'Absolutely hooked': Programme seller Daphne's 48 years at Selhurst

It all started for Daphne Weston on Boxing Day, 1957.

Having spent much of her childhood in Sri Lanka with her father, who worked for the Department of Trade, a family return to South London coincided with a first-ever invitation to Selhurst Park, when Palace hosted Brentford.

Nine-year-old Daphne’s response?: “It’s a bit cold, isn’t it?”

But give it a go she did, and she confesses that, immediately, she knew she was “absolutely hooked.” The habit of a lifetime had begun to form.

That first taste paved the way for Daphne to begin attending regularly with school friends, but her father’s work would transport her to New York City for eight years, where she admitted: “I was quite brave. I used to go out at about midnight in Manhattan to go and get the New York Times – I wanted to see whether the Palace had won!”

After an additional two years travelling and discovering the world for herself – “I was in Australia in 1976 when we played Southampton in the semi-final of the FA Cup and knew I’d have to come home if we beat them!” – the lure of Palace remained.

When a then-30-year-old Daphne returned to London in December 1976, she had lost track of the friends she used to attend matches with, so she went into the club shop and simply asked: ‘Have you got any jobs?’

She recalls: “They said: ‘You can be a programme seller.’ The rest is history – I’ve never stopped!”

A commemorative article in a January 2017 programme suggests Daphne’s first match as a seller to have been on 15th January 1977, a 2-1 win for Palace over Grimsby Town in Division Three, on a day when the programme was a mere 15p.

An ambiguity in the record books makes it unclear whether that was precisely Daphne’s first game selling, but either way, nearing the milestone of 50 years doing so, she has no shortage of Selhurst memories to share.

She recalls: “In those days, I was working in the Old Stand inside, and we had to sell until half-time. If you were doing a three o’clock game, the last stragglers would come in at 10 past three, so you could perhaps stand up with a steward and watch the game until quarter-to-four. Then, we had to come down and bag our own money – a pain in the neck!

“It was just a joy to be a part of it, really. And where you sat, you got to know the people that you were sitting around – they were always pleased to see you – and you got to know the steward. It wasn’t quite so packed, so there was always a seat.

“It’s slightly different now – we actually get a ticket! Once our money’s been taken, we go and find our seats, and we can watch the game. People still come up now and say ‘hello’ when they see me because they’re still coming to matches, so I know quite a lot of regular Selhurst people. Everyone knows me as ‘Daffers’ around here!

“I meet a lot of people and I’ve always felt I’m part of the matchday experience, to be honest. Some people will come up to me and say ‘what’s the score going to be today?’

"Others will just say ‘hi’ – they might have got their programmes elsewhere, but they always make a point of saying ‘hello.’”

Alongside her work as a programme seller, Daphne volunteers at Croydon University Hospital – where, prior to Christmas, she recalls she was just about to leave before she saw: “A few guys in shirts coming through – they’d been to the children’s ward. It was [Joel] Ward and [Will] Hughesy.

“I caught up with them and said: ‘excuse me, I just want to say thank you for all of the entertainment you’ve given us.’ You’ve got to say thank you – we’ve had loads of entertainment here, good and bad!”

It’s clear that the joy of being in and around not just her beloved football club, but the people who comprise it – fellow supporters, staff members and programme sellers alike – is what has kept Daphne coming back season after season after season.

Come rain or shine, her programme ‘pod’ can be found outside the stadium every game, usually halfway up Holmesdale Road – where her infectious enthusiasm for making people’s matchdays cannot be missed.

She smiles: “The buzz is amazing, the build-up along the Holmesdale as kick-off time gets closer is incredible, and the chat with both my regulars and one-off buyers is fantastic.

“Before the recent Everton game, a bloke came over to me and said: ‘How long have you been doing this?’<br> I said: ‘oh, 40-odd years.’ He said: ‘I thought so. I was this high when I first came to Selhurst, and you were selling them then!’

“And as for the matches? There’s always anticipation in bucketloads, and then the whole gamut of emotions that we Palace fans all experience! I wouldn’t be anywhere else on a matchday. It just gets in your system.

“It’s been a privilege to sell programmes at this special club; thank you to everyone for making so many memories with me over so many years.

"When I turned up on that January day in 1977, did I think I’d still be contributing to the Selhurst scene, meeting so many people, being so proud to put on my ‘Crystal Palace FC’ lanyard, and getting out in the rain and cold to do my best, and make sure I wasn’t down on my takings? No way!

“100 years at Selhurst? I’ve done nearly half – and I’m proud of it!"

Got a Selhurst story to tell? Let us know by emailing selhurst100@cpfc.co.uk !