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Are Crystal Palace fans worthy of the ultras tag? 

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A few months back, two men released a video from a small home garage and pretended to be Crystal Palace fans who were discussing the merits of what makes them such feared ultras. It was never established who these two gentlemen supported but you can guess it was either one of the other London clubs or Brighton and Hove Albion given that these are typically the teams that Palace has the strongest rivalries with. 

There was, however, a strong hint that it could have been Millwall fans making the mockumentary given that they had just been drawn against Palace in the FA Cup third round. The Eagles would of course go on win the tie and progress to the fourth round, but success looks a long shot still given that the latest online football betting prices put Patrick Vieira's men at 25/1 to win the world’s oldest cup competition. If it was indeed Millwall fans then perhaps the defeat would have hurt less given how viral this video ended up going.

In essence, the video speaks about how the Palace fans have brought the "cultural phenomenon of the Italian football ultras to the terraces of south London."

In the next part of the video, the two men talk about how they intend to intimidate the opponents  by "clapping and singing in unison, in order to strike maximum fear into the opponents."

This is followed up by a rather namby-pamby dance that is meant to replicate what the Palace fans do on match day. Needless to say, it’s very funny and even some Palace fans have said as much in the comments section below the video. 

But do these two men have apoint or should we be referring to the Palace fans as legitimate ultras? It does of course depend on who you ask but you do have to take your hat off to the fans - the Holmesdale Fanatics - who set out on this journey 14 years ago. Indeed, Selhurst Park is a wave of noise and passionate coordination these days during every home match from the first whistle to the last.

Furthermore, such is the phenomenon that takes place every matchday at Selhurst Park, the powers that be of the club have given the ultras their own stand. In days gone by, this wasn’t always the case as they were initially allocated a corner of the stadium to show their support but over time, more lifelong Palace fans have wanted to join the ultras in their matchday traditions. The effect now, as mentioned, is a deafening wall of noise that has certainly helped the team establish themselves in the top division as they enter their ninth consecutive season of Premier League football since promotion in 2013.

In that sense, you would have to say that these ultras from south London are genuine and deserve the title as their extreme support has made the club a force to be reckoned with in the English top flight.