Crystal Palace 0-1 AEK Larnaca: An eye-catching banner from the home supporters sends a clear message to UEFA, but Cypriot underdogs surprise Oliver Glasner’s side at Selhurst Park
Crystal Palace fans have evoked their World War II fighting spirit with a fresh attack on UEFA ahead of their home debut in the Conference League. However, Austrian Oliver Glasner’s team suffered a crushing defeat to AEK Larnaca, fifth place in the Cyprus First Division.
After the pre-match hustle and bustle had passed, it was a subdued night at Selhurst Park, with boos erupting from the start. And the Holmesdale Fanatics’ latest protest – the antidote to the prawn sandwich brigade in English football – was the most memorable part of the night, along with the Cypriots’ post-match celebrations.
The FA Cup holders lost an appeal against their relegation from the Europa League in August over multiple ownership rules, as former co-owner John Texter also held a stake in Lyon last season.
A group of Palace fans visited UEFA headquarters in Nyon in July with a suitcase full of fake banknotes. And at the Community Shield held at Wembley just before the CAS ruling, a banner reading “UEFA Mafia” was unfurled.
And before the first home game of the group stage, the Ultras unfurled a new sign that read: “We’re the ones who win your little games,” along with a tifo of an arrow pointing to Leipzig, host of this season’s UEFA Conference League final.
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The banner is a play on the theme song of the sitcom Dad’s Army, which aired for 80 episodes from 1968 to 1977 and was about a home guard during World War II. “We’re the boys who stop your little games. We’re the boys who make you think again. ‘Cause who do you think you’re kidding, Mr. Hitler, you think old England is over?”
The Holmesdale Fanatics have a history of controversial banners. In October 2021, before a Premier League game against Newcastle, he attacked both the Premier League and Saudi Arabia after the Public Investment Fund took over the Tyneside club.
And in January 2023, he presciently criticized then-co-owner John Texter after his takeover of Lyon with a banner reading: “Multi-club ownership. Gambling on the stock market. Texter, we don’t trust you.”
Palace fans paid for a commemorative hand-painted tifo from two FA Cup matches at Wembley last season. During the final against Manchester City, two young supporters celebrate Darren Ambrose’s winner with his late father at Old Trafford in 2011, with the message ‘Wembley will be rocking and it will be beautiful’.
The chants by Palace fans against UEFA and Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis weren’t pretty, but there was little else to get excited about.
Bosnian striker Riyad Bajic scored the winning goal in the 51st minute with a shot into the top corner after teenage French defender Jaydee Camvo was denied the ball in his second appearance for Palace.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, the hero of the weekend’s hat-trick, hit the bar and missed his header, but his shot from close range was well saved by AEK keeper Zlatan Alomelovic. Then sub Eddie Nketiah created a clear chance inside the six yard box.
Palace, who had been unbeaten in 19 games, had lost two of their last three games before facing Arsenal on Sunday.
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