The major change that had taken place, though, was the introduction of a new playing strip - no doubt inspired by the pre-season efforts against Dutch opposition - consisting of two broad vertical bands of claret and blue on a white shirt. This was clearly based on the design used by Johann Cruyff's Ajax of Amsterdam, but instead of making the team look slick and Continental, it made the players look disturbingly lopsided. A conscious attempt had obviously been made to drag Palace's image into the modern era of the 70's, but the previous design of claret with thin light blue stripes was infinitely preferable. The previously spare and sophisticated programme underwent a radical change too, being superceded by surely one of the most unappealing designs in history. The cover featured an appalling drawing of an anonymous goalkeeper smiling feebly as the ball sails past him and into the net; patently not Jacko.

The game against Newcastle gave their new signing Malcolm McDonald his first chance in the First Division, but he was unable to bludgeon his way through a well organised Palace defence, and Steve Kember's brief career as captain began with a 2-0 victory. It was too early <Picture>to assume that Palace could recover their excellent form of a year before, but the signs were good. The dramatic loss of form over the next eight games, then, is hard to explain. The only answer I can offer is that too many of the players, those with years of experience as much as those who had won promotion two years earlier, felt that they had arrived as First Division regulars and had become complacent, with the result that Bert Head was no longer able to motivate them. Over the next few weeks, as the team struggled to win just one point from eight games, it seemed that the harder they tried the worse they played, and the fans started to express their impatience more than they ever had before. Bearing in mind that the home gates were still averaging nearly 30,000, there is no doubt that they had a perfect right to expect a lot more for their money.

 On the Sunday morning following a 3-0 defeat at Spurs, the board met and demanded that the manager should take decisive action to reverse the decline. Within a week, Bert Head had sold his two most valuable assets; Steve Kember to Chelsea for a record fee of £170,000, and Alan Birchenall to Leicester. The justification for this was that the money would be used to inject a new spirit into the team with the purchase of half a dozen new players, in a most dramatic shake-up of staff. Three others to have played their last games for Palace were Phil Hoadley, sold to Orient, the disappointing Jim Scott, and Terry Wharton. The fans, already critical of the sale of Kember in particular, were even more bemused when the new blood was announced.

Bobby Kellard

Each day the newspapers reported a new signing; the first was Bobby Kellard, familiar enough to most from his previous spell at the club, and a straightforward replacement for Steve Kember in midfield, but John Craven, Sammy Goodwin and Bobby Bell were far from household names. Indeed, Goodwin had been making a living as a car salesman while playing part-time for Airdrie! The final two newcomers, arriving a month later, sounded distinctly more exciting; the Celtic pair John Hughes and Willie Wallace, both forwards with Scottish International caps and European experience.  

With the loss of Kember, John Jackson briefly became team captain, but by November this duty had passed to Bobby Kellard, one of the games natural skippers. With so many new players thrown together at one time, it was something of a surprise to defeat Everton 2-1, the goal coming from a young and enthusiastic Ross Jenkins, playing only his fourth game in the first team. By the time of the home fixture with Sheffield United in December, results had started to improve, and Palace were playing like a team again, albeit with a definite defensive bias. It must be remembered that Sheffield United were at this time lying near the top of the First Division, and after beating Ipswich 7-0, were being spoken of as a major new force in the game. The 5-1 victory that ensued was certainly the highlight of the entire season for Palace fans, and nobody who was there on that day, or who saw the highlights on television, will ever forget the two goals scored by John Hughes, who surprisingly only scored twice more in his 23 games for Palace. <Picture>'Yogi', as he had been known at Celtic, was so named because of his size and strength, and without ever having much speed, he had the ability to shake off defenders through sheer physical power, while keeping his head down and the ball always under close control. There was something immediately likeable about him, and he became a hero overnight with his performance that day. His first goal was a gem in its own right, a diagonal solo run from the halfway line completed with a strong left foot shot to put Palace 2-0 up after only 7 minutes. It was his second goal, however, and Palace's fourth, which ensured his place in history. Picking the ball up on the left, following a free kick for yet another foul on him, he seemed to move in slow motion as he lumbered inside, dipping his shoulders to shrug off a couple of challenges before working his way into a position some 35 yards from goal.

John Hughes

Without breaking stride he swung his massive right leg at the ball and produced a shot of such power and accuracy that it was in the net almost before the helpless goalkeeper could react. Palace's other scorers that day were Tony Taylor, John McCormick and Gerry Queen, and although Willie Wallace failed to complete a unique nap hand for the Scots, he also looked good on a day when everything went right for his new team.

As well as being a splendid performance, perhaps more important was the fact that the result lifted Palace off the bottom of the table, and in the process vindicated Bert Head's faith in his new players, and in particular his persistent policy of looking to Scotland for fresh blood. Unfortunately, Yogi Hughes was injured towards the end of that match, and only managed a further five games during the rest of the season. It was a season which turned out to be the usual hard slog to avoid relegation, which they did by once again finishing third from bottom, but clear by four points. Despite this struggle, the second half of the season kept the fans more interested than had been the case the previous year, and in the end survival was considered a fine achievement after such a dreadful start. Of the new players, Bobby Kellard was an unqualified success, with the fighting spirit that had been so lacking the year before, and John Craven showed occasional bursts of skill which promised better to come.

Willie Wallace

This had been the year of a well publicised 'referee's clampdown', a good idea in theory, but turned into a farce by the inflexibility of the authorities. Referees, who will always be considered inconsistent if the rules allow for interpretation, were suddenly given strict instructions as to what constitutes foul play, and for a while defenders were unable to tackle from behind, however cleanly. Rather than trying to attract referees of a higher calibre, and with more natural authority, the league effectively took some of the responsibility away from them, and the result was confusion all round, for players were now finding themselves penalised for playing the way they had been doing for years. The overall effect, far from encouraging skilful football - as had been the intention - was that teams developed more efficient strategies for cheating, following the fine example set by the mighty Leeds United.