When Crystal Palace welcomed their French opponents to Selhurst Park in October 1953, it was supposed to be a good-natured friendly to celebrate the newly installed floodlights. It ended up being anything but.
The Eagles had suffered an embarrassing defeat to Gillingham the previous weekend, and the supporters were demanding an improvement in the following fixture.
It just so happened that the following fixture, although a friendly, was in the highest division of French football and was packed full of internationals.
But somehow, Palace turned things around.
The pre-match pleasantries if the current era – handshakes, pennants and competition anthems – were eclipsed on this occasion.
The Palace players lined up and were presented with a bottle of champagne each by their French counterparts, returning the favour by offering boxes of cigarettes.
That, however, was the final moment of levity. Then the game began.
“This match with Stade de Francais will go down as a ‘friendly’ – it was as friendly as two dogs fighting for a bone,” wrote the Croydon Times. “In this case, the bone was national prestige.”
It was as friendly as two dogs fighting for a bone. In this case, the bone was national prestige.
—Croydon Times
“In the first half when the Frenchmen were giving the 8,508 crowd a rare taste of top-grade football-- ruler-lined passes, scintillating ball control, constructive movements—the game was a pleasure to watch.
“In the second-half when Palace put some weight behind their tackling and knocked the Frenchmen off their high pedestal, the Continental temperament changed to the worse.”
Croydon-based referee Bill Dellow was having the most difficult of evenings, telling the media after full-time: “It was ruddy hard work!”
The Glaziers ran out as winners by a comfortable margin, exceeding all expectations, as explained by the Croydon Times.
“Award Crystal Palace the highest honour for inconsistency! After that shocking display against Gillingham last Saturday, they took on 13 Frenchmen in Tuesday’s floodlit match – five of them internationals – and won 4-2. They even missed a penalty!”
The Eagles have defeated French sides twice in the last two years, taking on Montpellier and Lyon at Selhurst Park, and now they will look to complete the hat-trick by beating Nantes on Sunday, 11th August (15:00 BST).
