That's what happened in October 1978, when Palace were annoyed to lose to Fulham - and then even more annoyed that they had to do it twice.
In the current age in the Premier League, where every second has to be precise, the events of the game may seem unbelievable to today’s supporters.
It was already an afternoon to forget for Palace fans, as Fulham snatched the points with a single-goal victory – but it was equally ignominious for referee Eddie Hughes.
The officials arrived on the pitch just a minute before kick-off, sparking a three-minute delay; then, he blew his whistle for full-time early.
As the 28,000-strong crowd headed for home and the staff uprooted the corner flags, the officials returned to their room – only for one of the linesmen to note that there were still two-and-a-half minutes to play.
This had to be dealt with, and fast. The players had to be called back (it was thought that Nicky Chatterton was nearly out of the door) and a further five minutes were played in a virtually empty stadium.
The referee said that his watch had stopped, he restarted it and made an educated guess as to when to call an end to proceedings.
For budding referees, it teaches a key lesson: when it comes to the clock, never guess.