The Holmesdale Fanatics, a Crystal Palace fan group, have announced they are stopping all organised activity at Selhurst Park. The decision was described as "particularly sad" in a report on the group's history of tifos at the stadium.
Reasons for the decision
In a statement, the group explained their reasons for ceasing operations: "Increasingly driven out by the sky high ticket prices, needless restrictions that are designed to strip away the dignity of supporters and relentless harassment and legal action, many young people are choosing to opt out of a game which seems determined to push them away."
The statement continued: "We have repeatedly warned the club that likeminded fans cannot congregate at Palace in the numbers required to sustain a growing active supporter culture. The conditions are simply not there. There needs to be a drastic shift at Palace towards younger fans and a move away from a culture in which people attend the ground expecting to be entertained, towards a culture of supporters turning up to play an active role in influencing the result."
Away match difficulties
The group also highlighted challenges at away fixtures: "In domestic away fixtures, supporters are banned from bringing materials into stadiums, coaches are regularly stopped, and fans are arrested. Away ends across the country are increasingly dominated by older fans, with the next generation failing to come through in significant numbers."
Despite these conditions, the group expressed pride in its achievements: "From being at the heart of the protests that rescued the club in 2010, to securing the away ticket price cap that has saved working class people millions and supporting the club through a record breaking period, the Holmesdale Fanatics has helped write a chapter in the club's history that many did not believe was possible."
End of an era
The statement concluded: "But now is the time for us to recognise we have taken the Holmesdale Fanatics as far as it can go in the current climate. We are therefore choosing to stop all organised activity as the Holmesdale Fanatics inside the stadium. We do not take this decision lightly."
The group's tifos have included a tribute to Maxi Jazz in May 2023, a display before a Conference League match against Rayo Vallecano, a tifo of Joel Ward lifting the FA Cup in August 2025, a 2022 depiction of the Crystal Palace built for the Great Exhibition in 1851, and a display celebrating 100 years of Selhurst Park in September 2024. At the 2025 FA Cup final, a tifo depicted three Palace supporters – father Mark Wealleans and sons Nathan and Dominic – who were seen at Old Trafford in 2011 celebrating Darren Ambrose's strike against Manchester United; after Mark died of cancer in 2017, the image became a symbol of lost loved ones for Palace fans.
