Crystal Palace ultras announce return after four month absence

The Holmesdale Fanatics will return to Block B this afternoon

Crystal Palace's ultras group, the Holmesdale Fanatics (HF), have announced their return to their original block in the corner of Selhurst Park for this afternoon's match against Burnley after a four month absence. The group have not been present as a unit for the first 13 matches of the season, but instead dispersed around the ground after a dispute with the club led to them not having a fixed block. The HF had intended to move from block B, in the corner of the stadium, to the central block E, behind the goal in the Holmesdale stand. The club had appeared to agree to the move, and thus sold block B tickets to other fans, but couldn't manage to agree an amicable deal with those who possessed season tickets in block E. This mis-communication led to the HF being homeless within Selhurst Park, which unsurprisingly contributed to a significant decline in atmosphere at one of the most lauded stadiums for its passionate home support. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Wayne Henessey admitted that the players found it more difficult to perform without the vocal support from the HF that they had become so accustomed to. “Obviously it’s not as loud,” said Hennessey after Crystal Palace’s 2-0 defeat by Southampton in September, when asked about the absence of the HF. “It’s disappointing they’re not there because they would’ve given us a good lift, a good boost even when we were losing and especially when we were shooting towards that end. I know they’re not there anymore and there is conflict – but we won’t go into that. They are a miss at the moment.” On Thursday, the club announced that there would be a new singing section from in block E, starting from next season onwards. Fans can now apply for tickets in the new section. And this morning, the HF issued a statement from their Twitter account, @ULTRAS_CPFC, confirming that they would be returning to block B in the corner of the stadium for Palace's fixture against Burnley on Saturday afternoon until end of the season. https://twitter.com/ULTRAS_CPFC/status/1068798610509258753 Palace have struggled for form this season after a strong finish to last season. The loss of Yohan Cabaye and an injury to Christian Benteke have proved to be significant blows for the Eagles, but with Selhurst Park rocking, the south Londoners will be hoping to get a result against Burnley ahead of their trip to the south coast on Tuesday, when they will play arch rivals Brighton.