2. May 1969: Two wins, one draw
“Although the itinerary was nowhere near what it was scheduled to be originally,” the Croydon Advertiser wrote of Palace’s tour to Spain, ahead of the Glaziers’ first-ever season in the top-flight, “*the Crystal Palace players arrived home from their Spanish tour on Sunday having had an enjoyable time.*”
Bert Head’s side, fresh from winning promotion in dramatic circumstances the previous season, played three games, winning two and drawing one – but communication was not quite what it is today…
“Palace were due to have played Hercules, Alicante, as their first game, followed by Novelda, Cartagena and Real Murcia. There was also expected to be the possibility of a match against Real Madrid.
“So confusing was the situation that Palace officials at home announced that Palace had beaten Hercules 4-2 in the first game. Unfortunately, they had not heard that the opponents were Benidorm instead.”
The result was correct, and Benidorm the right opponent – although an earlier Advertiser column had made the same mistake, reporting the. Scorers as John Corrigan (two) – apparently, only on the trip because Tony Taylor had suffered appendicitis shortly beforehand – as well as Mel Blyth and Colin Taylor.
with Head’s side following it up with victory over Aruella – a 3-2 win – and an eventual 0-0 draw with Hercules.
In the case of the latter: “Palace were adamant that they won this one. One so obvious penalty was reduced to an outside-the-area free-kick that had even the Spanish spectators laughing…
“Although several [players] suggested that they would be staying on for a holiday in fact every player came back bar Mark Lazarus, who met his wife at the airport and stayed on.”
When in Alicante…