Il Palace a Firenze — Terrace Edition

Words: Federico Farcomeni

Images: Federico Farcomeni

“Please stop it!” A cry comes from a Fiorentina fan sitting in the Tribuna Coperta as the Crystal Palace fans chant “We're on our way, we're on our way. To Leipzig, we're on our way.”

The 1,200 South London fans crammed in the “formaggino” (as the local fans normally call the Artemio Franchi’s visiting supporters’ section due to the shape of it, resembling the popular mini cheese triangle) are in full voice before the return leg of the Conference League quarter finals.

Possibly, the Violet supporter was at Selhurst Park attending the reverse fixture and the chant has been pounding into his head for the whole week.

It’s sung with an impending sense of pure joy for Palace’s first proper Euro adventure – this is what football dreams are made of after all.

Palace played in the Anglo-Italian cup in the Seventies but the trip to Florence has something extra about it; a day on the Moretti or maybe a drop of local craft beer from Archea and a crack at the club that many English fans saw Gabriel Batistuta light up Channel 4 in the 90’s.

The main rendezvous for Palace fans was the main Duomo square at the JJ Cathedral Irish pub. Cult Palace man John Salako lead the chant of “Glad all over” in the early afternoon the corner of the square filled up with both people and expectation.

©Federico Farcomeni/ Terrace Edition. Palace fans at Duomo square.

The Holmesdale China and a Japanese “delegation” for Kamada are also there, ecstatic to be part of all the SE25 crowd, while the Palace TV crew, the club’s social media and photographer are all there to immortalize the scenes.

Despite feeling at the centre of the world, the red and blue fans’ thoughts also go to those Seagulls and Lions who are back in Blighty and have won “f*** all”.

When the time comes, most fans start to walk towards Piazza della Indipendenza, the main gathering point for Palace fans, where escorted shuttle buses will alternately drive them to the ground.

Not all of them will board those buses though, as ticketless Palace fans (just like in Larnaca) will stay at the pub to watch the game.

Once the match kicks off, chants also arise from another section of the ground where other 600 or so Palace fans are located, bringing the grand total to around 1,800 despite the restrictions as the Franchi is now a building site (in the league, no more than 300 away fans are actually allowed).

The Holmesdale Fanatics have brought over several red and blue flags but nobody expects THAT moment when they light up flares in the away end as teams enter the pitch.

The pyroshow has triggered multiple reactions inside the Italian Ultra world – some say they’re English hence they shouldn’t be doing this (and we’re not used to this), others are happy about it.

Others call this a drift from the storyboard yet it’s an amazing ultra night at the Franchi with the local curva now temporarily next to the away end, which ultimately generates an even better atmosphere.

Ismaïla Sarr gives Palace an unassailable lead on aggregate, yet the Viola keep pushing on as they crave one more win for their pride.

It ends 2-1 (2-4 on agg) with the Eagles who keep soaring over Europe – next stop Kraków against Shakhtar Donetsk.

The official narrative would probably love to see a Ukrainian side lift the trophy, but the Holmesdale Fanatics and Crystal Palace will again be there to spoil the party.

On their way and doing opposition fans’ heads in wherever they go.