Chris Richards knows exactly what's at stake. He also knows how unlikely all of this is. It's been nine years since Crystal Palace last had this much at stake. The time prior to that? 1990. The club has never lifted the FA Cup. And while every trip to Wembley Stadium is sacred, it means all that much more to a club such as Crystal Palace.
So, as his team prepares to stare down Manchester City with the FA Cup on the line, Richards can't help but wonder: what if Palace pull this off?
“It’d go berserk if we won a trophy,” he told the Athletic recently. “It’d be insane. Regardless of the results we’ve had during my time here, the Palace fans are always there for you trying to pick you up. We’ve had some tough results but you wouldn’t know it from the way they’re there for you. It’s amazing.
“The Palace fanbase may be comparatively small but it’s selective. I’ll be in the city and they come up to me and are, like, ‘Keep going. We appreciate you’ and that means a lot. So being able to give back by winning a trophy would be special.”
It's a special game at a special time for Richards, who has spent this season proving that he's the U.S. men's national team's only Sharpied-in center-back. As the race for positions on Mauricio Pochettino's side heats up ahead of the Gold Cup - and, more importantly, the World Cup - Richards has elevated his game, finally taking a leap forward many believed was possible when he first burst onto the scene.
Palace have needed that, and they'll need him to reach an even higher level this weekend in the FA Cup final, which kicks off at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday. Richards and Palace are on the brink of what would be one of the biggest moments in the club's long history.
