Crystal Palace Football Club, commonly referred to as simplyPalace, is a professionalfootball club based inSelhurst,South London, England, which competes in thePremier League, the top tier ofEnglish football. Although formally created as a professional outfit in 1905 at theCrystal Palace Exhibition building, the club's origins can be traced as far back as 1861.^[3][4] The club used theFA Cup final stadium situated inside the grounds of the Palace for their home games between 1905 and 1915, when they were forced to leave due to the outbreak of theFirst World War. In 1924, they moved to their current home atSelhurst Park.

Crystal Palace

Full name	Crystal Palace Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Eagles The Glaziers[A]
Short name	Palace CPFC
Founded	10 September 1905; 119 years ago (1905-09-10)[B]
Stadium	Selhurst Park
Capacity	25,486[2]
Owners	John Textor (45%) Josh Harris (10%) David Blitzer (10%) Steve Parish (10%)
Chairman	Steve Parish
Manager	Oliver Glasner
League	Premier League
2023–24	Premier League, 10th of 20
Website	cpfc.co.uk
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Palace spent their early years as a professional club playing in theSouthern League, winning various regional titles. They were elected to theFootball League in 1920, and have overall mainly competed in the top two tiers of English football during their league history. Since 1964, Palace have only dropped below the second tier once for three seasons between 1974 and 1977. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Palace became a force in the top flight and challengedArsenal andLiverpool for theEnglish league title in1990–91, but eventually ended the season in third place, the club's highest league finish to date. They only missed out on qualification for theUEFA Cup at the end of that season due to the limited number of European places available to English clubs after the lifting of theUEFA ban caused by theHeysel Stadium disaster. Palace also reached theFA Cup final in1990, narrowly losing toManchester United after a replay, and werefounder members of the Premier League.

However, Palace went into decline after their relegation from the Premier League in 1998, suffering financial problems which resulted in the club going intoadministration twice in 1999 and 2010. They eventually recovered and were promoted back to the Premier League in 2013, where the club have remained ever since and reached another FA Cup final in2016, again finishing runners-up to Manchester United. The club are currently on their longest continuous run in the top flight, achieving twelve consecutive seasons at the start of the2024–25 campaign.

The club'skit colours were claret and blue until 1973, when they changed to the red and blue vertical stripes worn today. Palace havea long-standing and fierce rivalry withBrighton & Hove Albion,^[5] and also share strong rivalries withlocal clubsMillwall andCharlton Athletic.

In 1854, theCrystal Palace Exhibition building had been relocated fromHyde Park, London, and rebuilt in an area of South London next toSydenham Hill. This area was renamedCrystal Palace which included theCrystal Palace Park that surrounded the site where various sports facilities were built. The Crystal Palace Company who owned the exhibition building founded the Crystal Palace Club in 1857 to play cricket before turning their attention to football. It had been lobbied by existing members of the cricket club to provide a continuation of sporting activities during the winter months. The company formed an amateurCrystal Palace football club in 1861.^[6] Many of its original players were members of the cricket club, and they shared the same pitch within the Crystal Palace Park.^[7][4]

The amateur club became one of the original founder members of theFootball Association in 1863,^[8] and competed in the firstFA Cup competition in1871–72, reaching the semi-finals where they lost to theRoyal Engineers.^[9] They played in the FA Cup over the next four seasons, but disappeared from historical records after a match againstBarnes F.C. on 18 December 1875.^[10] In 1895, the Football Association found a new permanent venue for theFA Cup final at thesports stadium situated inside the Palace grounds. Some years later the Crystal Palace Company, who were reliant on tourist activity for their income, sought fresh attractions for the venue, and decided to form a new professional football club to play at the stadium.^[11] The owners wanted a club to play there and tap into the vast crowd potential of the area.

The professional Crystal Palace football club was formed on 10 September 1905 under the guidance ofAston Villa assistant secretaryEdmund Goodman.^[12] The club applied for election to theFootball League, but were rejected and instead found itself in theSouthern League Second Division for the1905–06 season. Palace were successful in their inaugural season achieving promotion to the Southern League First Division, crowned as champions.^[12] They also played in the mid-weekUnited League, finishing runners-up toWatford, and it was in this competition that the club played their first match, winning 3–0 away toNew Brompton.^[12][13]

Palace remained in the Southern League up until 1914, their one highlight the1907 shock First Round victory overNewcastle United in the FA Cup.^[14][15] The outbreak of theFirst World War led to theAdmiralty requisitioning the Crystal Palace and its grounds, which meant the club was forced to leave and they moved to the home of nearbyWest Norwood F.C. atHerne Hill Velodrome. Three years later they moved again tothe Nest following the demise ofCroydon Common FC.

The Palace stadium was almost destroyed in an attemptedterrorist bombing of the1913 FA Cup final, when thesuffragettes of theWomen's Social and Political Union, plotted to blow up the stands.^[16][17] This was part of thesuffragette bombing and arson campaign, in which the suffragettes carried out a series of politically motivated bombing and arson attacks nationwide, as part of their campaign forwomen's suffrage.^[18]

The club became founder members of the newFootball League Third Division in the1920–21 season, finishing as champions and gaining promotion to theSecond Division. This achievement meant they joinedPreston North End,Small Heath,Liverpool, andBury as the only clubs at that time to have won a championship in their first season as a league club. Palace then moved to a new stadiumSelhurst Park in 1924, where the club still play their home games today.^[19]

The opening fixture at Selhurst Park was againstThe Wednesday, with Palace losing 0–1 in front of a crowd of 25,000. Finishing in twenty-first position, the club were relegated to theThird Division South. Before theSecond World War, Palace made good efforts at promotion, mostly finishing in the top half of the table and were runners-up on three occasions. During the war years, the Football League was suspended, and the club won twoWartime Leagues. After the war, Palace were less successful in the league, their highest position being seventh, and conversely on three occasions the club had to apply forre-election.

The club remained in the Third Division South up until the end of the1957–58 season, after which the league was restructured with clubs in the bottom half of the Third Division South merging with those in the bottom half of the Third Division North to form a newFourth Division. Palace had finished fourteenth – just below the cut – and were consigned to the basement of English football. Their stay was only brief. Palace chairmanArthur Wait appointed the ex-Tottenham managerArthur Rowe in April 1960, and his exciting style of football was a joy to watch for the Palace fans. The1960–61 season saw Palace gain promotion and they also achieved distinction in 1962 when they played the greatReal Madrid team of that era in an historic friendly match. This was the first time that the Spanish giants had ever played a match in London and was only two weeks before they were due to playBenfica in theEuropean Cup final. A full strength Madrid team beat Palace 4–3. Although Rowe resigned for health reasons towards the end of 1962, the promotion proved a turning point in the club's history.Dick Graham and thenBert Head guided Palace to successive promotions in1963–64 and1968–69, taking the club through the Second Division and into the heights of theFirst Division.^[21]

Palace stayed in the top flight from 1969 until 1973, and achieved some memorable results, arguably the best was a 5–0 home win againstManchester United in the1972–73 season. Arthur Wait stepped down as chairman during that season and was replaced by Raymond Bloye who appointedMalcolm Allison as manager in March 1973, with Bert Head moving upstairs to become general manager. Unfortunately the managerial change came too late to save the club from relegation back to the Second Division.

After the disappointment of demotion from the top flight, the next season was to prove even worse for the club. Under the management of Allison, Palace suffered a second consecutive relegation, and found itself back in Division Three for the1974–75 season. It was also under Allison that the club changed its nickname from "The Glaziers" to "The Eagles", and ended its association with claret and bluekit colours by changing to the red and blue vertical stripes worn today. Palace enjoyed a run to the semi-finals of the1975–76 FA Cup, beatingLeeds andChelsea along the way, but lost 0–2 in the semi-final atStamford Bridge to the eventual winners,Southampton. Allison resigned at the end of the1975–76 season after failing to get the club out of the third tier, and it was underTerry Venables' management that Palace moved back up to the top flight with promotions in1976–77 and1978–79; the latter saw the club crowned as Division Two champions.

That team from 1979 was dubbed the "Team of the Eighties", because it included a number of very talented young players who had emerged from the youth team which won theFA Youth Cup in 1976–77 and 1977–78, and they were briefly top of the whole Football League in the early part of the1979–80 season. However, financial difficulties suffered by the club caused the break-up of that group of players, and this ultimately led to Palace being unable to maintain its position in the top flight. Palace were relegated from the First Division in1980–81, coinciding withRon Noades' takeover of the club. They struggled back in the second tier and Noades even appointed the ex-Brighton managerAlan Mullery, which was very unpopular with the Palace fans.

On 4 June 1984, the former Manchester United andEngland playerSteve Coppell, who had recently retired from the game due to injury, was appointed as Palace manager. Coppell rebuilt the club steadily over the next few years which resulted in the Eagles achieving promotion back to the top flight via theplay-offs in1988–89. Palace followed this up by reaching the1990 FA Cup final, drawing 3–3 with Manchester United afterextra-time in the first match, but losing the replay 0–1. The club built on this success and the1990–91 campaign saw Palace challengeArsenal and Liverpool for theEnglish league title, but eventually ended the season in third place to achieve their highest league finish to date. Palace missed out on a European place at the end of that season partly due to theUEFA ban on English clubs caused by theHeysel Stadium disaster. Though by that time the ban had been lifted, it resulted in England being unranked in theUEFA coefficient rankings used that season,^[22] which meant the English top flight was only entitled to one European place in theUEFA Cup, and this went to the runners-up Liverpool. The club also returned toWembley and won theFull Members Cup, beatingEverton 4–1 after extra-time in thefinal. During the following season, star strikerIan Wright left the club to join Arsenal. Palace finished tenth, and became a founding member of the newPremier League in1992–93.^[23]

Palace then sold their other top strikerMark Bright to Sheffield Wednesday, and struggled to score goals throughout the next season which ended with the club relegated (Losing the final safety spot toOldham Athletic, who had a superior goal difference of -11, against Palace's -13). The Eagles also finished on 49 points, which set a Premier League record that still stands today, for the highest number of points for a relegated club. Coppell resigned andAlan Smith, his assistant at the club, took over as manager.

Alan Smith's first season as manager saw Palace win the First Division title and gain promotion back to the Premier League.^[24] Their stay on this occasion proved both eventful and controversial. On 25 January 1995, Palace played Manchester United at Selhurst Park in which United forwardEric Cantona was sent off. He was taunted by Palace fan Matthew Simmons,^[25] and retaliated with a flying kick.^[26] Cantona was sentenced to two weeks in jail,^[27] reduced to 120 hourscommunity service on appeal. Simmons was immediately banned from Selhurst Park,^[28] and later found guilty on two charges of threatening Cantona.^[29] More was to follow in March, when Palace strikerChris Armstrong was suspended by the FA for failing a drugs test.^[30] On the field, Smith guided the club to the semi-finals of both the FA Cup andLeague Cup, but their form in the league was inconsistent and Palace once again found themselves relegated, finishing fourth from bottom as the Premier League was reduced from 22 to 20 clubs.^[31]

Smith left the club and Steve Coppell returned as technical director in the summer of 1995, and through a combination of the first-team coaching ofRay Lewington and latterlyDave Bassett's managership, Palace reached the play-offs. They lost the1996 First Division play-off final in dramatic fashion whenSteve Claridge scored in the last minute of extra-time forLeicester City to win 2–1. The following season saw Coppell take charge as first-team manager when Bassett departed forNottingham Forest in early 1997.^[32] The club reached the play-offs for the second year running and this time achieved promotion back to the Premier League, when they defeatedSheffield United 1–0 in thefinal at Wembley.^[33]

The club's third campaign in the Premier League was no more successful than the previous two, and in trueyo-yo club fashion, Palace again suffered relegation back to the First Division at the end of the1997–98 season. The club also had a new owner when recruitment tycoonMark Goldberg completed his takeover in June 1998.^[34]

Terry Venables returned to Palace for a second spell as manager and the club competed in European competition during the summer when they played in theUEFA Intertoto Cup. Palace then went intoadministration in 1999, when owner Mark Goldberg was unable to sustain his financial backing of the club.^[35] Venables left and Steve Coppell took over again as manager. The club emerged from administration under the ownership ofSimon Jordan, and Coppell was replaced as manager by Alan Smith for a second time. Palace were almost relegated to the third tier in Jordan's first season, in2000–01. Smith was sacked in April and long-serving coachSteve Kember took over as caretaker manager and he managed to win the two remaining fixtures that would guarantee Palace survival, withDougie Freedman scoring the winner in the 87th minute on the final day of the season, securing a 1–0 victory overStockport County. Former Manchester United captainSteve Bruce was appointed manager for the2001–02 season.^[36] A good start to the season gave Palace hope for a promotion challenge, but Bruce attempted to walk out on the club after just four months in charge following an approach fromBirmingham City to become their new manager.^[37][38] After a short spell ongardening leave,^[39] Bruce was eventually allowed to join Birmingham,^[40] and was succeeded byTrevor Francis, who had been his predecessor at the West Midlands club.^[41]

Under Francis, Palace finished mid-table for two successive seasons, but he was then sacked,^[42] and replaced by Steve Kember, who became permanent manager.^[43] The club won their opening three games of the2003–04 season under Kember, which put them at the top of the table, but he was sacked in November after a terrible loss of form saw Palace slip towards the relegation zone.^[44] Former Palace strikerIain Dowie was appointed manager and guided the club to theplay-off final, securing promotion with a 1–0 victory overWest Ham. Again Palace could not maintain their place in the top tier and were relegated on the last day of the season after drawing at local rivalsCharlton Athletic.

Following that relegation, Simon Jordan was unable to put the club on a sound financial footing over the next few years, and in January 2010, Palace were once again placed in administration, this time by a creditor.^[45] Due to the Football League's regulations, the club were deducted ten points,^[46] and the administrators P&A Partnership were forced to sell key players includingVictor Moses andJosé Fonte.Neil Warnock had also departed as manager in the early part of 2010. He had been appointed in 2007, replacing the former Palace favouritePeter Taylor who had a brief spell as manager.Paul Hart took over as caretaker manager for the final weeks of the season. Survival inthe Championship was only secured on the final day of the season after a memorable 2–2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday, which was itself relegated as a result.^[47]

During the close of that season, CPFC 2010, a consortium consisting of several wealthy fans, successfully negotiated the purchase of the club.^[48] They were led bySteve Parish, the vocal representative for the consortium of four that also included Stephen Browett,Jeremy Hosking andMartin Long. Crucially, the consortium also secured the freehold of Selhurst Park, and paid tribute to a fans' campaign which helped pressureLloyds Bank into selling the ground back to the club.^[49]

The CPFC 2010 consortium swiftly installedGeorge Burley as the new Palace manager.^[50] However a poor start to the following season saw the club hovering around the bottom of the table by December. On 1 January 2011, after a 0–3 defeat toMillwall, Burley was sacked and his assistant Dougie Freedman named caretaker manager. Just over a week later Freedman was appointed manager on a full-time basis.^[51] Palace moved up the table and by securing a 1–1 draw atHull City on 30 April, the club was safe from relegation with one game of the season left. After another year and a half as manager, Freedman departed to manageBolton Wanderers on 23 October 2012.^[52]

In November 2012,Ian Holloway became the new Palace manager.^[53] He guided the club back to the Premier League after an eight-year absence by defeating Watford 1–0 in the Championshipplay-off final at thenew Wembley, but resigned in October 2013.^[54] Following a brief spell underTony Pulis,^[55] and an unsuccessful second tenure for Neil Warnock, former Palace playerAlan Pardew was confirmed as the new manager in January 2015.^[56] In his first full season, Pardew led the club to the2016 FA Cup final, their first for 26 years. Palace met Manchester United who they had lost to in the 1990 final, and the Eagles suffered disappointment again losing 1–2 after extra-time. In December 2016, Pardew was sacked and replaced bySam Allardyce, who kept the club in the Premier League, but resigned unexpectedly at the end of the season.^[57] On 26 June 2017, Palace appointedFrank de Boer as their first permanent foreign manager.^[58] He was dismissed after only 77 days in charge, with the club having lost their first four league games at the start of the2017–18 season while failing to score in any of them.^[59] Former England managerRoy Hodgson was appointed as the club's new manager the next day.^[60] Palace finished in eleventh-place in the Premier League in Hodgson's first season, twelfth in the2018–19 season and fourteenth the following season.

On 18 May 2021, the club announced Hodgson would be leaving at the end of the2020–21 season, upon the expiration of his contract, having achieved a second consecutive fourteenth-place.^[61] On 4 July 2021, Palace appointed the formerArsenal captainPatrick Vieira as their new manager on a three-year contract.^[62] Despite guiding the club to an FA Cup semi-final and a twelfth-place league finish in his first season, Vieira was sacked during the next campaign on 17 March 2023, after a winless run of 12 games left the club three points above the relegation zone.^[63]

On 21 March 2023, Hodgson was re-appointed Palace manager until the end of the season.^[64] He guided the club to safety, finishing comfortably in eleventh place. On 3 July, Hodgson was appointed permanent manager for a second time,^[65] though he stepped down from the role prematurely on 19 February 2024.^[66] He was replaced by formerEintracht Frankfurt andVfL Wolfsburg managerOliver Glasner.^[67] The club achieved a strong finish at the end of the2023–24 season under Glasner, equalling their highest Premier League finish of tenth place, and highest points total of 49.^[68] Subsequently, four Palace players (Ebere Eze,Marc Guéhi,Dean Henderson andAdam Wharton) were named in the English national team forEuro 2024, more than any other Premier League club for England at the tournament.^[69]

The original amateur club wore blue and white hooped shirts with blue shorts, although there were variations on this, it is thought their first kit in 1861 was light blue and white halves. When the professional Crystal Palace club was created in 1905, its choice of colours were originally claret and blue shirts paired with white shorts and socks tending to be claret. This was a result of the important role in the club's formation played byEdmund Goodman, anAston Villa employee who later became Palace manager. The club kept to this formula fairly consistently until 1938, when they decided to abandon the claret and blue and adopt white shirts and black shorts with matching socks. They returned to claret and blue from 1949 to 1954, but in 1955 the club reverted to white and black, using claret and blue trim.^[70]

There were variations on this theme until 1963, when the club adopted the away strip of yellow shirts as its home colours. In 1964, the club changed to an all-white strip modelled onReal Madrid whom Palace had played recently in a friendly, before they returned to claret and blue jerseys with white shorts in 1966. The club continued with variations on this theme up untilMalcolm Allison's arrival as manager in 1973. Allison overhauled the club's image, adopting red and blue vertical stripes for colours and kit, inspired byFC Barcelona. Palace have played in variations of red and blue ever since, bar the centenary season of 2005 which saw them wear a version of their 1971–72 claret, blue and white kit.^[70]

The club was relatively late in establishing a crest. Although the initials were embroidered on the shirt from the 1935–36 season, a crest featuring the façade of The Crystal Palace did not appear until 1955. This crest disappeared from the shirt in 1964, and the team's name appeared embroidered on shirts, between 1967 and 1972. A round badge was then adopted in 1972, with the club's initials and nickname the "Glaziers" before Allison changed this too.^[70] The club's nickname became the "Eagles", inspired by Portuguese clubBenfica, with the badge showing the image of an eagle holding a ball.^[70] This emblem remained until 1987 when the club married the eagle with the Crystal Palace façade, and although updated in 1996 and again in 2012, the crest retains these features.^[71] In June 2022, the club changed the year of its crest from 1905 to 1861, reflecting when theoriginal Crystal Palace Football Club was established.^[72]

From mid-2010 to 2020, the club made use of anAmerican bald eagle, called Kayla, as the clubmascot, with the bird flying from one end of the stadium to the other at every home game.^[73][74] The bird died in June 2020.^[75]

Since 2022, Crystal Palace's kit has been manufactured byMacron. Previous manufacturers includeUmbro (1975–77),Admiral (1977–80, 1987–88, 2003–04),Adidas (1980–83, 1996–99),Hummel (1984–87),Bukta (1988–93), Ribero (1992–94), Nutmeg (1994–96), TFG Sports (1999–2001),Le Coq Sportif (2001–03),Diadora (2004–07),Erreà (2007–09),Nike (2009–12), Avec (2012–14), Macron (2014–18, 2022–present), andPuma (2018–22).^[76]

The club's shirts are currently sponsored byNET88 (2024–present). Previous sponsors have beenRed Rose (1983–84), Top Score (1985–86), AVR (1986–87), Andrew Copeland (1987–88),Fly Virgin (1988–91),Tulip Computers (1991–93),TDK (1993–99),Churchill Insurance (2000–06), GAC Logistics (2006–14),Neteller (2014–15), Mansion.com (2015–17), ManBetX (2017–20), W88 (2020–22) andcinch (2022–24).

The club signed its first sleeve sponsor with All Football, a Chinese football-based social media application in 2017.^[77]

In 2023, Crystal Palace andKaiyun Sports announced their joint partnership for the company to become the club's official new sleeve sponsor.^[78]

In 1905, the Crystal Palace Company who owned theFA Cup final venue situated inside the grounds of The Crystal Palace, wanted a professional club to play there and tap into the vast crowd potential of the area. They formed a new professional Crystal Palace football club to play at the stadium.^[79] When theFirst World War broke out, the Palace and grounds were seized by the armed forces, and in 1915 the club were forced to move by theAdmiralty. They found a temporary base at theHerne Hill Velodrome. Although other clubs offered the use of their grounds to Palace, the club felt it best to remain as close to their natural catchment area as possible.^[80] WhenCroydon Common F.C. were wound up in 1917, Palace took over their old stadium located atthe Nest.^[81] In 1919, they began the purchase of the land on which they would eventually buildSelhurst Park, their current home.^[82]

The renowned stadium architectArchibald Leitch was employed to draw up plans, and the construction of Selhurst Park was completed in time for the1924–25 season. The stadium remained relatively unchanged, with only the introduction of floodlights and some maintenance improvements until 1969, when the Arthur Wait Stand was built. The Main Stand became all-seater in the summer of 1981 and more work followed in the next few years, when the Whitehorse Lane End was redeveloped to allow for aSainsbury's supermarket, club offices and a club shop. The Arthur Wait Stand became all-seater in 1990, and in 1994 the Holmesdale Terrace was replaced with a new two tier stand.

Selhurst Park's record attendance was set in 1979, with an official total of 51,482.^[83] After all the redevelopments to the ground and safety requirements due to theTaylor Report, the current capacity is 25,486.

In 2011, proposals were put forward to move the club back to their original home at the Crystal Palace National Stadium,^[84] but after the club gained promotion to thePremier League in 2013, there has been a renewed focus on redeveloping Selhurst Park into a 40,000 seater stadium.^[85]Revised plans for a new 13,500-seater Main Stand (extending overall stadium capacity to 34,000) were approved at a Croydon Council meeting on 19 April 2018.^[86] However these plans were subsequently delayed firstly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and latterly the club's focus on delivering its Academy upgrade at Beckenham which was completed in 2021. When the club finally began to push again for the stand redevelopment, further delays occurred due to opposition to the demolition of houses in nearby Wooderson Close. The club signed a legal agreement to provide replacement homes to relocate residents. In August 2024, the expansion of the Main Stand was re-approved by Croydon Council and preliminary works commenced with proposed completion by the summer of 2027.

Crystal Palace have a fan base predominantly from the local area which draws onSouth London,Kent, andSurrey. Their original home at the Crystal Palace was on the boundary with Kent, while Selhurst Park was located within the borders of Surrey, until theLondon Government Act 1963 sawGreater London encompassCroydon. The club's passionate support at home games emanates from the Holmesdale Road Stand, in which the ultras group theHolmesdale Fanatics have been based since 2005.

The fans have established at least two other supporters groups. The Palace Independent Supporters' Association was set up to raise supporter concerns with the club,^[87] while the Crystal Palace Supporters' Trust was originally established to enable fans to purchase the club during theadministration of 2000 and remained in existence up to the end of 2023.^[88]

A number offanzines have been produced by the supporters over the years.Eagle Eye was launched in 1987 and ran until 1994, with a number of contributors producing the replacementPalace Echo in 1995, which continued until 2007.^[89]The Eastern Eagles,So Glad You're Mine andOne More Point were also published by fans in the 1990s.^[90] WhenOne More Point ceased publication,Five Year Plan was launched in its place,^[91] and maintains an online presence.^[92] Supporters also engage in debate on twointernet forums, The BBS and Holmesdale.net which the club use as channels to communicate with the fans.^[93]

Because Crystal Palace are a London club, they compete against a number of other local clubs for the attention of supporters, but it does have a recognisably large catchment area of 900,000.^[94][95] When the new owners took control in 2010, they sought the fans' input into future decisions. They consulted on a new badge design, and when their chosen designs were rejected, the club instead opted for a design based on a fans' idea from an internet forum.^[96] The club have strengthened their ties with the local community, and through the Crystal Palace F.C. Foundation, they work with the local London Boroughs of Croydon, Bromley and Sutton to provide sports and educational programmes which they also hope will continue to develop their supporter and geographical base. The Foundation's work was recognised by the Football League in August 2009 with their Silver Standard Community Scheme Award.^[97]

The club also enjoys a sizeable celebrity support.Kevin Day andJo Brand host an annual comedy night forComic Relief and the Palace Academy,^[98] and fellow comediansEddie Izzard andMark Steel are also staunch Palace fans. The actorNeil Morrissey developed Palace Ale, a beer on sale in the ground,^[99] while fellow actorBill Nighy is patron of the Crystal Palace Children's Charity (CPSCC).^[100] Radio DJDavid Jensen is chairman of the Crystal Palace Vice Presidents Club,^[101] and acted as spokesman for the CPFC 2010 consortium during their takeover bid for the club. Actor, writer and producerJohn Salthouse was on the books of Palace as a player from 1968 to 1970 under the name of John Lewis,^[102] and was also a mascot for the club as a child.^[103] He incorporated the club into his role as Tony inAbigail's Party.^[104] The television presenterSusanna Reid revealed her love of Palace while taking part inStrictly Come Dancing, and visited Selhurst Park for inspiration.^[105]Bill Wyman, bass player of theRolling Stones, is a lifelong fan.^[106]

Due to their location in the capital, Crystal Palace are involved in a number of local derbies, mostly acrossSouth London. They enjoy rivalries with bothMillwall and former tenantsCharlton Athletic. The club have a long-standing and fierce rivalry withBrighton & Hove Albion which developed after Palace's relegation to the Third Division in 1974, reaching its height when the two teams were drawn together in the first round of the 1976–77 FA Cup. The tie went to two replays, but the second replay ended in controversy after refereeRon Challis ordered a successful Brighton penalty to be retaken because of reported encroachment by a Brighton player, although other sources also claim that this was due to contact from a Crystal Palace player. The retake was saved, Palace won the tie 1–0 and a fierce rivalry was born.^[5]

The Crystal Palace Company formed both the amateur and professional clubs. The first chairman of the professional Crystal Palace club wasSydney Bourne who was found by club secretaryEdmund Goodman after he had examined records of FA Cup final ticket purchasers. Goodman noted his name as one that had bought a number of tickets every year, and so met with Bourne and found him very agreeable to the idea of the new club. Bourne was invited onto the board of directors and elected chairman at the club's first meeting. He remained chairman until his death in 1930.^[107]

After Bourne's death, there were a number of short-term chairmanship appointments: Louis Bellatti (1930–1935), R.S. Flew (1935), Carey Burnett (1935–36), E.T. Truett (1936–1939), before Percy Harper's reign (1939–1950). Local builderArthur Wait established a consortium of seven other businessmen to purchase the club in 1949, and took over from Harper in 1950, initially rotating the chairmanship.^[108] In 1958, Wait became the permanent chairman, lasting until 1972 when Raymond Bloye took over.^[109][110] Bloye's ownership lasted until 26 January 1981, when property developerRon Noades and his consortium took control of the club. Noades eventually sold the club toMark Goldberg on 5 June 1998, becoming the second-longest serving Palace chairman behind Sydney Bourne. However, Noades did maintain ownership ofSelhurst Park, leasing it to the club to use. Goldberg's tenure of the club was not a success and Palace entered administration in March 1999. Although the fans established a group called the Crystal Palace Supporters' Trust in a bid to gain control of the club, millionaire and lifelong fanSimon Jordan negotiated a deal with creditors and the administrator, and a new company, CPFC 2000 took control. This company entered administration in January 2010, and it was not until June of that year that a takeover was completed by a consortium of four wealthy fans known as CPFC 2010.^[111]

CPFC 2010 was established by a consortium of four businessmen,Steve Parish,Martin Long, Stephen Browett andJeremy Hosking, with each owning a 25% share of the company.^[112][113] The four successfully negotiated a takeover with the administrator Brendan Guilfoyle from the P&A Partnership and acompany voluntary arrangement was formally accepted by company creditors on 20 August 2010.^[114] The consortium also purchased back Selhurst Park fromLloyds Bank after a demonstration by fans put pressure on the bank to agree terms.^[49][115]

In December 2015, American investorsJosh Harris andDavid Blitzer each bought an 18% stake in the club asgeneral partners for a total of £50 million, although the stake is now estimated to be 10%.^[116] In August 2021, another American investorJohn Textor bought a 40% stake worth £87.5 million, increasing to 45% in 2023. Parish remains chairman with ownership around 10% equity.^[117][118] Robert Franco and other investors own the remaining 9%.^[119]

Jim Cannon holds the record for the most Crystal Palace appearances in all competitions, having played 660 first-team matches between 1973 and 1988.^[120] The defender also holds the record for the most league appearances, making 571.^[121] StrikerPeter Simpson holds the record for the most goals scored in a season, 54 in the1930–31 season inDivision Three (South) and is also the top scorer over a career – 165 goals between 1929 and 1935.^[121] GoalkeeperWayne Hennessey holds the club record for most international caps.^[122]

Crystal Palace were inaugural champions of the newly formedThird Division in1920–21, which was also their first season in the Football League and so became one of only a small group of clubs to have achieved the feat of winning a Football League Division at the first time of asking. Their average league attendance of 19,092 in the1960–61 season and the attendance of 37,774 for theGood Friday game atSelhurst Park between Palace andMillwall the same season areFourth Division attendance records.^[123] Palace's official record home attendance is 51,482 for aSecond Division match againstBurnley on 11 May 1979.^[124] The club's biggest victory margin in the league was the 9–0 home win againstBarrow in the Fourth Division in 1959, while their heaviest defeat in the league was by the same scoreline away toLiverpool in theFirst Division in 1989.^[124]

The highest transfer fee received for a Crystal Palace player is £50.8 million fromBayern Munich forMichael Olise in July 2024, while the highest transfer fee paid by the club to date is £32 million forChristian Benteke fromLiverpool in August 2016.

The club's highest ever league finish so far is third place in the old Football League First Division, which is now called thePremier League, achieved in the1990–91 season. Palace hold the record for the most points for a relegated Premier League club with 49 (although that was in a 42-game season in1992–93).^[125] They are also the only club ever to be relegated from the Premier League even though they finished fourth from bottom, as it had been decided at the end of the1994–95 season that the bottom four clubs would be relegated in order to accommodate the league being reduced from 22 to 20 clubs for the1995–96 season; Palace's points total that season of 45 is also the second-highest points total in Premier League history for a relegated club.^[125] Palace hold the record for the most play-off final wins (4) resulting in promotion to the top flight. Each of these play-off final wins occurred at a different location: Selhurst Park in 1989 (the first leg of the two-legged final was played atEwood Park inBlackburn),old Wembley Stadium in 1997,Millennium Stadium inCardiff in 2004, andnew Wembley in 2013.

As of 4 February 2025^[126]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

The loans listed here are for players who are normally part of the first team squad or under-21 players who have made a competitive appearance for the first team or have been called into the first team squad for a competitive fixture.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Players with over 100 appearances for Crystal Palace can be foundhere

All past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be foundhere

To celebrate Crystal Palace F.C.'s centenary in 2005, the Palace fans were asked to vote for a "Centenary XI" from a shortlist of ten players per position provided by the club.^[127]

•  Nigel Martyn (1989–96)
•  Paul Hinshelwood (1974–83)
•  Chris Coleman (1991–95)
•  Jim Cannon (1972–88)
•  Kenny Sansom (1975–80)
•  John Salako (1986–95)
•  Geoff Thomas (1987–93)
•  Andy Gray (1984–87, 1989–92)
•  Attilio Lombardo (1997–99)
•  Andrew Johnson (2002–06, 2014)
•  Ian Wright (1985–91)

Statistics are complete up to and including the match played 29 March 2025. Not including caretaker managers. All competitive matches are counted.

•  
  Edmund Goodman, Palace's longest-serving manager, who was in charge from 1907 until 1925.
•  
  Roy Hodgson, who managed the club over two spells, between 2017 and 2021 and 2023 to 2024.
•  
  Oliver Glasner, the club's current manager since February 2024.

League

• Second Division / First Division / Championship (level 2)
  • Champions:1978–79,1993–94
  • Runners-up:1968–69
  • Play-off winners (4) (record):1989,1997,2004,2013
• Third Division / Third Division South (level 3)
  • Champions:1920–21
  • Runners-up:1928–29,1930–31,1938–39,1963–64
• Fourth Division (level 4)
  • Runners-up:1960–61

Cup

• FA Cup
  • Runners-up:1989–90,2015–16
• Full Members Cup^[D]
  • Winners:1990–91

Wartime Titles

• Football League South
  • Champions:1940–41
• Wartime South D League
  • Champions:1939–40

Regional Competitions

• Southern Football League Division One
  • Runners-up:1913–14
• Southern Football League Division Two
  • Champions:1905–06
• United League^[128]
  • Champions:1906–07
  • Runners-up:1905–06
• Southern Professional Floodlit Cup
  • Runners-up: 1958–59
• London Challenge Cup^[E]
  • Winners: 1912–13, 1913–14, 1920–21
  • Runners-up: 1919–20, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1931–32, 1937–38, 1946–47
• Surrey Senior Cup^[129]
  • Winners: 1996–97, 2000–01, 2001–02
• Kent Senior Shield
  • Winners: 1911–12
  • Runners-up: 1912–13

In the 1999 filmWonderland, the scenes of the character Dan and his son at a football match were filmed atSelhurst Park during Crystal Palace's 1–1 draw againstBirmingham City on 6 February 1999.^[130] In the stage and television playAbigail's Party, its character Tony mentions that he used to play professionally for Crystal Palace, but it "didn't work out", something actorJohn Salthouse brought to the character in rehearsals based on his own life.^[104] Salthouse also incorporated the club into the children's television series he wrote,Hero to Zero, in which the father of the main character once played for Palace reserves.^[131] In the first series of the TV ComedyOnly Fools and Horses, a Crystal Palace scarf could be seen on the coat rack, placed there by producerRay Butt, even though its character Rodney's middle name was Charlton, as his brother Del revealed on Rodney's wedding day: their mother was a fan of "Athletic" not "Heston".^[132] Headmaster Keith Blackwell, who played Palace mascot "Pete the Eagle" in the late nineties, fronted a series of Coca-Cola advertisements in 1996. Blackwell spoke about his role and the embarrassment it brought to his family, and clips of him in costume were used in the campaign.^[133][134]

The 2008 episode ofThe IT Crowd, "Are We Not Men?", used Selhurst Park to film the crowd scenes.

The Apple TV seriesTed Lasso filmed its stadium scenes at Selhurst Park.

Afterthe Dave Clark Five performed "Glad All Over" at Selhurst Park in 1968, the song became synonymous with the club, and the Palace fans sing it at every match.^[135]

Crystal Palace F.C. was the subject of anAmazon Prime Video five-part series released in 2021 calledWhen Eagles Dare, which documented the club's2012–13 season, when they achieved promotion to the top flight via the Championship play-offs.^[136]

TheDJ and presenter of Palace TV; the official Television channel of Crystal Palace Football club, is Jay Knox.^{[137][138][139]}

Crystal Palace F.C. (Women) is a women's football club founded in 1992, which is affiliated to the men's equivalent. They currently compete in theWomen's Super League and play their home games at theVBS Community Stadium inSutton, South London.

The "Crystals" or "Crystal Girls" are the official cheerleading squad of Crystal Palace F.C. which is the only club in English football that hasNFL-style cheerleaders. They were established in 2010 and perform before each home match and during half-time. The squad also performs at charity events as ambassadors for the club.^[140]

Bibliography

• King, Ian (2012).Crystal Palace: The Complete Record 1905–2011. Derby Books Publishing Company Limited.ISBN 978-1-78091-221-9.
• Matthews, Tony (editor).We All Follow The Palace. Juma, 1998.ISBN 1-872204-55-4

Citations

• The Crystal Palace Story by Roy Peskett, published by Roy Peskett Publishing Ltd (1969).ISBN 978-0-9501-0390-7.
• 100 Years of Crystal Palace Football Club by Rev. Nigel Sands, published by The History Press Ltd, (2005),ISBN 978-0-7524-3608-1.
• Crystal Palace Football Club by Rev. Nigel Sands, published by NPI Media Group, (1999),ISBN 978-0-7524-1544-4.
• Classic Matches: Crystal Palace FC by Rev. Nigel Sands, published by The History Press Ltd, (2002),ISBN 978-0-7524-2733-1.
• Crystal Palace Miscellany by Neil McSteen, published by Legends Publishing, (2009),ISBN 978-1-905411-55-9.

• Football in London

• Official website 

• Crystal Palace F.C. onBBC Sport:Club news –Recent results and fixtures
• Crystal Palace at Sky Sports
• Crystal Palace FC at Premier League
• Crystal Palace FC atUEFA