Palace fan hoping to find the right pitch (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Crystal Palace fan hoping to find the right pitch

8:10am Friday 13th April 2012 in Football By James Pepper

A singer more accustomed to being in amongst the Crystal Palace faithful will have to face 20,000 of them this weekend.

Eagles fan Ashish Dharsi will fulfil a lifelong ambition when he steps onto the pitch at Selhurst Park on Saturday to sing the club anthem, Glad All Over.

The season ticket holder is hoping for a good reception, and hopefully a crowd sing-a-long, when he performs at half time during the game against Ipswich this weekend.

Based in Cheam, the 31-year-old is nervous ahead of one of the biggest performances of his life.

He said: "I think its excited nerves. I never expected this to happen, but now it is here, I can't wait.

"I have been a Palace fan as long as I can remember so just to be on the pitch will be a massive thrill. I always dreamed of scoring a goal for the Eagles and I'm sure this will be an equally amazing experience."

Singer-songwriter Ashish, who goes by the stage name D'Arcy, has a new single out on Monday (April 16) called How Can I Hate You and is hoping this weekend's exposure will help it into the charts.

He said: "The timing couldn't be more perfect."

The Amos Lee and Damien Rice-inspired performer is hoping the Palace anthem, a cover of the Dave Clark Five classic, will go down well on Saturday.

"It's a Palace anthem and the crowd already knows every word so I'm hoping for a big sing-along," he said.

"And hopefully they will support me and help get my single into the charts."

Darcymusic.com, the official D'Arcy website, sponsors one of the Crystal Palace cheerleaders, and the Crystal Girls are planning a special dance routine to accompany the performance.

The new single will be available to buy on itunes, via www.darcymusic.com. Ticket information for the match on Saturday is available at www.cpfc.co.uk.