Mascot Alice at the Crystal Palace (2019-2020 pre-season v Hertha Berlin)
3 pm, Saturday 3 August 2019. A pre-season friendly against Hertha Berlin, a match seen for the first time from the Whitehorse Lane stand. They are more fluent than us, but also very physical, especially toward Jordan Ayew, who gamefully puts up with a lot of stick. They deserve to win, but perhaps not 0–4, as we had chances, though we were frequently blocked by their packed defence.
Crazy vocal fans, with our Ultras notably absent (you'd think the little lads would have relished occupying the part of the Holmesdale that they'd been somewhat shamefully bequeathed).
Overall, a warm, relaxed, family oriented Saturday afternoon, and enjoyable despite the result. However, lots of long, slow queues to get into the ground and one wonders what young children, with restricted view, get out of 90 minutes of football. A bit like being taken to church - presumably some who are not utterly bored succumb in later life to their childhood memories (and their proselytising dads?).
And with the Whitehorse Lane stand being a family enclosure, I wonder how healthy it is for children seated near the Arthur Wait stand to be so close to the travelling fans. Those fans' behaviour often seems highly aggressive, even if this is mostly theatrical and often laced with humour.
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