Alan Pardew tells his players: I was a Crystal Palace hero…now you can be one, too

Following the leader: Pardew scored a winning goal in the 1900 semi-final clash with Liverpool
Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Giuseppe Muro23 April 2016

Alan Pardew today urged his Crystal Palace players to become heroes by getting the club to the FA Cup Final.

Palace and Watford meet in the semi-final at Wembley on Sunday and Pardew knows his team can write themselves into his club’s folklore.

Pardew did just that in 1990 when he scored an extra-time winner against Liverpool to take Palace to their only FA Cup Final.

He wants to make history this season by winning a trophy at Selhurst Park and has called on his players to seize the moment.

“One of them could end up like I was as a player,” said Pardew. “As a manager you are never going to be the hero. The real hero is going to be the one who scores the winning goal or has a great game. That is who the fans remember.

“And I want it to be James McArthur or Yohan Cabaye or Wilfried Zaha or Yannick Bolasie. I want it to be one of my players. They have that opportunity and I really hope it comes to one of our players.”

Palace have never won the FA Cup or League Cup and Pardew knows the effect ending that drought would have.

“When I look back to 1990 I remember our fanbase for that game and it was completely different after,” he said. “We had grabbed the community a little bit. And I hope we do that again this time. I think we need to win the semi-final to really grab it. But you can see in our fans and younger fans want to come and grab that taste of professional football with us rather than Fulham or Charlton or West Ham or Arsenal.

“So it is a great opportunity for us. And on the playing side we have an opportunity to win a trophy that does not come around very often. We have to understand that this is special in the history of this club.

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“It is huge for us and we are looking forward to it. It is going to be a game of tight margins and I just hope the margins are with us this time.”

Palace fans celebrate after Pardew scores the winning goal during the FA Cup Semi-Final against Liverpool in 1990 Photo: Dan Smith/Allsport
Dan Smith/Allsport

Palace and Watford will each be backed by around 31,500 at Wembley as they battle for the right to play either Manchester United or Everton in the final on May 21. The match comes a fortnight after Palace ended a run of 14 Premier League matches without a win as they defeated Norwich 1-0 at Selhurst Park.

Pardew said: “I will be looking forward to seeing all the red and blue balloons. If we can just create what we created against Norwich at home at one end at Wembley, that will be enough for us, and we will do the rest on the pitch.

“Watford’s manager [Quique Sanchez Flores] has done a great job. He is experienced at a number of levels and there is a great organisation to the team. It is a tough call but I think we can win this game.”

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