'There is a sense of destiny’ – Voices of South London: Dan 'HLTCO' Cook

Next up in our series we hear from fanatical Palace fan, Dan Cook, the man better known by his online pseudonym 'HLTCO'. Here he speaks about Saturday's showdown with Manchester City and what it will mean to him to see Palace back at Wembley, for just the third FA Cup final in club history.

Q: Does this final, at least in the build-up, feel different to last FA Cup final in 2016?

A: The performance in the semi-final against Aston Villa has given every Palace fan, not necessarily an expectation of success in a final, but it now does feel different this time around, compared with 2016.

I'm not trying to sort of throw shade on the team from that season, because they did a fantastic job to get there. But you look at the quality of our players, you look at the age profile this time around, and I think there is this real steely belief in that group.

I think there's a lot to be said as well for the fact that, [Jefferson] Lerma made it to a final in the Copa of America, so did Daniel Muñoz, you had all the England contingent getting to the Euro 2024 final, you had [JP] Mateta reaching the Olympic final. So all of these individuals who have gone away and represented their countries last summer, got close to winning and did so playing some fantastic stuff along the way, they will have that experience of what it's like to lose in one of these.

I don't think it would have dented them, in fact I think they will redouble their efforts. So there is a sense of destiny for us. Obviously, that has to be tinged with logic given the fact that we're taking on Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.

In 2016, our league form going into the final wasn't great. We had the memorable win against Norwich when Jason Puncheon scored 'that goal', but bar that win, the backdrop wasn't ideal.

Things have been far more solid league form-wise this season and to be honest, if we hadn't had the tricky start to the campaign, we would still be very much in contention for a Europa League or UEFA Conference place, via our league position, regardless of the cup final.

What would a victory do not just for the club going forward, but for Palace supporters who have followed the club for so long?

I can't speak for every Palace fan, but I do think that our football club is special. If you grow up in South London and you choose to support Palace, you are by definition shunning the success and silverware on your doorstep that a lot of London clubs have.

We have a very wide range of teams that are followed in South London. I have lived in the same two-mile square my whole life in South East London, my dad was a Palace fan, my grandfather was a Palace fan. Now, I'm a Palace fan, my little boy is a Palace fan, it's in my blood.

We've never won anything, so then days like this and occasions like this by definition, it's beyond anything we can imagine in some ways.

The potential as well, in terms of what this would mean for us, not just the trophy, but in terms of the European tour that would follow. For all the detractors and naysayers, we could say there's a major trophy in our cabinet - that's what we're doing it for, because we love our area and it's what our family have brought us up to do.

That's the thing that washes over me every time we make it to a semi-final or to a final, is that you have to cherish these moments, we don't expect them as Palace fans, it's not why you get into support in the club.

But when they do come around they do feel incredibly special and I will soak up every single second of it, win, lose or draw, because you have to. You don't know when the next opportunity might come along.

It wouldn't change us [winning] I don't think, it's not like we're all going to be saying we're somehow a bigger club than we were before, it's just a culmination of the hope and the dreams that we've carried since we started supporting this club.

How do you see the Final developing tactically, where can Palace hurt Manchester City?

It does feel like this group is better suited to a game like this and I also think, and obviously it could well be me just trying to make the best of a bad situation in this sense, but I am actually far more comfortable going up against City in the final than I would have been against Nottingham Forest.

We tend to thrive as far as I can see in a situation where we can soak up pressure and look to it teams in transition with pace and power and Man City by definition will have to try and play.

They can't sit there and lock and soak up what we're doing and I think that would potentially play into our hands a bit more. I know we lost the game at the Etihad [last month] the 5-2 defeat, but we were, millimetres from Eze putting us 3-0 up in the first-half.

That was a game that completely shifted on momentum, but we showed we could create chances against them.

Oliver Glasner made a change at half-time in that game that he later said backfired - but he also said he would not be doing that again.

It's probably beneficial that we've gone through that and we've experienced the tidal wave of pressure that City can put on you, if you don't play to your own strengths and with your own style.

There's certainly a belief that it could happen - and that is all you need in a final really.

A win could make this an unparalleled moment in Palace history - but where does this game rank compared to some of the other big matches you've attended down the years?

That's actually a conversation I was having with my dad earlier this week, because we've obviously had moments of jubilation together down the years.

I was at Cardiff in 2004 when we won promotion via the playoffs against West Ham. I was 15 back then and, at the time, that was a huge day for us.

I think we went into that game unfancied - every just assumed West Ham would turn up and win, but we turned them over. Obviously, looking back it only gave way to a single season in the Premier League.

Survival Sunday would also be up there of course, I can't put into words what that meant, because we weren't just looking at survival from relegation, you were looking at the club potentially going out of business.

All of those emotions that come with following your club and having that structure to your week, having something that you are relatively defined by in terms of your personality - the risk of that being taken away meant it was another level of emotion.

But I do think in terms of visceral emotions, if we do manage to get over the line on Saturday, it won't necessarily be the same, because obviously it's a celebration - as opposed to relief. But it will still be another level, because of the nature of the journey that we've been on in the 15 years since that particular season. We've established ourselves in the Premier League now.

We've got a Europa League winning manager. We've got a young squad that have got potential and they're going to grow. And hopefully the club, with a Category 1 academy and all the facilities that we have there now, are in a very stable place.

But those who were there in 2010 have all played a pivotal role in paving the way for this - the likes of Darren Ambrose, Alan Lee, Danny Butterfield and Julian Speroni. You don't get here without those hard yards, and those players overturning a 10-point deduction.

The beauty is in the journey, as far as I'm concerned. In this cup run to the final, along the way we've beaten Aston Villa in dominant fashion at Wembley. We managed to get past Millwall in the South London derby in the previous round to that. We've already gone and made some fantastic memories.

If it culminates in a win against Manchester City, the best team in England over the last five years, that would be the perfect way to cap an incredible journey we've been on over the past 15 years.

Hopefully that moment in the sun, if we win, makes it all worth it.

You can find HLTCO on X here, and his Patreon, which features both a Palace and a general football podcast, here.

Match Details

Crystal Palace v Manchester City

• Saturday, 17th May
• 16:30 BST
• FA Cup Final
• Wembley Stadium
• Live audio commentary on Palace TV+