This is hardly a revelation: many of us have been aware of it for a long time. It follows on, therefore, that Crystal Palace Football Club have also been aware for at least as long.
I can't help feeling it's a pretty poor show by them not to have put a stop to it all two and a half years ago. A simple apology on their behalf to the Albion would have sufficed: after all, it's not their fault that the coach driver was in a state. But to to be aware that one of their employees had left the place in a filthy mess, and moreover to have quietly sat back and hidden the truth whilst a media shitstorm- no pun intended- developed around it, thanks to another member of their staff, is a contemptible performance. If nothing else, the whole affair had the Albion launching an internal investigation in which- presumably- their own staff were under suspicion for a time.
The Albion are actually the only ones who come out of this with any dignity- off the pitch at any rate- as they chose to maintain a discreet silence, when it must have been tempting to put the truth out there. Whereas our opponents that day have, one can only assume, gone as far as telling their own players to keep the story quiet. And so they have done, until Paddy McCarthy has a couple of beers a long way down the line. Great work, Steve Parish & friends. You're a classy bunch.
Beautifully put