Get the candles and party hats out, FYP has turned 50!

And to celebrate reaching half a century of issues we are releasing our biggest edition ever; 64-pages of Palace reaction, opinion, nostalgia and a couple of big exclusive interviews chucked in. Here's what's in FYP issue 50...

• A massive exclusive interview with Palace cult hero Julian Speroni who has been here nearly as long as FYP. He looks back over those 13-and-a-half years, talks about working his way back into the team and tells us who the best outfield player to go in goal was.
• Another exclusive with Gary Issott Academy Director who also been at Palace almost as long as FYP. He tells Matt Woosnam about his 13 years at the Eagles and the challenges in getting talented kids into the first-team.
• We remember Attilio Lombardo 20 years since he joined the Eagles basically so we could use the Gazzetta style front cover too.
• A look at the future under Roy Hodgson and we try to work out where we'd be now is Frank de Boer was still in charge.
• We call out Brighton and Hove Albion for some untruths in their statement after the fan troubles at the Amex last month.
• Some love for Joel Ward after returning to form again
• We asses Palace's new Selhurst Park Main Stand designs
• We also look back over 50 issues of FYP and at 2002/3; the season when it all started for us.
• Plus loads, loads more.

**We sold out of hard copies against Bournemouth, thanks to everyone who bought a copy!**

If you missed out you can buy a downloadable electonic copy for your iPad/Kindle for just £2 here.

Geoff Thomas is a hero. A living, breathing, 10,500km bike riding, Crystal Palace captaining, leukemia fighting hero.

Every challenge he's had he's fought bravely. Whether that was as a professional footballer, as a cancer survivor, or as a fundraiser to help others fight the deadly condition. 

His latest challenge, following on from completing the Tour de France twice, was to take on the Three Tours. The Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and La Vuelta a Espana. Only 39 professional riders have completed the challenge. Only one team has done it. Geoff's team.

Geoff and his incredible team of fellow amateur cyclsits rode a total of 10500km, climbing more than 66000m across some of the highest peaks of Italy, France and Spain in 63 days of cycling.

Their goal is to raise £1m for Cure Leukemia, with the ultimate aim being to help them fully fund the Centre for Clinical Haematology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

Farr Vintners, one of the team's primary sponsors, donated £250,000 to Cure Leukemia upon the successful completion of the challenge. 

Congratulations to Geoff and his fellow riders Hayden Groves, Geoff Maltin and Doug McKinnon, as well as his support team and everyone else involved in the challenge. It's an incredible achievment.

You too can donate to Geoff's challenge by visiting his JustGiving page. You can also read up on the challenge, or find out more about Cure Leukemia's Quest for a Cure here. 

The undenialbly sporty FYP Podcast team are walking the Palace For Life Foundation charity marathon walk with Andy Johnson in October.

That in itself is going to be something worth watching, let's face it.

The Palace for Life Foundation runs a wide variety of programmes including employability courses, primary school healthy eating initiatives, powerchair, amputee, downs syndrome and mental health football sessions.

We are raising money for the Foundation but in return for a donation, you will enter a prize draw to win some FYP themed prizes.

THESE ARE THE PRIZES ON OFFER FOR DONATIONS

£5 - Enter draw to win year free subscription to the FYP fanzine.

£10 - Enter draw to win some FYP merchandise.

£25 - Enter draw to be a guest on the FYP Extraaa pod after a game of your choice.

£50 - Enter draw to be on full FYP podcast of your choice.

Make sure you leave your name on your donation to be entered into the draw

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

FYP is part of the Palace family and so is the Palace For Life Foundation which supports young people across South London.

The Foundation believes that everyone matters, irrespective of race, religion, beliefs or background. And by giving extra support to the most vulnerable, they aim to create a better community and society.

Palace's quickfire sacking of Frank de Boer has left fans questioning everything at the club. Here's Alistair Laban with some thoughts about the decision. 

That’s a bit embarrassing. The time between my tweet asking for fans patience and the sacking of our sixth permanent manager in as many years was only slightly longer than Frank de Boer's ’s ultimately unsuccessful reign at the Palace.

I know the reaction to De Boer’s appointment, tenure and sacking spans the full range of opinion from the Palace faithful, and everyone is entitled to that opinion, including me. Although I’m not going to comment on the outlook of fans and how that aligns with my feelings, it seems noteworthy that Steve Parish felt obliged to address some of the voices on Twitter last night. I agree that his record as a chairman stands up and he should be commended for his ongoing engagement with fans. Despite Parish’s apparent transparency however, there are many things that really aren’t clear, and as a result, serve to fuel modern football’s favourite pastime; speculation.

I don’t really care for offering opinion on what may or may not happen, but the usual topics in question have come into focus given De Boer's rapid departure. We have all shared (some more aggressively that others) our thoughts on the transfer window just gone – should we have spent more? Is the squad big enough? What happens if Benteke gets injured or suspended? Is there even the money available to acquire the targets? The answers to these questions merely lead to more questions about transfer policy and accountability. If De Boer had the final say, was he backed? If the board knew his plan, did they support it at the time of appointment? If there wasn’t total buy-in to this step-change and transformation of playing style, why was he appointed in the first place? How can just four games be long enough to make these changes?

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For me, one question has come up a few times and it is about to be answered; is Palace an unattractive club for players? Regardless of whether it was or wasn’t, it certainly won’t be going forward. The real issue that todays announcement highlights is the lack of direction and focus the club now has. I accept that Pulis and Allardyce left unexpectedly, but these were ‘recovery’ appointments, not considered, long-term choices. Palace fans are becoming tired of the crisis rollercoaster and the installation of De Boer was supposed to address that. What was seen as a carefully planned coup of a reputable coach (with a well known style) has ended up as a phenomenally premature disaster. If we can’t build this club for more than a few weeks, never mind a few seasons, why on earth would players want to move to SE25? They may sign for one manager, an end up with another just a few games later, just like Mamadou Sakho, Jairo Riedewald, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Timothy Fosu-Mensa have done. Spare a thought for the youth setup too – De Boer’s arrival was the best prospect for those youngsters in a decade.

Managers come and go; I accept that as part of football. But this isn’t the football for me anymore. Parish has alluded to the need to develop and build a club ethic, a legacy, a mantra, and this was meant to be the start of it. Instead we are left with a club in disarray and yet again, colleagues ask me ‘what’s going on at Palace?!’ I’m fed up with responding to that. If this is the Premier League, I don’t want it. I hate the money and lack of commitment to anything in the game; I’m bored of the demands of fans that feel entitled to instant success. We won’t get it folks; we are Palace from the Football League. If you want trophies and European football you have to wait. Not weeks, not months, but seasons.

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This decision is simply one of money. More so than Parish, I’m looking at Josh Harris and David Blitzer (the American investors). Noted by Robert earlier today, one or both of them appeared to have flown in and back to America over the weekend and no doubt would have discussed De Boer’s future at the club. I expect that Parish would have indulged in tweet tennis last night knowing full well that the manager was getting the sack this morning, after the Americans demand quicker dividends on their investment. Although you could suggest that the Americans don’t understand football, I don’t think I do anymore either.

I just want a bit of stability for a change. I want us to do the right thing, not the most profitable thing. I am ok with losing four on the spin. I’d even be happier ending up relegated and rebuilding from the Championship if it meant that we could keep a bit of our integrity. Our identity is being eroded by poor decision making and serious commitment issues within the club; the next appointment must ultimately rebuild our reputation.

Whatever happens next, if Roy Hodgson is the answer, I have no idea what the question is.