We spoke to Crystal Palace manager, Dean Davenport, about the joy of causing an FA Cup shock after the London & South East League side defeated Premier League Derby County.
SK: How long have you been with the club and how did you first get involved in women’s football? (Had you been in the men’s game previously?)
DD: I’ve been with Crystal Palace Ladies now for 9 years. I first got involved as my daughter wanted to play football and as I’ve supported Palace for 30 odd years now, I took her along to one of the trials and she got excepted into the U-10s and half way through her first season, I was asked to take over as head coach as the committee knew I had a background of playing in men’s football. I agreed and have stayed and gone through all the age groups with the girls, being very successful with six or seven of the original girls now playing in the 1st team or reserves.
I previously played non-league football (semi-pro) for 17 seasons, I went into men’s management 4 years ago and I’m currently assistant manager at Whyteleafe FC.
SK: What does it mean to a team like Crystal Palace to dump a Premier League side out of the FA Cup?
DD: Winning the game against Derby and putting them out of the the cup was very pleasing not just for me but for the whole management team, all the squad and everybody involved in the club at CPLFC. The ladies made club history getting to the 3rd round, which was an unbelievable achievement but to progress into the 4th round is beyond our expectations. Sunday’s performance from the team was outstanding. We had been working on a pattern of play in training for the last three weeks and for it all to come together on the day is testament to the girls hard work. This was achieved without playing a competitive game of football for four weeks due to the weather, so looking back now, putting out a premier team two divisions higher in the pyramid than us is some achievement.
SK: What was the atmosphere like at the National Sports Centre before, during and after the game?
DD: The atmosphere before the game was one of nerves. We have a very young group in the team, our youngest being 16, so you can imagine the nerves and expectation of what was about to happen. Some of the team have never played in the FA Women’s Cup, let alone the 3rd round proper against a Premier League side.
Once the nerves were talked about and everybody settled down, the best advice was given to them to ‘just go out and enjoy the day, don’t let the occasion pass you by’ but we didn’t expect what was about to happen! As we all walked out for the hand shakes, both teams where greeted by 250 men’s palace supporters who had come down to give their support and 50 of them were the Homesdale Fanatics – they are the guys that sing and dance around at every Crystal Palace men’s match.
During the game the support was immense, the supporters never stopped singing and you could see this settled the team and made for a atmosphere we could only have dreamed of. After the final whistle was blown it was pure madness. the sports centre erupted with noise. It was unbelievable.
Check out the vocal support in the video footage.
SK: As a former Premier League club, does this success suggest the Eagles are on their way back?
DD: At present we are doing quite well in the league and cups, so hopefully it will be a successful campaign. All the ladies are all geared up and concentrating on trying to win the league and get promoted. Will we achieve this as a club? Only time will tell. It’s down to us keeping our feet on the ground, working hard to achieve that goal, then hopefully we will be back where we want to be and deserve to be.
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
