Ask any Crystal Palace supporter in early December 2003 whether they could imagine being just three games away from glory, and they’d probably think you meant avoiding relegation from the Championship.
Before Christmas, the Eagles sat 19th – improved in recent weeks under caretaker manager Kit Symons, but dangling precariously close to the relegation places, despite a squad which included the likes of Dougie Freedman, Andrew Johnson, Aki Riihilahti and Neil Shipperley.
Fortunes turned with the appointment of Iain Dowie on 21st December, and quite dramatically so; they would win 17 of the remaining 23 league clashes under their new manager.
Despite the odds being stacked against them, a play-off place was secured on the final day of the season – 9th May, 2004 – despite a 1-2 defeat at Coventry.
This was, ironically, thanks to the team they’d meet in the final, West Ham, as the east Londoners secured a draw against Wigan Athletic on the final day of the season to keep Palace in sixth place.
To the semi-finals, then, and Palace were paired against a Sunderland team who had suffered relegation the previous season with a then-record low points total in the Premier League – but one who had looked largely on course to challenge for an immediate return under Mick McCarthy, only to suffer a five-game winless streak across April and May.
Dowie’s team were therefore far from favourites, having finished six points and three places behind the Black Cats – but took charge of the tie with a thrilling first leg at Selhurst Park, on this day 20 years ago (Friday, 14th May, 2004).