'Let's do it again': Steve Parish issues rallying cry as Crystal Palace parade FA Cup at Selhurst Park | OneFootball

Oliver Glasner promised at least one title next season as the Eagles prepare to contest four competitions

To be a football fan is often an exercise in patience, and that is rarely more true than in the case of Crystal Palace. After an agonising, century-long wait, the Eagles can finally call themselves title winners, and the scenes of catharsis as the FA Cup trophy was paraded down the Holmesdale Road will not soon be forgotten by anyone associated with the club.

The parade culminated in a ‘Party on the Pitch’ at Selhurst Park, where Crystal Palace players and staff were presented to the fans for the final time before jetting away for their summer holidays. Oliver Glasner was among the first to speak, but was made to wait for his moment with the microphone as he was drowned out by adoring supporters, who were in full voice throughout proceedings. Once they had quietened down, he promised more silverware.

heroes: joel ward and marc guehi hoist the FA Cup at selhurst park

Action Images via Reuters

Dean Henderson took to the stage to discuss his crucial, if controversial, interventions in the Cup final, where he preserved Palace’s clean sheet with a series of acrobatic stops. His heroics have now marked him a contender to start for England in this summer’s World Cup qualifiers, and he echoed the popular assessment of Palace’s season that the FA Cup compensates well for another mediocre League finish.

He led the fans in a chorus to the tune of Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’: “Twelfth again, who gives a f***? We won the FA Cup!”

Club owner and chairman Steve Parish was more eloquent. A lifelong Crystal Palace supporter, his 59-year wait for silverware was longer than many at the club, but he said it was ‘more than worthwhile’.

He pondered: “I think it’s a drug, isn’t it, winning? I don’t see any reason at all why we can’t go and do it again.

“The fans in the street were just incredible. This is our superpower, the togetherness in this club. That is what we've got.

“The one thing I would say is don’t ever change, because you are the best fans.”

packed out: it was a party at selhurst park

Yui Mok/PA Wire

Inspired by Palace’s draw with League champions Liverpool on Sunday, he continued: “There’s no telling what we can do. Oliver [Glasner] doesn't like coming second, I don’t know if you’ve noticed that. Oliver and these guys have just taken us to another level.

“You couldn't hope for a better group, a more committed group, and to smash through the glass ceiling with this football club and finally win something, they will go down in history. They will always be loved here.”

The prevailing theme of the day, though, was the supporters. Parish, Henderson, Glasner, and Joel Ward all made their gratitude to the twelfth man clear, but Daniel Munoz, named both the club’s Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year, said it best despite his limited English: “I am very happy. You are fantastic. We already won. I will say just one thing: I love you.”

‘Glad All Over’ boomed around the ground as the players left the stage, and so begins the countdown to next season. Palace waited over a century for their first major title, and Parish is committed to ensuring the second comes sooner: “Shall we do it again? Let's do it again.”