Crystal Palace Football Club, often referred to simply asPalace, is a professionalfootball club based inSelhurst,South London, England, which competes in thePremier League, the highest level ofEnglish football. The club was officially established as a professional outfit in 1905 at theCrystal Palace exhibition building, but has origins as far back as 1861.[3][4] They used theFA Cup Final stadium inside the exhibition grounds for their home games between 1905 and 1915, when the club were forced to leave due to the outbreak of theFirst World War. In 1924, the club moved to their current home atSelhurst Park.
In their early years as a professional club, Palace initially played in theSouthern League, before being elected to theFootball League in 1920 and have mainly competed in the top two tiers of English football during its league history. Since 1964, the club has only dropped below the second tier once, for just three seasons between 1974 and 1977. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, they enjoyed a successful period as a top-flight club. After reaching the1990 FA Cup final, Palace then challengedArsenal andLiverpool for theEnglish league title in1990–91, eventually ending the season in third place, their highest league finish to date. Palace missed out onUEFA Cup qualification because of the limited number of places available to English top-flight clubs after theHeysel Stadium disaster. The club were also founder members of the inaugural Premier League in1992–93.
However, the club was soon to suffer a severe decline in fortunes after its relegation from the top-flight in 1998. This was due to financial problems which saw Palace go intoadministration twice, in 1999 and 2010. They steadily recovered and since their promotion back to the Premier League in 2013, Palace have achieved a club record-extending thirteenth consecutive top-flight season as of 2025–26, as well as reaching two moreFA Cup finals in2016 and2025, with victory in the latter final resulting in the club's first major trophy in its history. The club followed up this success by winning their firstFA Community Shield title that same year.
In 1854, theCrystal Palace exhibition building had been relocated fromHyde Park, London, and rebuilt in an area of South London next toSydenham Hill. The surrounding area was renamedCrystal Palace and included theCrystal Palace Park, where various sports facilities were built. In 1857, theCrystal Palace Cricket Club was established here using thecricket ground inside the park. Its members later lobbied for a continuation of sporting activities during the winter months and set up an amateurCrystal Palace football team,[5] who became founder members of theFootball Association in 1863.[6] They competed in the firstFA Cup competition in1871–72, reaching the semi-finals[7]and played in the FA Cup over the next four seasons, but disappeared from historical records around December 1875.[8]
In 1895, the Football Association found a new permanent venue for theFA Cup final to be played at thesports stadium situated inside the exhibition building grounds. Some years later, the Crystal Palace Company who owned the Palace and its grounds and 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.[9] 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,[10] who later became Palace's longest ever serving manager. 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 campaign, achieving promotion to the Southern League First Division, after being crowned as champions.[10] 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.[10][11]
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.[17]
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.
Historic Real Madrid visit and promotion to the top flight (1958–1973)
Alfredo Di Stéfano, who played for Real Madrid against Palace in 1962. TheCroydon Advertiser reported that his "move that led to Madrid's fourth goal was conducted with effortless ease at walking pace."[18]
The club remained in the Third Division South up until the end of the1957–58 season, after which the Football 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 towards the end of the1959–60 season, and his exciting style of football was a joy to watch for the Palace fans. The following season saw Palace gain promotion and they also achieved distinction in April 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 club continued its momentum.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.[19]
Palace's first ever spell in the top-flight of English football lasted from 1969 until 1973, and they 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" by the media, 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 First Division 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 was able to build on this success and the1990–91 campaign saw Palace challengeArsenal and Liverpool for theEnglish league title, eventually ending the season in third place, their highest league finish to date. Palace missed out on a European place at the end of that season partly because of theUEFA ban on English clubs caused by theHeysel Stadium disaster. Though by that time the ban had been lifted, it meant that England were unranked in theUEFA coefficient rankings used that season,[20] and this resulted in the English top-flight only being entitled to one European place in theUEFA Cup, which 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 founder member of the newPremier League in1992–93.[21]
The Holmesdale Road stand atSelhurst Park, constructed in 1994–95.
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.[22] 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,[23] and retaliated with a flying kick.[24] Cantona was sentenced to two weeks in jail,[25] reduced to 120 hourscommunity service on appeal. Simmons was immediately banned from Selhurst Park[26] and later found guilty on two charges of threatening Cantona.[27] More was to follow in March, when Palace strikerChris Armstrong was suspended by the FA for failing a drugs test.[28] 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.[29]
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.[30] 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.[31]
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.[32]
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.[33] 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 the new permanent manager for the2001–02 season.[34] After a promising start to the campaign, which gave Palace hope for a promotion challenge, Bruce attempted to walk out on the club after just four months in charge following an approach fromBirmingham City to become their new manager.[35][36] Palace put Bruce ongardening leave,[37] but eventually allowed him to join Birmingham.[38] He was succeeded byTrevor Francis, who had been his predecessor at the West Midlands club.[39]
Under Francis, Palace finished mid-table for two successive seasons, but he was then sacked,[40] and replaced by Steve Kember, who became permanent manager.[41] 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.[42] 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 following season, after drawing at local rivalsCharlton Athletic.
Crystal Palace fans protest – and await anxiously for news – outside theLloyds HQ in London on 1 June 2010.
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.[43] Due to the Football League's regulations, the club were deducted ten points,[44] and the administrators P&A Partnership were forced to sell key players includingVictor Moses andJosé Fonte. The Palace manager at that time,Neil Warnock, also departed the club in March. He had been appointed in the autumn of 2007, to replace former fans favouritePeter Taylor, who had a brief spell as manager.Paul Hart took over as caretaker manager for the final weeks of the season and 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.[45]
During the close of that season, CPFC 2010, a consortium consisting of several wealthy fans, successfully negotiated the purchase of the club.[46] 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.[47]
The CPFC 2010 consortium swiftly installedGeorge Burley as the new Palace manager.[48] 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 as manager on a full-time basis.[49] 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.[50] The following month, he was replaced byIan Holloway, who 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 Stadium.[51]
Established back in the Premier League, first major trophy and Europe (2013–present)
Holloway resigned in October 2013, after a poor start to the season.[52]Tony Pulis took over and steered the club away from relegation from the Premier League for the first time, winning the2013–14Premier League Manager of the Season for doing so, but resigned two days before the start of the following campaign. Following an unsuccessful second tenure for Neil Warnock in the first half of the2014–15 season, former Palace midfielderAlan Pardew was confirmed as the new manager in January 2015, and guided the club to a tenth-placed finish, their highest placing achieved at that point in the Premier League.[53] In the2015–16 campaign, Pardew in his first full season led Palace to the2016 FA Cup final, their first for 26 years, where they again faced Manchester United, losing 1–2 after extra-time. In December 2016, after a run of poor results, Pardew was sacked and replaced bySam Allardyce, who kept the club in the Premier League, but resigned unexpectedly at the end of the2016–17 season.[54]
On 26 June 2017, Palace appointedFrank de Boer as their first permanent foreign manager.[55] 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.[56] The next day, on 12 September 2017, former England coachRoy Hodgson was appointed as the club's new manager, and he went on to ensure an eleventh-placed league finish that season, twelfth in the2018–19 season and fourteenth in2019–20.[57] 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 finish.[58]
Oliver Glasner led Palace to their first major trophy, the FA Cup in2025, and European football for the first time.
On 4 July 2021, Palace appointed the former Arsenal captainPatrick Vieira as their new manager on a three-year contract.[59] Despite guiding the club to an FA Cup semi-final and a twelfth-place league finish in the2021–22 season, Vieira was sacked during the following campaign on 17 March 2023, after a winless run of 12 games left the club three points above the relegation zone.[60] On 21 March, Hodgson was re-appointed Palace manager until the end of the season.[61] He guided the club to safety, finishing comfortably in eleventh place. On 3 July, he was appointed permanent manager for a second time,[62] though he stepped down from the role midway through the2023–24 season.[63]
Hodgson was replaced by the Austrian and formerEintracht Frankfurt managerOliver Glasner.[64] Under Glasner, the club achieved a strong finish towards the end of the season, winning six of their last seven league games, and equalling the club's highest Premier League finish of tenth place (in 2015).[65] Subsequently, four Palace players (Eberechi Eze,Marc Guéhi,Dean Henderson andAdam Wharton) were named in the English national team forEuro 2024, more than any other club for England at the tournament.[66]
In the2024–25 campaign, Glasner led Palace to their first ever major trophy, with a goal from Eberechi Eze sealing a 1–0 victory overManchester City in the2025 FA Cup final, as well as ensuring qualification for theUEFA Europa League for the first time.[67] However, the club's Europa League qualification was soon under threat due to UEFA's multi-club ownership rules. Palace's major shareholderJohn Textor also owned FrenchLigue 1 clubLyon, who had qualified for the same competition.[68] On 11 July 2025, UEFA ruled that Palace were in violation of UEFA's rules on multi-club ownership, which resulted in the club being demoted to theUEFA Conference League.[69] Palace's appeal was rejected, with theCourt of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upholding UEFA's ruling on 11 August 2025.[70]
The club began the2025–26 season by winning their firstFA Community Shield title, beating Liverpool 3–2 on penalties after the match finished 2–2 in normal time. Palace's victory saw them become the first club sinceDerby County in1975, to win the trophy in their inaugural appearance in the competition.[71] On 21 August, Palace faced Norwegian clubFredrikstad at Selhurst Park in theplay-off round of the UEFA Conference League, the club's first official European match. Palace won the first-leg of the tie 1–0, withJean-Philippe Mateta scoring their first ever European goal.[72] The club advanced to thegroup stages of the competition after a goalless draw in the second-leg in Norway.[73]
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.[74]
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 in an historic friendly match a couple of years before. Then in 1966, they returned to claret and blue jerseys with white shorts. 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 byBarcelona. 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.[74]
Pete the Eagle – the club's mascot (2016).
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.[74] The club's nickname became the "Eagles", inspired by Portuguese clubBenfica, with the badge showing the image of an eagle holding a ball.[74] 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.[75] In June 2022, the club changed the year of its crest from 1905 to 1861, reflecting when theoriginal Crystal Palace Football Club was established.[76]
From 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, before the start of every home game.[77][78][79]
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 F.C. to play at the stadium.[83] When theFirst World War broke out, the Palace and its grounds were seized by the armed forces, and in 1915 the club were forced to leave 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.[84] WhenCroydon Common F.C. were wound up in 1917, Palace took over their old stadium located atthe Nest.[85] In 1919, they began the purchase of the land on which they would eventually buildSelhurst Park, their current home.[86]
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.[87] 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,[88] 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.[89]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.[90] 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.
A panorama of Selhurst Park from the Upper Holmesdale, showing from left to right the Main Stand, the Whitehorse Lane End and the Arthur Wait Stand
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 theultras group, also known as 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,[91] 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.[92]
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.[93]The Eastern Eagles,So Glad You're Mine andOne More Point were also published by fans in the 1990s.[94] WhenOne More Point ceased publication,Five Year Plan was launched in its place,[95] and maintains an online presence.[96] Supporters also engage in debate on twointernet forums, The BBS and Holmesdale.net which the club use as channels to communicate with the fans.[97]
Crystal Palace fans express their support for the club after it enteredadministration in 2010.
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.[98][99] In 2010, the new consortium headed bySteve Parish, sought the fans' input into future decisions. A few years later, the consortium 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.[100] 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.[101]
The club also enjoys a sizeable celebrity support.Kevin Day andJo Brand host an annual comedy night forComic Relief and the Palace Academy,[102] and fellow comediansEddie Izzard andMark Steel are also staunch Palace fans. The actorNeil Morrissey developed Palace Ale, a beer on sale in the ground,[103] while fellow actorBill Nighy is patron of the Crystal Palace Children's Charity (CPSCC).[104] ActorsTimothy Spall and his sonRafe Spall are avid supporters of the club. Radio DJDavid Jensen is chairman of the Crystal Palace Vice Presidents Club,[105] 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,[106] and was also a mascot for the club as a child.[107] He incorporated the club into his role as Tony inAbigail's Party.[108] The television presenterSusanna Reid revealed her love of Palace while taking part inStrictly Come Dancing, and visited Selhurst Park for inspiration.[109]Bill Wyman, bass player of theRolling Stones, is a lifelong fan.[110] British Olympic gold medallistAlex Yee is also a supporter of the club.[111]
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.[112]
The Crystal Palace Company owned the professional Crystal Palace football club during the early years of its existence. The club's first chairman 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.[113]
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.[114] In 1958, Wait became the permanent chairman, lasting until 1972 when Raymond Bloye took over.[115][116] 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.[117]
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.[118][119] 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.[120] The consortium also purchased back Selhurst Park fromLloyds Bank after a demonstration by fans put pressure on the bank to agree terms.[47][121]
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%.[122] In August 2021, another American investorJohn Textor bought a 40% stake worth £87.5 million, increasing to 45% in 2023. Parish remains chairman with 10% equity; Robert Franco and other investors own the remaining 9%.[123][124][125]
In June 2025, Textor agreed to sell his stake in the club toWoody Johnson, owner of the NFL'sNew York Jets and formerU.S. ambassador to the U.K.[126] Johnson signed the legal documents on 23 June with a deal of about £190 million ($256.37 million).[127] On 24 July, the club announced that Johnson's purchase was complete.[128]
Jim Cannon holds the record for the most Crystal Palace appearances in all competitions, having played 660 first-team matches between 1973 and 1988.[129] The defender also holds the record for the most league appearances, making 571.[130] 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.[130] GoalkeeperWayne Hennessey holds the club record for most international caps.[131]
Chart showing Crystal Palace's table positions since joining the Football League.
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.[132] Palace's official record home attendance is 51,482 for aSecond Division match againstBurnley on 11 May 1979.[133] 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.[133]
The highest transfer fee received for a Crystal Palace player is £67.5 million fromArsenal forEberechi Eze in August 2025, 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).[134] 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.[134] 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.
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.
To celebrate Crystal Palace'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.[136]
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.[139] 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.[108] 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.[140] 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".[141] Headmaster Keith Blackwell, who played Palace mascot "Pete the Eagle" in the nineties, fronted a series of Coca-Cola adverts in 1996, with clips of him in costume used in the commercial. Blackwell spoke about his role and the problems it caused at his school, when he would miss some PTA meetings due to Palace playing midweek matches.[142][143]
The club started playingthe Dave Clark Five song "Glad All Over" at home games in the early part of 1964, and the band also performed the song at Selhurst Park in 1968.[144] It became synonymous with the club, and the Palace fans sing it at every match.[145] The club released a cover-version of the song in the lead up to the 1990 FA Cup final.[145][146]
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.
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.[147]
The "Crystals" or "Crystal Girls" are the officialcheerleading squad of Crystal Palace F.C., which is the only club in English football that hasNFL-stylecheerleaders. 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.[148]
^Although the professional Crystal Palace F.C. was officially established in 1905, the club claim they are a continuation of theoriginal amateur football team formed in 1861.[1]
^This was a cup competition held from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of theSimod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and theZenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. It was created after theHeysel Stadium disaster, when English clubs were banned fromEuropean competition, as an additional competition for clubs in the top two divisions.
^This was a tournament organised by theLondon FA. It was first contested in 1908, and other than during the World Wars, was contested every season until 1974, when the tournament was disbanded.
^Matthews, John (August 1972). "Behind-The-Scenes Shuffle at Palace".Croydon Advertiser.... whose board he joined in 1948
^"New chairman ends freeze at Palace."Times [London, England] 27 October 1972: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 May 2013.
^"New Man Bloye Kills 'Moneybags' Tag",Croydon Advertiser, 27 October 1972, p.58 "Twenty two years ago ... seven men formed a board ... (n)ow the last of the seven, Arthur Wait, steps (down)"
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