- Alan Pardew infamously broke out into a dance during the 2016 FA Cup final
- The ex-Crystal Palace boss has opened up on the aftermath of the incident
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Alan Pardew has opened up on his infamous ‘dad dance’ during Crystal Palace’s 2016 FA Cup final defeat by Man United.
When winger Jason Puncheon made it 1-0 to Palace in the 78th minute of the match, Pardew opted to turn out and throw his best hip-swaying moves rather than the usual fist-bumping.
But just three minutes later, United equalised through Juan Mata, silencing one half of Wembley. Then, despite being down to 10 men, the Red Devils won 2-1 in extra-time through a Jesse Lingard screamer.
Pardew has previously admitted he regrets the dance and that he ‘never should have done it’, despite its iconic reputation on the internet.
And now, the 63-year-old has detailed the thought process behind his reaction, insisting it was not premeditated.
‘I do the dance after the goal and everyone remembers that super-slow-mo version,’ Pardew told The Telegraph.
Alan Pardew addressed his infamous dance during Crystal Palace’s 2016 FA Cup final defeat
He broke into a ‘dad dance’ when Jason Puncheon scored, only to be silenced minutes after
Juan Mata equalised, then Jesse Lingard scored the winner as Man United went on to win
‘But it literally just happened and was a spontaneous thing. Me and my younger daughter had been messing about, dancing, and she was teaching me to do some moves and it must have been in my head.’
Pardew then explained that he received ‘nasty’ backlash from people who made fun of him as they believed he had planned the dance before the game.
He added: ‘Of course, what really hurt me afterwards was people saying I had pre-planned it. There were a couple of nasty things said. But it was nothing like that. It was just a spontaneous moment.’
2016 was the third time in Pardew’s career as a player or manager that an FA Cup runners-up medal hung around his neck.
The Englishman was also on the losing side as a player for Palace in 1990 and when he was in charge of West Ham in 2006.
Pardew was dismissed as Palace manager in December 2016, seven months after his antics in the final.
Since leaving Palace, he has managed West Brom, ADO Den Haag in the Eredivisie and, most recently, Greek outfit Aris Thessaloniki.
Pardew also juggled his duties as a technical director and manager of Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia between 2020 and 2022.
