Before the Second World War, my grandfather, whom I never knew, worked at the Crystal Palace in south London. From my grandfather, to my father, to me, there was no other football team I could possibly follow. The football club was named after the building, of course; initially founded by workers there in 1861, playing in the Crystal Palace grounds. They are not a brand, nor a franchise; they are a football club. To follow a football team is to be initiated into a lifetime of dreams, magic and infinite possibilities – but often the reality is a lifetime of thwarted ambition, frustration and pain.

Source: Express January 14, 2022 23:16 UTC