When Pierre Sage was unveiled as Crystal Palace's new manager last month, he spoke with unusual conviction about why he had chosen the club. Beyond the league itself, he cited the supporters — specifically, the fact that Palace were the only Premier League side with an ultras group. "I like to play for the fans," the Frenchman said. What he did not know was that those very fans were about to vanish.

The Holmesdale Fanatics, the ultras collective that had defined the atmosphere at Selhurst Park for two decades, disbanded on the eve of the 2024-25 season. The consequences have been immediate and painful.

A void two decades in the making

Founded in 2005 by a group of season-ticket holders in Block B of the Holmesdale Road stand, the Fanatics built a reputation as one of English football's most creative supporter groups. Flags, flares, a driving drum, and European-style chanting became their signature — a far cry from the passive matchday culture that has come to define so many Premier League grounds.

After Palace's promotion to the Premier League in 2013, the group grew in ambition and influence. Their entirely self-funded tifos appeared not only at Selhurst Park but also at Wembley and Leipzig's Red Bull Arena. In 2019, they relocated from Block B to Block E, directly behind the goal, cementing their role as the vocal engine of Palace's home end.

Two defeats and a telling silence

The opening weeks of the new season have laid bare what has been lost. Palace have suffered back-to-back home defeats — 4-1 to Manchester City and 3-2 to Ipswich Town — and the flat atmosphere inside Selhurst Park was a prominent talking point after each game. A ground once renowned for its intimidating noise now struggles to generate sustained pressure on the opposition.

The Fanatics' departure was not entirely without warning, though it still caught many by surprise. Over recent years, tensions had mounted between the group and the club over fundamental differences in philosophy. The Fanatics championed a grassroots, supporter-led culture; the club increasingly favoured a top-down entertainment model, complete with pre-match light shows and music blasted at full volume the moment the final whistle sounded.

The group's own words

"We have repeatedly warned the club that likeminded fans cannot congregate at Palace in the numbers required to sustain a growing active supporter culture. There needs to be a drastic shift at Palace towards younger fans and a move away from a culture in which people attend the ground expecting to be entertained, towards a culture of supporters turning up to play an active role in influencing the result."

The statement, released in August, also addressed the wider pressures squeezing young fans out of the English game — soaring ticket prices, restrictions that erode supporter dignity, and what the group described as relentless legal harassment.

A complicated legacy

Not every Crystal Palace supporter mourns the Fanatics without reservation. Their 2019 move from Block B to Block E displaced long-standing season-ticket holders and bred resentment. Questions also arose during last season's UEFA Conference League campaign over whether the group had accrued sufficient loyalty points to occupy sections of away ends. Their political positions, always forthright, divided opinion.

Yet on balance, the Holmesdale Fanatics were an overwhelmingly positive force — and few would argue that Selhurst Park is a better place without them. Palace have already carried a curious home-ground vulnerability throughout their current 13-year Premier League stint, finishing higher in the away table than the home table in nine of those seasons. With the Fanatics gone, there is little reason to expect that record to improve. Right now, home is the last place Crystal Palace want to be.