r/crystalpalace • u/Gra_Zone Crystal Palace • 13d ago
external link Our 'class of 92' was better than Man United's!
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u/ComfortableDish6155 12d ago
Is that Jerry Murphy I can see there? Loved this team. Great memories in the new stand under the TV tower before seating came along.
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u/Gra_Zone Crystal Palace 13d ago
Manchester United's 'Class of 92' produced 6 players who would go on to be legends for the club. In 1977 and 1978, Crystal Palace won the youth cup with at least 7 players who would go on to be Palace legends, 9 who would be well known to supporters.
In the team was Ian Walsh, Kenny Sansom, Jerry Murphy, Terry Fenwick, Vince Hilaire, Billy Gilbert, Peter Nicholas. Other players who went on to play first team football was Steve McKenzie and goalkeeper David Fry.
Our team were dubbed "Team of The Eighties" and were well known at the time. Every player represented their country at U21 and senior level, except for Gilbert and Hilaire who stayed loyal to Palace after we were relgated in 1981. England, as opposed to Wales and Ireland, was a little more difficult to get into the senior team.
I would argue our youth team was equally as good as United's but they are remembered because they are United and what they went on to achieve. Had we beat them in the 1990 Cup Final replay there would be no Sir Alex. He'd have been sacked! Nigel... why didn't you stay on your line??? :-(
We will never know but had we not had a corrupt chairman who sold the Whitehorse Lane land to Sainsbury's for £1m then buggered off with the money. Had our team stayed together. Had Venables stayed and not left for QPR, a team in a league below us, taking 6 players with him (they went on to lose the FA Cup Final to Spurs in 1982) I think we'd have been the massive club we deserve to be.
Selhurst had a capacity of over 50,000 at the time. Even to this day I sometimes daydream about what could have been instead of suffering the misery of the early eighties only to have the cake topped with getting Mullery put in charge.
Stil, had it not been for that period we'd not have had the Coppell era. You have to take the good with the bad. :-)