It’s not just our Men’s First Team who kick off their season on Friday evening, as our Under-21s side are also in action. Our Young Whites travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace in the PL2 season opener (7pm KO).
Pre-season
Hayden Mullins’ side visited Portugal and Canada as part of their pre-season preparations. The trip to Canada for the Kamloops International Cup proved particularly useful, as our Young Whites spent 10 days in North America, playing three games against Cavalry U21s, Vancouver U23s and League1 BC Selects.
All three matches were played in extreme heat against teams who are coming towards the end of their competitive seasons - and were therefore at the peak of their fitness.
We kicked off the tour with a 1-1 draw against Cavalry U21s, with Terrell Works’ low strike cancelling out Niko Myronuik’s early opener.
An eventful encounter against Vancouver followed, but Tom Olyott’s first half brace wasn’t enough as the Canadian side came from 2-1 down to win 3-2.
LG1 BC Selects were our next opponents as we put in an impressive performance in our final game of the tour. Aaron Loupalo-Bi gave us an early lead with a bullet header from an inviting Kristian Šekularac cross, before Joel Badger equalised.
Our Under-21s also played a number of behind closed doors while in Portugal and back here at Motspur Park to ramp up preparations.
A look at Palace
A lot like our Young Whites - who won the Premier League Cup - Palace claimed a piece of silverware last season. Palace won the Premier League International Cup, defeating PSV in the Final at Selhurst Park.
Palace only qualified for the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed sides in the competition but they comfortably beat both Wolves and Everton to set up a Final with PSV.
In league action, a ninth-placed finish in PL2 saw Darren Powell’s reach the Play-Offs, although they were narrowly beaten 3-2 by Liverpool in the Round of 16.
We played Palace twice last season, defeating them 5-2 at Selhurst Park in PL2 last August, before beating them again on our way to our Premier League Cup triumph, with a 3-0 victory at Motspur Park in the Quarter Finals of the competition.
Tickets
Tickets for Friday’s fixture are priced at £1 for Juniors (Under-18s) and Seniors, and £5 for Adults.
All tickets will be delivered digitally and will need downloading to supporters’ Apple/Google wallets.
Turnstiles will open at 6pm on Friday, with kick-off at 7pm. Block B of the main stand will be open for Fulham fans.
