of nonsense as you can find anywhere. It's kept alive by a bunch of infantile Albion fans who have nothing better to do with their sad lives than "hate" another football team and its supporters.

My message to all of you who fall into the above category is:

GROW UP AND GET A LIFE.

 

[Albion Dan]

Well said Mike Ward.

This whole "hate Palace" thing is as big a piece of nonsense as you can find anywhere. It's kept alive by a bunch of infantile Albion fans who have nothing better to do with their sad lives than "hate" another football team and its supporters.

My message to all of you who fall into the above category is:

GROW UP AND GET A LIFE.

LOL, I hope that is some kind of wind up post, you sound like you would be better off going to Mecca Bingo mate!

Games like Palace, you know rivalry games, are what makes football GOOD? You know Man Utd v Man City/Liverpool/Leeds. Birmingham v Villa, Bristol City v Rovers, Cardiff v Swansea, Real Madrid v Barca etc etc. What a boring game it would be without these fixtures.

 

[Albion Dan]

Fo anyone that wants to read Wards condesending and belittling to our own fans load of crap here it is:

Strictly between you and me, I’ve never been entirely sure why im meant to hate Crystal Palace, Not now, not in the year 2005. I do know about the history stuff. The Gerry Ryan leg-breaking thing, for example, when Ryans career was ended by a nightmare tackle from some bloke called Henry Hughton at Selhurst Park. And I can imagine the anger at the time. A friend who witnessed the incident tells me he can still recall hearing the actual break. “It was sickening” he says.

The Ryan incident might still hurt us (I believe Gerry felt a twinge too) but it was more than 20 years ago. We’re talking about April 1985 way back when Frankie Goes to Hollywood – a time when Cannon and Ball, Minder and Dallas were riding high in the TV ratings.

A time when ore than 12 million people would still tune in for flipping Crossroads for heavens sake.

When Palace come to play us here on Sunday, November 20, 2005 (a lunchtime kickoff remember) do we really need to treat them with the same contempt? Are we seriously bothered anymore? I don’t believe they are.

I’m told we can’t forgive and forget because the rivalry actually dates back further than that. Several more decades by all accounts. But no matter how many people I’ve asked about this, I’ve yet to hear a really plausible, watertight explanation for it. Not even Harty has been able to convince me – and lets face it, if anyones going to argue you into submission, he’s your man.

So far the most convincing explanation ive managed to unearth – “The least convincing” would be nearer the mark - is the local rivalry thing. But that’s pathetic, really, isn’t it? In what sense is South London local to Brighton, may I ask?

“Just nipping round the corner for a paper and a pint of milk luv”
“All right where you going?”
“Croydon”

No I’m sorry, I just don’t buy it. I think if truth be told we feel obliged to have a rival and Palace are the closest half decent one we can think of. Well, unless there’s some sort of miracle at Crawley.

To me the proper test of a local rivalry is whether the grudge extends, historically and culturally, beyond football. I’m not suggesting it’s healthy if it does; merely that it gives it some validity. Rangers v Celtic the obvious example.

Don’t get me wrong, Im happy for us to beat Palace. Very happy indeed. The win at Selhurst on Oct 18th will linger long in the memory. But if you’re talking about sides I get a personal satisfaction from seeing us defeat, Id put Cardiff a hell of a lot higher up that list. Them and probably Reading. In recent times – you know the 21st century – we’ve got far more reason to bear grudges against either of those clubs.

I’m going to get a load of flak for saying this, but we do ourselves no favours, credibility-wise, by making such a big deal about the Palace rivalry. We just make ourselves look silly and small-minded.

I’ve been as guilty as everyone else, of course, of ordering the souvenir shirt and decorating my computer with the celebratory wallpaper dates 18th October 2005 (the date of the last won, if you need reminding) but I can’t say I feel comfortable with it. Were treating it like some sort of giant killing. Frankly, that belittles us.

The sign of us thinking big will be when a victory like that becomes routine.

 

[sullyupthewing]

Well said Mike Ward.

This whole "hate Palace" thing is as big a piece of nonsense as you can find anywhere. It's kept alive by a bunch of infantile Albion fans who have nothing better to do with their sad lives than "hate" another football team and its supporters.

My message to all of you who fall into the above category is:

GROW UP AND GET A LIFE.

KNOB

 

[Hunting 784561]

Well said Mike Ward.

This whole "hate Palace" thing is as big a piece of nonsense as you can find anywhere. It's kept alive by a bunch of infantile Albion fans who have nothing better to do with their sad lives than "hate" another football team and its supporters.

My message to all of you who fall into the above category is:

GROW UP AND GET A LIFE.

Quite right. When those shaven headed boys from Croydon come down on the 20th, I think all 8000 of us should link hands around the stadium, and then start to sway and sing 'Kumbijah Milord' repeatedely, until we have ALL seen the error of our ways. Then, just like in church, we should turn to the person behind us and shake their hand warmly, and let the Lord enter us...

If you know what I mean.

 

[goldstone]

LOL, I hope that is some kind of wind up post, you sound like you would be better off going to Mecca Bingo mate!

Games like Palace, you know rivalry games, are what makes football GOOD? You know Man Utd v Man City/Liverpool/Leeds. Birmingham v Villa, Bristol City v Rovers, Cardiff v Swansea, Real Madrid v Barca etc etc. What a boring game it would be without these fixtures.

No, what makes football GOOD is the quality of what happens on the pitch and the pleasure of supporting YOUR team ... not "hating" some other club.

If you enjoy the kind of hyped up nonsense that surrounds the supposed Albion/Palace rivalry then I suggest you watch wrestling on TV.

 

[timbha]

No, what makes football GOOD is the quality of what happens on the pitch and the pleasure of supporting YOUR team ... not "hating" some other club.




you just don't understand (like Ward).

Are you saying that we should get no more pleasure in beating Palace that we did in beating Plymouth?

 

[dougdeep]

I love Brighton/Palace games. There is a bit more spice than in other games. What's wrong with wanting to beat your nearest rival, we all do it in life don't we?