Neville Wels- 30 May 2013 When I say that I was in London this week for the biggest game in world football you may be forgiven for assuming that I am talking about the Champions League final.

In terms of financial reward the match I am here to watch carries a far greater prize than that match or any other. And just to add to the drama, the loser gets absolutely nothing.

The match I am talking about is the Championship Playoff final between Crystal Palace and Watford. The winning team gets promotion to the Premier league and a slice of the biggest TV deal in football history. Even relegation at the end of the first season will mean that the winners of this match are guaranteed to earn a minimum of £140 million in TV money over the next 4 years as relegated clubs continue to receive “parachute” payments even after dropping back to the Championship.

In the case of the club that I support Crystal Palace, promotion to the Premier League will take the club from 300^th in Europe in terms of revenues to 30^th. Just two years ago the club was staring League 1 (the 3^rd tier of English football) and bankruptcy in the face before a group of 4 supporters came to the rescue and took over the club. Since then club has had financial stability off the pitch and growing confidence on it. Winning the play-off final would be a remarkable change of fortune in a very short time.  

To quote Crystal Palace’s co-chairman, Steve Parish "There is almost too much at stake, it's almost like walking into a casino and putting the future of the club on red or black. It's a 50-50 bet with which you might be able to transform your football club. Watford are not in a dissimilar position with us and I'm sure we'll both be looking at the riches and thinking we could probably make that go quite a long way and make a big change to the club."

The supporters of the respective clubs are no less aware of the importance of this game. Crystal Palace’s allocation of tickets was sold out before even going on sale to the general public and Wembley stadium will be 100% full. I am one of the lucky ones with a ticket, but as a follower of the club for over 35 years I am fully aware that this could be just another false dawn.

The first game I ever went to was Crystal Palace V Shrewsbury Town in division 3 in the 1976/77 season. Crystal Palace had been in the first division just a few years previously and had even inflicted Manchester United with a humiliating 5-0 defeat. Despite the lowly position, the mood at the club was positive and with their young and talented team promotions were to follow and pundits began to tip Palace as the “Team of the 80s”. This was not to be and when things began to grow wrong the team fell apart and dropped back to division 2. At the end of the 1980s however it seemed that the pundits’ prophecy might yet come true in the following decade. Under Steve Coppell’s management Palace were promoted again to the top tier of English football and in the following season reached the FA Cup final, losing narrowly to Manchester United and in the process probably saving Alex Ferguson’s job. The following season Palace finished 3^rd, their highest ever finish. Since then the highs and lows have continued, but today’s match is surely the most crucial in the club’s history .......

The new Wembley Stadium was as impressive as I thought it would be on the outside.

And even more impressive on the inside

Victory! Palace 1, Watford 0. But as manager Ian Holloway put “Crystal Palace are now in the Premier League......and God help us!” With star player Wilfred Zaha joining Manchester United most Palace fans would probably echo those sentiments, but whatever happens next season we have still won world football’s jackpot and the destiny of our club has changed in just 90 minutes!

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