Crystal Palace co-chairman Stephen Browett has given his thoughts about the fixtures that were released for the 2015/16 Barclays Premier League on Wednesday morning. He has also discussed the crucial periods of the season that Palace will face.
Browett was eagerly awaiting the fixtures and was pleased to see that an away trip to newcomers Norwich City was first on the agenda. Speaking to the club website, the co-chairman said:
“It’s always really exciting to see what you’re going to be doing for the next year.
“It’s nice to start off with a trip to somewhere we didn’t go last year. It’s not exactly a new ground for Palace fans, I’ve been there lots of times, we’ve all been there lots of times, but it’s nice to go somewhere we didn’t go to last year.
“I think we always do quite well at Norwich and it’s a nice place. It’s a club that’s like Palace, it’s owned by people who love the club. Delia [Smith] and her husband are really nice people and they own the club because they’re long-term supporters, like us. There are lots of good pubs in Norwich and it’s a nice day out.”
Straight after the trip to Carrow Road, Palace will welcome FA Cup winners Arsenal to Selhurst Park. While many teams would like to avoid the big names at the start of the season, Browett saw this as an opportunity for a nice, early morale-boosting win. He is hoping that it’s too early in the season for The Gunners to click.
“Some times in the summer holidays people are away and the stadium’s not full, but I think Arsenal is one of the biggest games of the season, so Selhurst will be rocking for that one.
“I think you’ve got slightly more of a chance of getting something from them early in the season as well, because – obviously they are a great team – but hopefully they won’t quite have got into their stride at that stage and I dare say the eleven players who start for them will have been playing internationals in the last week or so. Hopefully we can catch them before they get into their full flow.”
Browett also spoke about the visits to the other two new clubs in the league: Watford and Bournemouth. But he could not hide his disappointment of playing away on Boxing Day.
“…we haven’t played them (Watford) since a certain game at Wembley, which was – for a lot of us – one of the greatest days of our lives, so we’ve certainly got lots of history with Watford. Hopefully we can replicate that last result against them again.”
The Eagles will end their campaign with an away to Southampton.
“It’s a shame, but hopefully we’ll be mid-table somewhere at least at that stage.”
