There’s a scene so beautifully painted in The Nowhere Men by Michael Calvin that when I read it, I felt I was there.

A freezing cold Friday evening in March 2012 at Roots Hall and the Directors’ Box is heaving. Not with the executives of Southend and their visitors but scouts from almost each of the big Premier League hitters. Blokes scrunched together all trying to get the best vantage point and not interested in the game but there to see just one man. His movement when the ball is nowhere near him, his concentration levels when not involved and his general demeanour being scrutinised by some of the most knowledgeable pairs of eyes in the English game.

The star attraction that evening? Jack Butland.

On loan at Cheltenham Town from Birmingham City, whispers had become loud screams that the then 19 year old was perhaps the best English goalkeeper to appear for a generation. He had all the attributes and Birmingham had done well to keep hold of him during his development through the academy. He actually conceded four during the game but interest was maintained and it was somewhat a surprise that it was Stoke, and not a more prestigious club, that secured his signature from The Blues in 2013 for just over £3 million.

After biding his time as deputy to Asmir Begovic, Butland became Stoke’s number one at the start of the 2015/16 season and took little time to become accustomed to the top flight. In addition, he’d become a regular in England squads having already experienced one tournament - Euro 2012 - at the age of just 19 when he went very much as third choice after an injury to John Ruddy. It was Roy Hodgson who picked him for Euro 2012 as well as giving Butland his first cap when still aged just 19. He remains England’s youngest ever goalkeeper at senior level and has a total of 9 England caps - the last of which was earned just over two years ago.

? Welcome to Palace, Jack Butland!#CPFC | https://t.co/utMcYSDkhb

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) October 16, 2020

At Stoke, Butland effectively had two full seasons as number one while the club were in the Premier League. His shot stopping ability and general assuredness had seen him linked with a move away from The Potters but it doesn’t appear that he ever agitated for a move. Relegated in 2018, ironically confirmed by Palace, it was anticipated that Butland would find a new top flight home but that never occurred, due in part to the seismic asking price of between £25 million and £30 million put on his head.

While in the second tier, it’s clear that Butland has had his struggles. A combination of reduced confidence and a loss of form saw him lose his place midway through last season and he remained their second choice going into this. With the mixture of big wages and a contract ending next summer, Stoke appeared open to offers but again nothing developed. It wasn’t until Wayne Hennessey’s injury, picked up in Bulgaria earlier in the week, that Palace decided to pick up the phone at the 11th hour.

If the rumoured fee of around £1 million is correct then Palace fans should be delighted. Purchased as a definite number two for now, Butland is a certain step up from Hennessey, has previously demonstrated his abilities in the Premier League and will be desperate to prove his doubters wrong having been almost written off in recent years.

At just 27, he has much of his career ahead of him still and with Vicente Guiata’s own contract not having a huge amount of time to run, this may be a security blanket should the Spaniard move on in the next few seasons.

Butland is a player who just two years ago was England’s second choice goalkeeper at a World Cup and whose value was at least 20 times what we have purchased him for. Keen to find a way back into the England setup, Butland will be re-energised by this move and under a manager he knows and surrounded by familiar faces from England squads he’s been a part of, he should settle quickly.

While the signing of a second choice goalkeeper is unlikely to get too many juices flowing, the club should be applauded for this piece of business. In years to come we may consider it as not just shrewd but very shrewd.

From one Jack to another, welcome to SE25.

Listen to the latest FYP Podcast with Darren Ambrose below...

Crystal Palace's transfer window offered early promise but left the fanbase feeling flat after failing to secure an extra forward. Here's Alex Pewter with a look at what happened. 

The Ins

Michy Batshuayi's availability put an end to Conor Gallagher's proposed loan move to Palace from Chelsea. Still, Batshuayi immediately gave the club a recognised forward, an area that they struggled with since his last loan move to the club. Jordan Ayew's performances last season in a low-scoring team were vital but adding a more consistent goal-scorer can only be a positive. An average League Cup showing aside, Roy Hodgson has yet to display how he will line up Batshuayi alongside in-form Wilfried Zaha, but it would seem more than likely he will start after the international break.

Ebere Eze may be the first key piece in the rebuilding of Crystal Palace's team. The dynamic signing joins a team full of players approaching the end of their careers, either at Palace or in general. Off the back of a very productive season for QPR, the lack of further attacking signings puts a lot of pressure on Eze to deliver early. There have already been highlight moments for the England U21 international, as he adjusted to the quicker pace of the Premier League.

Nathan Ferguson's near-signing in January collapsed when his knee injury emerged. His subsequent free-transfer (pending compensation) gives Palace a younger alternative to Ward in the wake of Aaron Wan-Bissaka leaving last summer. Injury issues have still plagued him and have delayed his debut, but he remains a long-term defensive prospect where only Tyrick Mitchell is also under the age of 28. Nathaniel Clyne's likely signing on a year-long deal gives Palace extra depth at right-back and Ferguson as much time to recover as possible. 

The Outs

Only Alexander Sørloth technically left the club during this window but was going to be on loan at Trabzonspor in any case. His surprise move from Crystal Palace outcast to Timo Werner-replacement would have got good odds back in January, but it certainly helped Palace's cashflow during a difficult COVID period. Only brief loan-signing Cenk Tosun hasn't returned from last season.

The Re-Signing Gambles

The club previously decided to extend both Christian Benteke and Connor Wickham in an attempt to recoup value in selling them. In either case, it appears the gamble hasn't paid off for the club, in hindsight. When the wage demands of new signings would appear to be a stumbling block, at least one cited in leaks to the media, it does highlight the players currently on the books. 

Despite rumours of either a move back to Belgium or a transfer to Tottenham Hotspur surfaced, the club remains lumbered with their record transfer Benteke for another season. If the Chelsea game was any indication, Hodgson didn't appear desperate to throw Benteke into the fray even with Batshuayi ineligible. The manager has never used Benteke as the focal point of the team as Sam Allardyce once did, but he still has something to offer holding the ball up and creating chances for the club as a target-man.

The oft-injured Wickham has only managed 163 league minutes in the time that Hodgson has been manager. Signed to be the young replacement of Glenn Murray in the summer of 2015, Wickham's impact on the club has been interrupted continuously with injury issues. Whilst Benteke on a lower salary is still a viable rotational forward for the club, the gamble on re-signing Wickham looks like dead money at this point. There's every chance he signs on loan to a Championship club, but the likelihood of him turning into a starting forward at Selhurst Park would appear to be a thing of the past. 

The Missed Chances

 Criticism of the overall transfer business isn't a reflection on the quality of the players the club has signed, instead the missed chance to take the club to the next level. It would seem curious that the club didn't make use of their second loan slot, even if the preference would be to bring in a permanent signing. 

Having been heavily linked with moves for Rhian Brewster and Saïd Benrahma, amongst others, gave the fanbase hope that signings would finally address attacking depth-issues. When teams such as Newcastle United and Aston Villa have already shown remarkable turnarounds following multiple signings, the outlook can look increasingly bleak. When players are all available, the competition for places is going to look better than the 2019-20 season, but two or three injuries is going to leave Hodgson very exposed.

We took part in the fourth Palace For Life Marathon March this weekend and had a blast. Julian Chenery talks us through the day...


The Adventurers assembled at 7.15am in SE25. Selhurst Park car park was cold but a beautifully-clear sky awaited the six members of the FYP bubble of walkers. The intrepid JD (captain and team-leader), Andy Street (lawyer), Rob Sutherland (tweeter), Kevin Day (author), Jesse Boyce (making his debut) and JC (Legend).

This is a tale of how six Palace fans straggled 26.2 miles* around South London to support the Palace for Life Foundation on its fourth Marathon March and raised a fair amount of dosh on the way. 
(* due to navigational errors the total distance covered was in fact 27.4 miles!).

Bubble 21 entered the stadium via the Wright & Bright check-in lounge. Our first problem being that Kevin and JC didn’t/couldn’t pass the temperature check. Not for being too Covidly-hot but for being too car-parkingly cold! It took a dozen attempts each – including some jogging to reception and back – to warm us up to the required minimum temperature of 34 degrees. Never believe anyone who tells you Kevin is warm-hearted!
Checked-in, breakfasted, stretched and ready, we lined up on the starting grid next to the Fan Zone behind bubble 20 and in front of Bubble 22.

Bubble 20 set off and we waited, wary that Bubble 22 (Derry, Bright and Izzard) were already eyeing-up as to when they would overtake us. Suddenly it was 8am and we were off into the streets and park and hills of South East London. We’ve set up in a 3-3 formation. This will later move to a 2-2-2 and eventually a 1-1-1-1-1-1.

We’ve elected Streety as navigator as he had a charged-up phone and Kevin says he can’t read maps. There’s an immediate debate about whether we should turn right to the traffic lights by Sainsbury’s or turn left towards the Tasty Jerk.

Up through Grangewood Park (obviously now childishly renamed Grange Hill) and towards the TV masts of Crystal Palace. Bubble 22 passed us outside the former home of Palace fan and Champions League Composer Tony Britten. Smirking as they strode by, JC let them know that the only member of their bubble who had actually played in Europe was Eddie Izzard!

Past Crystal Palace station and into the World Cup Champions of South London Parks winner 2020 (not Brockwell Park!). The home of Crystal Palace FC until 1915 and the venue of early FA Cup finals lay before us. More triv from JC, who said this was where he saw his first Palace match in 1968 – no one else knew we had played the World Cup-winning West Ham there. (We lost 4-2).

The Crystal Palace Concert Bowl where Kevin saw Bob Marley and JC saw inflatable dinosaurs at Rick Wakeman’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
The Dulwich Wood House and memories of bags of crisps with twisted blue bags of salt. John Logie Baird’s blue plaque. Then JC’s childhood home of the early 60s and the story of how he was taken to his first football match from there on 30 July 1966. (We won 4-2).

Downhill (phew!) through woodland paths, past disused train tunnels and underused golf courses. The instantly-recognisable, tall-spired churches of South London, all designed by Archibald Leitch apparently. Hence why they look the same! JD and Rob do the first of our mini-vids to our Patreons.

“When’s the first stop?”

The ‘Horny Man’ Museum where mothers take their three-year olds while lawyers take us off-piste for the first time. There are loads of cemeteries in this part of London. We saw them all. Meanwhile “Airplane Alan” is spotting 787s overhead and “Semi-pro Jim” is getting stick from the others.

Our first stop – The Honor Oak Community Centre. There’s no one else here apart from us and the refreshments. Phones recharge while tea and coffee are drunk. The other bubbles have used all the milk – there’s only ALMOND milk left! Kevin pronounces Almond to rhyme with the 70s band who wrote the Top Gear theme tune. This and his insistence on saying ‘albeit’ to rhyme with Albert sparks a conversation about word-blindness.
JD and Kevin do another mini-vid to announce we’ve reached our target of £1,500. Woohoo!

Now you may think that Crystal Palace Park is the best park in South London. Think again! (No, Andy, NOT Brockwell Park). The stretch of green that is Ladywell Field through Pool River Linear Park is beautiful - and flat! Even better, the tennis courts were packed, the yoga classes were packed and the football training had youngsters proudly wearing Palace kit.

We approach Beckenham and see the new Academy building emerging. We notice that Copers Cope Road is incredibly posh with the kind of houses that only lawyers and footballers could aspire to. Quick photo opportunity by the entrance to the Palace training ground and we’re at the halfway stop, Kent County Cricket Ground.

Phones recharge. Non-almond, opaque, fatty, bovine mammary secretion is sought. Team refuels. Jesse and Andy do a mini-vid from the balcony with designer crisps in hand and the Palace training ground behind them. There’s talk of going for two grand! Somehow our navigator loses us again in Beckenham Place Park. To be fair, the arrows signing the route are camouflaged in a perfectly autumnal hue of orange and white.

Our navigator is showing signs of madness as he’s now exhorting “Well played lads!” every five minutes or so. We secretly determine to teach Freddie Street how to do a guttural “Well played lads!” to annoy his father.

JC and Streety test Kevin on “Who Are Ya?” and are treated to facts about Accrington Stanley. [“Who Are Ya?: 92 Football Clubs – and Why You Shouldn’t Support Them” by Kevin Day, published by Bloomsbury, foreword by Gary Lineker is available at all good book shops for £14.99 or cheaper.

We decide we should organise a socially-distanced signing session in the Pawsons. Rob starts recording the Marathon March pod. Rob has a Rob Rant. It’s a cracker, a “nicely pitched rant” says JD. “Well played Rob!” While Kevin is being interviewed, JD - who is ahead of us - walks into a lamppost.

It’s uphill to Bromley – but we take a slightly different and of course steeper route! Masks on for Bromley High Street in case anyone recognises us and breaths contagion upon us. Before we know it, we’re at Bromley Football Club where it’s match day and the ground is open to spectators. We’re all unhappy that we can’t yet be allowed back to the open-air, easily socially-distanceable stadium in SE25.

“When’s the next stop?”

Not before we’ve hurdled a few stiles and trekked across more fields. We look for the traffic lights and Belisha beacons (now renamed Bielsa beacons) to guide us safely across the mad mile. JC explains that when he played for Shirley Wanderers Rugby Club* (for that is where we are) the changing rooms and clubhouse were in Surrey and the pitches were over the road in Kent. No one cares. Jesse’s dad turns up to say a socially-distanced hello. (* Now called Croydon Rugby Club.)

More woodland and more hills. It starts raining, five of us don macs and hoods while JD produces an umbrella from nowhere. He looks like Mary Poppins!

We need a drink. We’ve promised ourselves a shot of whisky at 20 miles. Passing Jesse’s alma mater we decide to head for the Sandrock by Shirley Hills. We won’t stay long: line the drinks up and knock them back. Disaster, the Sandrock is closed. Salvation, there’s an off-licence opposite. But no miniatures! Streety and Jesse negotiate a purchase of a bottle of Famous Grouse and six plastic cups. We head off into Shirley Hills. We get lost. Sellsy sends us a message with an individual performance analysis of each team member. That and the Grouse spur us on.

But, hurrah, it’s all downhill from here into Croydon. We cross the tram line a few times and find ourselves in Lloyd Park where the conversation turns to bomb craters and V2s. We temporarily lose Kevin who is succumbing to a blister.

East Croydon Boxpark tempts us but Streety, now confident he can navigate us safely back to Selhurst without getting lost, suddenly announces we have completed 26.2 miles. We’re in Sydenham Road!

But ten minutes later we’re turning into Holmesdale Road, the floodlights are on and the emotions are beginning to swell. It’s not that we’re overcome having completed 26.2 – technically 27.4 – miles, and we’ve successfully negotiated the South London Alps, more that we’re back home. Back at Selhurst, frustrated that we can’t come here to see our team play. The team that binds us together as mates, the team whose ups-and-downs over time is how we measure our lives, the team that is ultimately the reason we’re all here today.

We’ve raised over £2,300. We’re overwhelmed. 

We raise a well-earned glass to Bubble 21.

Well played lads!

You can still donate to our Palace For Life Marathon March pot here.

Following an excellent away win at Old Trafford on Saturday, David Manley revisits some of Roy Hodgson's most memorable Palace matches. 

Saturday's Palace’s win at Old Trafford was viewed as a magnificent performance of the like not often seen under Roy Hodgson, indeed one pundit called our normal style “survival football” before quickly taking it back post-match. That comment may have been missed as it wasn’t the only pre-match pundit comment that had to be taken back.

Palace have rarely had a full-strength squad to pick from during Hodgon’s time at the club, but even then the manager has been able to play some attractive and entertaining football at times, proving that “Royball” isn’t always as negative and attritional as some would have you believe.

So just what have been our three best performances under Hodgson and does this recent performance make the cut? I’ve tried to use a combination of memory, gut feel and a handful of statistics to come up with the answer and it’s those stats that stop one of our more famous victories making the cut. In no particular order the top 3 are: 

Palace 2 Chelsea 1 October 2017

Following the debacle that was Frank De Boer’s reign, Hodgson had taken over a team in turmoil and indeed his first three games had yielded no goals with 8 conceded, although two of those games required trips to Manchester.

The games weren’t getting much easier when Premier League Champions Chelsea came to Selhurst Park and with a lack of options Palace picked a formation that could either be considered a 4-4-2 or a 4-6-0. The mood amongst the home support was lifted by the presence of Julian Speroni in the Palace goal.

Palace got off to a dream start when a Yohan Cabaye effort was deflected in by Cesar Azpilicueta and although Tiemoué Bakayoko equalised shortly after it was on the stroke of half time that a robust Mamadou Sakho challenge and perfectly weighted pass allowed Wilfried Zaha to beat Thibaut Courtois.

Palace had 43% of possession in this game but on xG had 1.52 to 0.65. Allowing for the own goal it’s hard to argue that the win wasn’t well deserved.

Formation: 4-4-2
Team: Speroni, Ward, Dann, Sakho, Van Aanholt, McArthur, Cabaye, Milivojevic, Schlupp, Townsend, Zaha

Palace 5 Leicester 0 April 2018

Towards the end of the same season, Palace had hauled themselves clear of danger with Ruben Loftus-Cheek playing the best football of his career en route to the 2018 World Cup. The best performance of that period and my personal pick for best of the lot was a rout at Selhurst Park in late April.

Leicester started well enough with a glaring miss by Kelechi Iheanacho and Jamie Vardy having a shot cleared off the line, but with some fantastic combination play on the left flank Palace scored two very similar goals with Zaha and James McArthur finding the net.

Mark Albrighton got his marching orders early in the second half and Palace made hay late on with Loftus-Cheek and Patrick van Aanholt scoring in quick succession before Christian Benteke was handed the ball by Luka Milivojevic in the last minute and given the chance to redeem an early-season missed penalty. The Belgian duly scored the fifth but only after slipping and ending on his backside. It was a fine example of the quality of the home support that he was so roundly cheered as the ball hit the net.

Despite the 5-goal victory Palace only just edged the possession stats 50.5 to 49.5. The xG was comfortably in Palace’s favour at 2.79 to 0.94 and it’s interesting to note that nearly all of Leicester’s xG was made up of the two chances at nil-nil

Formation: 4-4-2
Team: Hennessey, Ward, Tomkins, Sahko, PVA, McArthur, Cabaye, Milivojevic, Loftus-Cheek, Townsend, Zaha

Manchester United 1 Palace 3 Sept 2020

Buoyed by an opening day victory against Southampton Palace travelled to Old Trafford knowing that their opponents were potential undercooked having not played in game week 1.

A fast start was the plan and Andros Townsend delivered an early lead when slotting home following good work from Tyrick Mitchell and Jeffrey Schlupp. Palace dominated the game for the first 20 minutes and should probably have had more to show for it but even when Manchester United came back into the game it was Palace who looked the more threatening.

The second half saw Zaha have a goal (correctly) disallowed for offside shortly before Palace were awarded a controversial VAR penalty. Jordan Ayew had his weak spot-kick saved but when VAR ordered a retake it was Zaha who stepped up to blast it home. United pulled a goal back shortly after but it was Zaha who restored the two-goal margin drilling the ball past a helpless David De Gea with 5 minutes remaining. Palace have had other games where they’ve beaten big six teams but this was one of the rare occasions where they did it without riding their luck and were fully deserving of the points. Indeed, if not for some profligacy in the final third it could have been an even more comprehensive victory.

It’s perhaps surprising that such a victory came with only 24% of the possession but it was clear that Palace were happy for United to have the ball in comfortable areas and the Eagles looked threatening every time they had the ball. The xG of 1.91 (Palace) to 1.1 (United) perhaps doesn’t do the performance justice.

Formation: 4-4-2
Team: Guaita, Ward, Kouyate, Sakho, Mitchell, Townsend, McArthur, McCarthy, Schlupp, Ayew, Zaha

Honourable Mentions

Manchester City 2 Palace 3 December 2018

For many, this game would be number one on their lists – Palace away at one of the best Premier League teams of all time.

Refusing to be cowed by early City dominance capped by a 26th-minute goal from Ilkay Gündogan, Palace were excellent. Just as the travelling support were beginning to think that perhaps their afternoon could have been better spent Christmas shopping, Jeffrey Schlupp popped up with an equaliser. Those supporters had barely stopped celebrating when the entire stadium was about to stand up and applaud what happened next – a headed clearance fell to Andros Townsend who responded with a first-time volley that could only be rivalled in its ferocity by the Chicxulub asteroid impact. No dinosaurs were harmed as the ball hit the net but many limbs were affected in the away end of the Etihad.

Early in the second half, Max Meyer was tripped in the box following the ball hitting the post and Milivojevic stepped up to send the Palace fans into delirium. Kevin De Bruyne set nerves on edge with a goal from out wide that should never have gone in but Palace held on for a famous victory.

So why did this game not make my top three?

The possession for Palace was a measly 21% and while that could be expected against a team as good as City and with Palace being ahead for an hour it’s the xG that swung it for me. The games listed above all had Palace ahead on that metric and this one had Palace behind 1.27 to 1.15. When you consider that 1.15 includes a penalty (0.76) and the header that hit the post (0.29) you realise that the other two goals were scored with a combined xG of 0.06. This was simply the only game of the three where Palace were genuinely lucky to win and this list is about performances over fond memories.

Formation: 4-5-1
Team: Guaita, Wan Bissaka, Tomkins, Sakho, Van Aanholt, Townsend, McArthur, Milivojevic, Schlupp, Meyer, Zaha

Perhaps interesting to note is in these four games there are four players who have been involved in the starting XI. Zaha, Townsend and McArthur all make the cut as does Mamadou Sakho. Also, Zaha has played as a centre-forward in all four of those games despite playing on the left-flank in most of the games under Hodgson. Perhaps this proves that Palace are at their best when Wilf is given that freedom.

There were a handful of other games in the running.

The 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth in December 2017, made famous by the late Benteke penalty miss, saw Palace rack up an xG of 4.61. Another famous win against Bournemouth came last season when a team playing most of the game with ten men, following an early Mamadou Sakho red card, took a fully deserved 1-0 victory.

The 3-2 away win at Arsenal, back in April 2019, which guaranteed safety was also a contender and three excellent away wins at Burnley (1-3) and two against Leicester (0-3 and 1-4) also made the shortlist.

There have been some excellent performances under Hodgson and, with the backing of the board in this transfer window, hopefully there will be a few more contenders to add to this list before the season is out.

Are there any games under Hodgson's tutelage you think I missed? I’d love to hear your thoughts.