I can certainly remember that win at Palace. I was driving down the M.1 somewhere near Luton when the radiator cap came off and my windscreen was covered with yellow liquid making it impossible to see ahead for a few moments. I managed to pull over onto the hard shoulder safely but spent an age waiting for the RAC to turn up with some replacement water. By the time I was moving again, there was very little time left to get to the match in time for kickoff, especially as I had only a rough idea of where Selhurst Park was.

However, I managed to cross London in a time that’s probably impossible these days, somehow managed to find the ground, got into one end at the top of the terrace and the first thing I saw was a rocket of a shot from Don Rogers which hit the bar. The next thing I saw was the Palace goal (also scored by Rogers if I remember correctly). I can remember thinking that my heroics in getting to the match were going to end in a pasting, but the Stubbs header turned the match completely and in the second half we tore the Palace defence to shreds. As well as the goalscorers, Jon Nixon was outstanding that day.

But didn’t we come down to earth rather quickly? I think the next game in midweek was a 4-3 defeat in the League Cup at home to Doncaster, followed by a 4-1 drubbing by Cup holders Sunderland. There were some good results and some bad results to follow and eventually we adapted well to Division 2.