“Be loud, be proud, be Palace” – Mike Rankine: The Voice of Selhurst Park

About to witness history at the FA Cup Final (Image: Mike Rankine)

I spoke to Mike in early December, with the idea this would be a nice read for fans to get to know the man behind the microphone at Selhurst. The club then decided to make a decision to replace Mike later in the month as stadium announcer, and in the New Year he left the role permanently. 

I was not going to post the interview after this, but with Mike's permission, I've re-written this to be a well deserved send-off for a man who gave so much to the role for almost seventeen full seasons.

When I announce a home goal scorer it’s very shouty and screamy, because I’m doing what twenty odd thousand other people are doing. When I announce an away goal, it sounds like I’m reading an obituary. That’s all so real.

Starting at Palace 

Rankine joined the Crystal Palace media team as a schoolboy of sixteen, looking to get involved in some capacity with any form of media and production he could. 

"A friend of mine Lawrence, who still works there now, was working there running the big screen, and he managed to get me in. For a few years I was doing various bits and pieces there, basic bits of graphic design, camera work, just anything really.

"One of my first real roles and responsibilities was going round the executive boxes and just turning all the TVs on. Not glamorous work! But it was something that needed to be done”.

Rankine kept turning up to do any job he could get his hands on, to keep himself involved in the team and the experience. It was in 2009 when he would land the role of stadium announcer.

“There was a guy called Ken who did it for two seasons, and his son was at the academy at Palace, so doing the announcing was clashing with being able to watch his son play. He left, and it left the club without an announcer going into a new season.

“I basically just stuck my hand in the air and said, ‘I’ll give it a go’ and that was the start of it. I started as a pre-season trialist, and I still haven’t heard back about the trial! It was the season we went into administration, when we almost went bust, but it’s all been up from there luckily”.

Mike lifting the 2012 Playoff Final trophy (Image credit : Mike Rankine)

Rankine landed right in the middle of the media team, just as he had been hoping for. Learning on the job, he consolidated his position as stadium announcer. He works a job in the week at a bank but ensures me that’s just to pay the bills – Palace announcer was his real passion.

Dream job as a Palace fan

When I was growing up going to Palace games, Rankine was the soundtrack of mine and thousands of others childhood every other Saturday.

I always assumed he was a Palace fan, as when we scored, he sounded as elated as everyone around me, and as deflated when we would concede, which was far more common...

It was a total pinch yourself moment, it’s going through the street, all the players are on there. I’m seeing loads of people I know in the street, I saw my brother hanging out of an upstairs window up Whitehorse Lane

Being a season ticket holder since ten-years-old, going with his Grandad and brother, Rankine talked about being able to do this special job as a Palace fan.

“It’s a job where you don’t have to be a Palace fan, right? The basic skill required is to be able to talk. But I think you can’t really fake caring about it.

“When I announce a home goal scorer it’s very shouty and screamy, because I’m doing what twenty odd thousand other people are doing. When I announce an away goal, it sounds like I’m reading an obituary. That’s all so real.

“When people say it’s just a game, at surface level it is, but being a part of it, being a part of

the club it’s really, really special”.

Opportunities from Selhurst and beyond

The role also gave opportunities like no other, from Wembley to open top bus parades, Rankine was at the heart of it all.

“The things that it’s allowed me to go and do are special as well. I’ve been on the mic at Wembley a few times now. I did the play-off final when we were promoted, the Man United final in 2016, the Chelsea semi-final in 2022, and then more recently, the [2025] semi-final and the final which was just incredible.

On the big screen at Wembley for Crystal Palace vs Chelsea

“Regardless of the result, just to be a part of it is so special. But then to be able to do it and then say, and we won the FA Cup was great.

“What topped it off for me was being on the open top bus parade, as they needed music on the bus. It was a total pinch yourself moment, it’s going through the street, all the players are on there. I’m seeing loads of people I know in the street, I saw my brother hanging out of an upstairs window up Whitehorse Lane!

“I had to remember I’m there to do a job, I’ve got to stay professional, but to be in such a privileged position to do that was just incredible”.

End of an era

Some more silverware further down the line, just the FA Cup. (Image credit: Mike Rankine)

In an age where atmospheres at grounds are being drowned out by soulless bowl stadiums, with tourists and ticket prices keeping ordinary people out, I worry this is a real step towards a neutral, media trained, dull atmosphere that the Premier League seem desperate to create.

Speaking to Mike, he spoke so passionately and with such pride about the work he did every other weekend in and around the club. It feels to be a real shame for his seventeen-year tenure at the club to have ended the way it has.

We spoke at length towards the end about our best, and worst, games at Selhurst and it made me appreciate how much more special his words make those great moments.  

Thank you from all Palace fans, Mike, for your tireless work over the years to make match days that little bit more special.