Crystal Palace ‘ultras’: How Holmesdale Fanatics’ bid to make themselves heard has left Selhurst Park quieter than ever
A leading member of the Holmesdale Fanatics tells Lawrence Ostlere how the fan group’s plans to bring vibrant continental-style support to south London have fallen flat – for now
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Your support makes all the difference.“Obviously it’s not as loud,” said Wayne Hennessey after Crystal Palace’s last home game, a 2-0 defeat by Southampton, when asked about the absence of their famed ‘ultras’.
“It’s disappointing they’re not there because they would’ve given us a good lift, a good boost even when we were losing and especially when we were shooting towards that end. I know they’re not there anymore and there is conflict – but we won’t go into that. They are a miss at the moment.”
Hennessey was referring to the Holmesdale Fanatics (HF), the group of 180-or-so supporters who energise one corner of Selhurst Park with banners, flags and a drum beat, orchestrating what is widely regarded as the best atmosphere in the Premier League.
Last season the HF met the club on several occasions to discuss a switch from their position in block B of the Holmesdale Stand’s lower tier to the more central block E behind the goal, from where they hoped to generate an even louder noise and swell into the largest singing section in English football. Palace initially agreed but after the plans were leaked, some long-time fans already based in block E railed against the threat of eviction from their familiar seats, and the club stalled.
Palace offered to return the HF to their original position, at least until the redevelopment of the Main Stand, but the group believed they had already outgrown the space. Talks are ongoing and there is still hope on both sides of finding a solution – the chairman Steve Parish has taken a personal interest in the discussions. But although the majority of the Fanatics renewed season tickets, they remain dispersed and disbanded across Selhurst until the situation is resolved.
“We wanted to create something that’s bigger than 200 people,” a leading member of the Holmesdale Fanatics tells The Independent. “People were asking to join the section but they couldn’t and it was getting harder and harder to create the atmosphere we know Palace fans are capable of in our usual spot – and things were going backwards.
“We worked hard on the issues involved and have always wanted to see long-term fans looked after with concessions, while creating a mass singing section open to all in the Lower Holmesdale to give Palace the support it deserves and put the club on the map. Inaction caused this situation and no one – players, chairman, fans – can afford to waste any more time.”
The Fanatics were formed in 2005 by five third-generation Palace fans, and have been vocal not only with their songs but also in protesting causes from the ‘20 is plenty’ ticket-price campaign to the closure of the London nightclub Fabric. They have seen their latest cause garner plenty of interest across Europe, with banners of support appearing at Paris Saint-Germain and as far away as Greek club Panionios. Closer to home, nearly 5,000 have signed a petition calling for their return at Selhurst Park.
The HF’s plans are now about more than just shuffling across a stand. Their mission is to instigate a revolution that takes English football fandom away from what they perceive as the modern “sterile” atmosphere towards a more vibrant, energised and well-organised support seen across the continent, and to lead the way in English football like Borussia Dortmund’s die gelbe Wand or AC Milan’s Curva Sud.
With the board’s backing the HF believe they can recreate the intensity in the stands that stood out most notably on recent trips to Wembley. Their constant noise and colour during the 2016 FA Cup final impressed Manchester United’s hierarchy so much, in contrast to their own noticeably flat backing, that United were moved to create a singing section at Old Trafford in an attempt to replicate Palace’s support.
“Having scenes like that in the Premier League would be incredible,” says the HF member. “It’s a do or die moment. The club can either grow the atmosphere – and people can come to Selhurst and be blown away by it, inspiring the players, inspiring young fans – or we will go back to square one just like any other club with a sterile Premier League stadium.”
There is a wider context to this debate, which comes at a time when the atmosphere in stadiums is one of the few chinks in the Premier League’s gleaming armour. Ageing grounds crammed between terraced houses like Selhurst, where the stands’ steel frames rattle for 90 minutes, are gradually being replaced by giant neon bowls. The match-going fans sit further from the action than ever before and increasingly resemble an audience waiting to be entertained.
At the same time, young fans remain “put off” by the cost of going to a match, according to the BBC’s price of football survey, despite most ticket prices having fallen or frozen over the past three years, while safe-standing remains a work in progress at the top of the English game. The HF believe these factors of modern football have resulted in stadiums slowly becoming more sedate.
“Premier League games are completely sold out and fans of all ages are frustrated by a lack of atmosphere. Supporters can’t do what their predecessors did and just go and stand with like-minded fans on the terrace. That’s definitely what’s happening at Palace and other clubs at the moment.”
Palace’s reputation for a raucous place to watch a game is valued highly by the club itself, and has drawn plenty of attention in recent years: Jose Mourinho very deliberately applauded Palace fans on several occasions. The club know the power of this message and have used the HF in their marketing and social content. They are determined to reunite the group in one block but are also cautious of upheaval, and want to avoid the kind of teething problems West Ham endured moving season-ticket holders into the London Stadium, even if moving the HF would be on a much smaller scale.
Palace did not want to comment beyond their extensive statement revealed last week, which concluded: “It is a great shame that [the Holmesdale Fanatics] feel that they do not want to attend and support the team as a group this season, but in the absence of any other suggestion – apart from that of moving long-term season ticket holders out of Block E – it is difficult to see how we can do any more to make that happen.”
The Independent understands the club regard preserving Selhurst’s unique atmosphere as a crucial part of their future, and see further opportunity in council-approved plans to redevelop the 94-year-old ground into a 34,000-seater stadium. But while time drags on, and their famous ‘ultras’ remain in limbo, Selhurst Park will remain a quieter place.
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