Crystal Palace FA Cup trophy parade: Thousands of fans line the streets in south London - as Oliver Glasner and his side head to Selhurst Park to celebrate historic title
As the Crystal Palace buses carrying their FA Cup heroes reached the corner of Whitehorse Lane and Park Road, and Selhurst Park came into view, the grey clouds finally gave way and the rain began to fall.
The thousands who lined the narrow roads leading to the stadium pulled up their hoods and wrapped flags around their necks to guard them from the elements. A few even stuck plastic shopping bags over their heads as they waited for the coaches to come past.
Nothing, though, was going to dampen this party. Blue and red flare smoke filled the air. Children hung from lampposts and stood on garden walls, craning their necks to get a glimpse of their champions. A dad hoisted his daughter on to his shoulders, her pig tails held together with red and blue ties.
A couple of locals perched themselves on their roof, perched on the open bedroom windows.
On the top of the coaches, a beaming Oliver Glasner clutched the FA Cup trophy in his hands. Will Hughes partied with a scarf around his head a bottle in his hand. Ismaila Sarr wore a bucket hat and waved his flag, Jefferson Lerma set off his own red flare.
Dean Henderson grabbed the microphone and sang Palace's anthem Glad All Over. When everyone eventually made it inside Selhurst Park for their 'party on the pitch', the goalkeeper led a more sober reworking of Shakira 's hit Waka Waka than the one he performed in the celebrations after the Wembley final.
'We finished 12th, who gives a f***…we won the FA Cup!'
This is a feeling none of the thousands of fans here have experienced before, celebrating the club's first ever major trophy after Eberechi Eze's goal secured a 1-0 win over Manchester City
Street vendors flogging t-shirts, scarves and bucket hats did a roaring trade. The sound of vuvuzelas rang out like it was the 2010 World Cup. One man carried a cardboard cut-out of Glasner lifting the FA Cup down Whitehorse Lane, prompting a chorus of 'We've got Super Ollie Glasner' from those along the road.
Mail Sport spent the day among the jubilant Palace supporters, many of whom never expected these days to come.
'I never thought it would happen,' admitted 83-year-old James Pickard, who has followed the club for 75 years, here with two of his sons and three grandchildren. Another man in his late 60s wiped tears away as he admitted never belived this day would come.
Wherever you looked, you saw Palace fans from all generations, from every background, celebrating together. All of them united by their region and their club.
'That's what's special about South London – all races, creeds and religions,' added his son Stephen.
One fan strode towards the ground in his Palace shirt with 'grandad' written on the back, a present from his daughter, who suffered a still birth in February. 'I'll wear it with pride,' he said.
Another Palace supporter called Dan stood on a wall next to Mail Sport while waiting for the buses and told how he'd endured a power cut 83 minutes into watching the FA Cup final and only regained it as the game went into stoppage time. 'It was probably less stressful,' he added.
On the train earlier, father and daughter Andy and Ruby were ready to celebrate. Ruby wrapped herself in a Columbia flag in honour of defender Daniel Munoz, her favourite player, who was later named the club's player of the season. Andy has spent every day since the win checking the list of teams who Palace could play in the Europa League.
'If Tottenham can win it, we can,' declared another supporter marching towards Selhurst Park.
Later in the day, when the players took to the stage in front of thousands of fans on the Selhurst Park pitch for the end-of-season awards, Glasner spoke with the same ambition.
'We all will enjoy this journey, playing the Premier League, playing the Carabao Cup, playing the FA Cup and now playing the Europa League. Four competitions, four titles to win, let's go for every single one,' said Glasner, who gave no indication he would be saying goodbye to the Palace project just yet.
Palace chairman Steve Parish echoed those sentiments. 'Winning is a drug. There's no reason we can't do it again. The manager is already preparing for next season. There is no respite for anyone. We need to deliver in the close season for the manager and we are going to try to push on.'
When you've never done anything like this before in your 120-year professional history, you can't expect everything to run smoothly.
There was some disappointment that the short parade route, consisting just three roads around the stadium, had not been extended to include Crystal Palace Park, the club's old home and former host of the FA Cup final, but disagreements between the club and the local authorities meant it was not able to be organised in time.
A delay to the start of the parade also left fans stood around for longer than expected and some followed BBC News coverage on their phones to see how far away the coaches were. One lad got caught by a false alarm and let off his flare far too early.
But like Palace's long quest for a trophy, it got there in the end and was well worth the wait.
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