'To have witnessed Palace's biggest ever moment is something that will never leave me'

THE sun is shining as a father and two kids walk up the steps to the train station. All of them are kitted out in black Crystal Palace away shirts. It's FA Cup final day, and when the chariot to London Victoria arrives, it is already full of similarly eager Palace fans.

- FOOTBALL.LONDON WRITER TOM COLEY

Contrary to what the stipulations of the M23 (or A23, as it really should be) rivalry suggest, there are plenty of Palace supporters making their journey to Wembley Stadium from Brighton. They may not willingly show it off too often on the streets in Sussex, but they still exist.

This is the first surprise on a day of sheer delight and unfiltered fandom at Wembley witnessing Crystal Palace get their hands on their first piece of major silverware.

While I was told across three years at university that it is almost sinful to reference yourself as 'I' in an article, indulge my vanity for two days of experiences, colour, emotion, and London success. There is so much to be told from two days and 180 minutes (plus over half an hour of added time) of football.

When the train doors opened at Preston Park station (the first one away from Brighton heading towards London) at 11:26am, I was already hearing the first cries of 'EAGLES!' That would pierce my ears pretty much non-stop for the next 12 hours.

Forty-five minutes later and the number of groups of varying sizes had increased. Some were getting off at East Croydon and some stayed on into central London. This is where individual plans are set in place with the destination of Wembley. Be it via the pub, fan parks, or elsewhere, most had a crate of some sort of beer and were headed for the summit of English football.

Bottles of Estrella were littered about the place (and put in the bin). Cans of San Miguel were everywhere. Fans followed and chatted with optimism and hope. This was a day out and an adventure before the football had even begun.

Be it Willesdon, Marylebone, Victoria, or Clapham, the routes were full of Palace tops, old and new. The odd sky blue City shirt did start to appear but they were outnumbered. That seems apt.

'South London takeover' was how Palace described their semi-final against Aston Villa. The same was appropriate here.