One of the most wonderful facets of football is that it’s often a convergence of so many of life’s unlikely circumstances.
In the Premier League, every player has risen to that level, statistically, against the odds. There are clubs who, perhaps without the same financial muscle as others, compete amongst the elite, and fans who – by either historical, familial, geographical, or some other association – stand behind their club through thick and thin.
This convergence of circumstances can produce life-changing results – but even by that standard, Patricia Ashwood’s Selhurst Park story is quite something.
Growing up in Essex into a West Ham-supporting family, Patricia recalls how: “My Nana bought my brother and I mugs… only she’d picked up the wrong one, and mine was Crystal Palace! I’ve still got it from the 1970s. I’m sure that was a sign.”
Patricia embarked on a career in communications and then management consultancy, living in South London all the while, before settling on Howden Road – just off Whitehorse Lane – around the turn of the Millennium.
“All week I worked in the city, and if I was at home on a winter Saturday afternoon, I would have to turn the volume up on my TV so I could hear it over the roar of the Selhurst crowd!” she laughs.
“I would often wish I had someone to go with – it sounded so exciting – but I would never dream of going to watch a football match on my own back then.”
