When Crystal Palace were promoted to the Premier League, winning the 2012/13 play off final against Watford, courtesy of a Kevin Phillips penalty, they brought something unique to the top flight. 

Not only did they come up with an exciting, attacking, flair-centric style of play, but with an atmosphere and support which was truly unrivalled in the country. 

A dedicated ultras group, the only one of its kind in the country, a famed home atmosphere which won so many points for the club in its early years in the division. Each club has things that make it unique, and for Palace, it was just that. The support and atmosphere on a matchday inside Selhurst Park.

Now though, that’s gone, and without it, Palace are becoming like any other side in the Premier League. A tourist trap. 

Supporting Palace has always been different to following other clubs. Of course, the same tribalism, the same sport, the same last minute heartbreak or momentary joy. But different in the sense that when you went to Selhurst Park, it felt like you were going to play a role in the game. 

The entire stadium, all four sides, would act as a 12th man, and it pushed Palace over the line in countless games, especially in the early years following promotion. 

Since those early seasons in the top flight, Palace have established themselves as a Premier League side, currently competing in their 14th consecutive season. In that time there’s been success, there’s been times when it's come close to imploding, and then there’s been moments that fans simply never dreamt of. 

Winning three trophies in 18 months was some feat, but in a season where Palace should be as high as they ever have been, why is the general feeling so miserable. 

Sure, the football hasn’t been great this season, and there’s many reasons for that, but there’s something deeper happening. Things are changing at the club, and it’s becoming less about Palace and more about creating a tourist trap, and it stings. 

Many fans have been quick to point the finger at Palace’s famed ultras group for their absence this season, the group announcing the decision to disband ahead of the first home game of the season, the evening before Palace lost 1-4 to Manchester City.

The group had been active for more than twenty years, and had been a pivotal reason for the Selhurst Park atmosphere becoming what it was. In doing so, they also led the English game for fan-funded displays, or Tifos. 

On numerous trips to Wembley, European finals in Leipzig and countless memorable home games, they put immense time into creating displays that will be printed in picture books for years to come. 

As a Palace fan, it was the moments as a youngster when you’d attend your first home game and simply be in awe of what you were witnessing. The new generation of Palace fans won’t have that, and it just doesn’t feel right. 

There were numerous reasons for their folding, including an opposition to rising ticket prices, ‘needless restrictions’ that limited their ability to support the side and hinted that there needs to be a ‘culture of supporters turning up to play an active role in influencing the result’.

There is a general understanding that the club have always made it difficult for the HF to do what they have done, whether that be getting materials into Selhurst Park or simply adjusting the volume of the music over the sound system to help build an atmosphere. 

That’s what the HF and the Selhurst crowd did for so long, but it’s been changing for some time, and now looks to be beyond the point of restoration. 

A return for the group, whilst deeply wished for by many fans, seems unlikely, with some suggestions that parts of the group are even banned from attending games at Selhurst Park. 

Ultimately, the group were a pivotal part of the Selhurst atmosphere, and whilst many fans argued that ‘there was an atmosphere before so there shall be one after’, all you need to do is attend one game to realise that is in fact not true. 

The overall level of support within the stadium has taken a drastic hit, and there have been countless occasions this season where you can hear the players shouting. That’s not what Selhurst is about. It’s not what Selhurst has ever been, so why is it happening now?

In 2025, Sharon Lacey was appointed as the club’s CEO, and took lead of the club in terms of the matchday experience amongst other things, along with of course Steve Parish. 

Since that appointment, the experience for matchday fans has strayed so far away from what it used to be that at times, it doesn’t feel like watching the same club. 

Whilst the finger cannot be solely pointed at Lacey, the way the club have leant into the recent ‘Americanisation’ of the Premier League has been sickening. 

Crystal Palace has always been a simple club. The fans come to the ground, sing their hearts out for ninety minutes, go home and do the same the next week. There’s never been a real draw for fireworks, pyrotechnics or light shows. 

Yes, Palace have always had ‘The Crystals’ a cheerleading group, but that was always about as far as they strayed towards the showbiz vibe that the Premier League has always been striding towards. 

Until recent years that is. Now, it feels like it’s become a simple case of ‘how many tourists can we get into Selhurst Park?’ 

The HF made the simple request for the music to be turned down ahead of Palace’s Europa Conference League games at Selhurst Park with the aim of building atmosphere. The club refused, claiming it was a decision from UEFA. 

When fans travelled abroad to other grounds, this was not the case. 

In an abruptly out of touch quote in September this year, Parish spoke on the HF disbanding and suggested that it could, in some ways, be a positive thing. 

“There is sometimes a bit of frustration from the fanbase that they all have to do what [the HF] want all the time. ‘We have to sing their songs and do what they want, when they want.’ Families come and sit in other parts of the stand and stadium and they want to hear good music.”

Without sounding too belligerent, if fans want to hear good music, they can wear their headphones or go to a gig instead. The irony of this quote is that, in the DJ’s eyes at least, Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield must be played before every game, or alternatively a mismatch of the UK’s top of the charts list. 

The songs don’t hold any resonance to Palace. If you close your eyes, you wouldn’t know that you were in Selhurst Park. In fact, you could as easily be in the picky bits aisle in M&S. 

Football is not about entertaining the day trippers, and Palace has never been that club, so there can be no surprise when fans are opposing these changes.