Crystal Palace predictions

Crystal Palace Rivalry

With no evident correlation between them – such as geographic proximity or economic, social and cultural differences – Crystal Palace and Brighton & Hove Albion are one of England’s unlikely rivalries. The feud between these two clubs had been ignited at the time when Terry Venables and Alan Mullery were in charge of Crystal Palace and Brighton, respectively. The two men were already fierce rivals – although never enemies – going back to their time as Tottenham teammates. And then by the summer of 1977, the two men let their rivalry spill over to the clubs they were in charge of, sparking what had then become the irrevocable animosity. Both Venables and Mullery had been, at the time, instructed to do the same – promote their team from the Third Division. In the end, both teams were indeed promoted but did so on the back of a couple of fiercely-contested matches which even saw Brighton manager enter the Palace dressing room and insult Venables’ team by throwing five pounds of the ground. The rivalry continued during the next season when both sides were vying for the promotion into the top tier of English football. As a rivalry fuelled by the unusually fierce relationship between former teammates, the A23 and M23 Derby is still a highly-anticipated clash.