Crystal Palace v Watford Saturday 7th March 2020 // 3pm
07.03.2020
INSIDE THE PROGRAMME CRYSTAL PALACE V WATFORD SATURDAY 7TH MARCH 2020 | 3PM K.O.
Directors Steve Parish, Chairman David Blitzer, Joshua Harris Chief Executive Phil Alexander Chief Financial Officer Sean O’Loughlin Sporting Director Dougie Freedman Club Secretary
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Christine Dowdeswell Head of Sport Science, Strength & Conditioning
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Scott Guyett Head of Medical Dr. Zaf Iqbal Academy Director Gary Issott
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Director of U23 Development Mark Bright Head Groundsman Bruce Elliott Commercial Director Barry Webber Operations Director
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Copers Cope
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Chris Grierson
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Junior Eagles
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Amateur Analysis
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Dom Fifield
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David Omilabu
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Palace XI in Time
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Shaun Derry
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Amy Goddard
Sharon Lacey Head of Consumer Sales Mike Pink Head of Ticketing Paul McGowan Head of Legal David Nichol Head of Content & Production James Woodroof Head of CRM & Campaigns Tom McGuiness
50 Editor Dan Blazer Design Billy Cooke, Luke Thomas Contributors Ben Mountain, Ian King, Dom Fifield, Chris Waters, Grace Cullen, Chris Grierson Photography Neil Everitt, Seb Frej, Reuters, Pinnacle, Rex Features, Sean Webb Printer Bishops Printers
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STEVE PARISH
What a difference a couple of wins make! It’s fair to say the victories over Newcastle and Brighton have lifted everyone’s spirits, and we now find ourselves with the highest points tally by some margin versus our previous Premier League campaigns at this point of the season. It’s an incredibly congested table with absolutely nothing guaranteed, and we will continue to take each game as it comes. Jordan’s fantastic goal after Christian’s forward burst in front of our incredible away supporters on the south coast will live long in the memory. You could tell what that goal meant to all the players - seeing and hearing their reactions and of course what it meant to every Palace fan lucky enough to witness it in the stadium, and I’m sure those watching on TV, too. Nothing beats a win away at your biggest rivals!
In both games, every single player gave their all, digging in and showing that true Palace spirit. Your support was also incredible so all told it was a fantastic day. Elsewhere this week, it was great to see Mamadou step up his return to fitness with the U23s on Monday, with an emphatic win over Colchester United, and I’m sure everyone reading this will be looking forward to seeing him back in the first-team setup soon. Away from on-pitch matters, you will have probably seen we’re heading to Queensland, Australia, in July for our main pre-season tour. The two stadiums in Townsville and Brisbane look absolutely magnificent, and it’s great to have the tour confirmed so early in March so we can make the most of the opportunity, and hopefully give many of you the chance to plan the trip of
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a lifetime. With these two games, and given our connections with two Australian greats in Mile Jedinak and Tony Popovic, it’s a great chance for us to hopefully build on our fan base in the country. Today we face a Watford side who produced probably the result of the season by toppling Liverpool last week. Matches between Watford and Palace are notoriously competitive affairs, and given our respective league positions, I’ve no doubt it will be extremely close once again. I know you’ll be in high spirits off the back of two excellent wins, and I hope that energy and positivity here at Selhurst Park motivates the players even more as we look to make it three wins on the spin. Up the Palace.
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Welcome to the supporters, players, staff and directors of Watford F.C. and as always welcome to each and every Palace fan here today to get behind Roy’s team.
Jordan Ayew collected his ninth Man of the Match award of the season against Newcastle United. Here, the striker sits down with Dan Blazer to talk the differences between last season and this, Jeffrey Schlupp and more.
EAGLE EYE WITH PALACE TV'S CHRIS GRIERSON
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This week brought the news that we’re off to Australia in July to play Brisbane Roar and West Ham in Townsville and Brisbane respectively. I’m already licking my BBQ-flavoured lips at the prospect of some Neighbours and Home and Away-themed content. Our Head of Sports Science and Strength & Conditioning Scott Guyett grew up in Brisbane so he’s looking forward to a triumphant homecoming, although reports of street parties and bank holidays in his honour are yet to be verified. Although it’s a holiday for the fans making the trip, for us it’s probably the most tiring part of a season. I’ll give you an idea of an average day on tour: We’ll be up and working at 8am every day. Starting off by filming training, followed by
an interview with a player and probably a fan meet and greet or charity visit in the afternoon. With all that footage in the can, the guys will then start to edit it all. Usually in somebody’s hotel room or in a hotel conference room. Once all that is done we have to struggle with hotel Wi-Fi, which can take ages to upload everything.
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We’re usually finishing work off on our laptops in the hotel bar at 10pm. Then up again the next day to do it all over again. All of this with less staff than usual as there are only limited spaces on the trip. Days off don’t really exist as there’s always something happening. Matchdays are even more tiring as the majority of the
hard work is after the game with highlights, interviews and press conferences needed to be edited whilst travelling back to the hotel. However, I appreciate I’ve been very lucky to visit some amazing places over the years. My first pre-season tour was to Cape Town. What a beautiful city! The only problem we had there was the internet speed. Uploading a video there was more annoying than being forced to watch two hours of Harry Hornet banging a drum. The year after that was the US tour, which has been my favourite so far. In Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Vancouver we saw three completely different cities. We were permitted on the team coach for these trips and it’s very much like being at school. Cool kids (players) at the back, teachers (coaches) at the
front and nerds (media team) somewhere in between and very apologetic for even existing. 2017 was the Asia Trophy in Hong Kong. This one was different to any other because it was organised by the Premier League so we didn’t have to get involved in any of the logistics. We just turned up with a camera and filmed whatever was happening. The rain was biblical so there wasn’t much training but the highlight was hanging out with Fan Zhiyi. He’s still a superstar in that part of the world. Sweden and Denmark for the next summer trip. I have painful memories of this one mostly because of what happened after we got back. We had a break-in and somebody stole a drive with all our footage on - it contained a yet-tobe-edited documentary about Roy’s
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time in Sweden in the '70s and '80s. Interviews with lots of his former players, a 30-minute interview with Roy and even a chat with Sweden manager Janne Andersson. It would’ve been amazing. But it’s all gone and there was no back-up! Thinking about that has made me too upset to write about Switzerland last year. See you in Australia for National Scott Guyett fortnight.
Head to eagles.cpfc.co.uk or the CPFC app to watch all the behind the scenes content.
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OPPOSITION IN NUMBERS
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By Chris Waters @Clapham_Grand
The pay cut percentage that Watford’s players and staff agreed to take in 2002 to help the club stave off administration post the collapse of ITV Digital. This action, coupled with a strong FA Cup run, ensured disaster was averted.
01 The number of European campaigns Watford have embarked on in their long history. This was in the 1983/84 season when they took part in the UEFA Cup, facing the likes of Kaiserslautern and Sparta Prague.
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The number of FA Cup semi-finals the club have reached in their history. They have only gone on to the final twice, losing on both occasions.
The number of goals scored by Cliff Holton in the 1959/60 season for the Hertfordshire-based club - a Watford record. He was controversially sold to Northampton a year later, before joining the Eagles in 1962.
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The number of managers Watford have had in the past 10 years. Excluding current incumbent Nigel Pearson, the average occupancy of the Hornets’ hot seat was a mere 36 games for that period.
SOMEONE THEY’D LIKE TO FORGET: Sergio Agüero has needed just eight games to register 14 goal contributions against the Hornets (11 goals, three assists). However, despite the Citizens registering 14 goals in their last two games against Watford, Agüero has found the net just once.
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WHAT’S ON SELHURST PARK
SUN 22 MAR | 2pm Selhurst Park
SAT 04 APR | 3pm Selhurst Park
SAT 18 APR | 12:30pm Selhurst Park
SAT 02 MAY | 3pm Selhurst Park
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TICKETS ON SALE NOW - SEARCH ‘CPFC TICKETS’ FOR DETAILS
DEDICATED MATCHDAY: LEVEL PLAYING FIELDS Today’s game against Watford has been dedicated to highlight the great work of Level Playing Fields – a fantastic charity that promotes a positive and inclusive experience for disabled sports fans. Crystal Palace F.C. believe that disabled sports fans should have the same opportunity as everyone and be able to enjoy the matchday experience. Level Playing Fields is in the 16th season of their annual
Weeks of Action campaign, and we as a club are proud to offer our support. We will continue to support the charity to ensure everyone who visits Selhurst Park feels they are in part of a positive and inclusive environment. Today we will be awarding our Down’s syndrome Eagles a Palace For All commitment award for their hard work and dedication to the team. DS Eagles are our Palace for Life-led team for
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Down’s syndrome football. The team offers an opportunity for people with Down’s syndrome to play the beautiful game and make friends in a fun and safe environment. If you would like more information on Level Playing Fields, follow their social media pages: Twitter: @lpftweets Facebook: @Level Playing Field Instagram: @levelplayingfielduk
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DOLPHINS 0 CRYSTAL PALACE 1 THE AMEX SATURDAY 29TH FEBRUARY
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alac Anthony TAYLOR Darren ENGLAND
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hornets
Joel WARD Patrick VAN AANHOLT Luka MILIVOJEVIC James TOMKINS Scott DANN Max MEYER Cheikhou KOUYATÉ Jordan AYEW Andros TOWNSEND Wilfried ZAHA Mamadou SAKHO (GK) Wayne HENNESSEY Jeffrey SCHLUPP Christian BENTEKE James MCARTHUR (GK) Stephen HENDERSON Cenk TOSUN James MCCARTHY Gary CAHILL (GK) Vicente GUAITA Martin KELLY Jaïro RIEDEWALD
01 02 04 06 07 08 09 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 29 33 35 37
Heurelho GOMES (GK) Daryl JANMAAT Craig DAWSON Adrian MARIAPPA Gerard DEULOFEU Tom CLEVERLEY Troy DEENEY Danny WELBECK Adam MASINA Adalberto PEÑARANDA Nathaniel CHALOBAH Craig CATHCART Abdoulaye DOUCOURÉ Joao PEDRO Andre GRAY Will HUGHES Domingos QUINA Kiko FEMENÍA Isaac SUCCESS Ismaïla SARR Tom DELE-BASHIRU José HOLEBAS Ben FOSTER (GK) Christian KABASELE Étienne CAPOUE Ignacio PUSSETTO Daniel BACHMANN (GK) Roberto PEREYRA
TODAY’S OFFICIALS Gary BESWICK Adam NUNN Stuart ATTWELL Stephen CHILD