Croydon Guardian sports reporter and lifelong Crystal Palace fan Graham Moody on what a difference three years make.

Three years ago next Saturday, Crystal Palace Football Club was staring into the abyss. With no money, no manager and no owners, Eagles fans were praying for a saviour.

Now we're going to Wembley praying for a hero to catapult us into the Premier League.

It is a remarkable story not even the best of us would have dreamed of in those dark days of 2010.  To go from that despair to this jubilation in such a short space of time toys with ones emotions in the way only football can.

And who do we have to thank for this emotional rollercoaster? Four of our own of course. When Steve Parish, Stephen Browett, Martin Long and Jeremy Hosking rode out of that black cloud and became instant heroes, even they didn't know how quickly things would happen and how soon we'd be standing here, at the gates of the promised land.

There have been mistakes along the way. George Burley sounded great, performed abysmally. But what do we do in times of need? Turn to one of our own of course.

Dougie Freedman may be persona non grata since his ship-jumping escapade to Bolton in October, but the man quite rightly has his name entrenched alongside the greatest of Palace legends. He saved us three times the saying goes, but he also laid the foundations for what could be one of our greatest days.

That's to take nothing away from Ian Holloway. Palace fans are notoriously quick to applaud and quicker to judge. Ollie has had it at both extremities.

But he has come through it and now he prepares to lead us out into the game with the biggest monetary prize in world football going for the biggest stage in world football.

I'd have laughed in your face if you had told me that three years ago.

Whatever happens on Monday, we must never forget how grateful we are to have a club to support. But wouldn't it be nice if that club was a Premier League Club?