Our visit to Crystal Palace is kicks off at 3pm on Bank Holiday Monday.

Driving to Selhurst Park can be a bit of a nightmare, partly because the roads can be pretty congested on Saturdays even without football traffic, and partly because it is of course right on the opposite side of London from Leeds. From the end of the M1 take the A406 North Circular Road heading west to Chiswick Roundabout. Take the third exit at the roundabout onto Chiswick High Road, then first left onto the A205 signposted Kew. After 2 miles, take a left at the t-junction signposted Putney. Continue until the road merges with the A3, then a mile later, turn right onto the A214 signposted Tooting and Streatham. In Streatham turn right onto the A23 Streatham High Road and after one mile, turn left into the B273 Green Lane which becomes Parchmore Road. At the bottom of the road, turn left into the High Street, go straight over the crossroads and the ground is on the right. The 500-space Sainsbury's car park by the ground gets full well before kick-off, so the best bet is to head for the area near Selhurst railway station, where there is plenty of street parking.

Norwood Junction, Selhurst and Thornton Heath railway stations are equally close to the ground (all about 10-15 minutes walk) but please note that Crystal Palace station is about two miles away. Norwood Junction is served by trains from London Bridge, while for Selhurst and Thornton Heath you need to catch a train from Victoria. There are decent pubs near all of these stations, all of which are fairly tolerant of away fans.

There is a Wetherspoons directly opposite Thornton Heath Station and you can also visit 'The Railway Telegraph' if you cross the road and then walk 100 yards down the road on the right. From Selhurst station you can try the 'Two Brewers' in Gloucester Road (right outside the station and then the third road on the left) or the 'Clifton Arms' in Clifton Road (left outside the station and then take the third left), though as the latter is the closest pub to the ground the doormen will let in Palace season ticket holders only after 1.30. En route from Norwood Junction you can find 'The Alliance' and another Wetherspoons in Station Road, by the clock tower. Food-wise, there are plenty of Kebab & Chip shops on the route from Thornton Heath, while the nearest takeaway to the ground is the fish & Chip shop on Whitehorse Lane, near the Sainsburys.

Up to the mid-nineties the away fans were put in the corner of the big open terrace on the Holmesdale Road end, but that end has now been replaced by a large new two tiered stand, which was naturally deemed to be much too good for visiting supporters. So we have to make do with the much older single tiered Arthur Wait stand down the side of the pitch. The rake isn't very steep, so fans towards the back tend to stand up to get a better view, until we get shouted at by the stewards. If they really want us all to sit down they could give us an incentive to do so by replacing the old wooden seats they have at the back of the stand. The view is also partially impeded by the low overhang of the roof.

There are plenty of the usual sort of football refreshments available, such as burgers and chips, but as ever it's more expensive than the scoff you can get elsewhere in the area. Alcohol is not served to away fans inside the ground, and for these excellent facilities we have to pay as much as £30 for adults and £18 for concessions. We have been allocated the whole Arthur Wait stand, so although we’ve already sold over 5,000 tickets, Leeds end hasn’t yet sold out, so if you get in touch with the ticket office pretty soon then you might still be in time to get one.

It's generally accepted that at least two sides of Selhurst Park need to be improved, but having only just scraped through administration last year Palace are a bit strapped for cash at the moment, so don’t expect to see any news on ground development any time soon.

Photo: Action Images

Leeds United Polls