PUBLISHED
08:32 21 June 2012
By Terry Byfield
1905
Crystal Palace Football Club was formed at the venue of the glass Palace that stood at the top of Sydenham Hill, the current location of the National Sports Centre.
Crystal Palace entered the Southern League Division Two, playing their first match against Southampton Reserves at the Crystal Palace on 2nd September 1905. The match ended in a 3-4 defeat for 'The Glaziers' but they did not lose another game in the 1905/1906 season and finished as champions.
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From left to right: Back row: J Robson (Manager), T Walters (Director), A Daniels (Director), J Thompson, W Oliver, A Grant, R Rose, H Astley, M Edwards, A Cufflin (Director), S Bourne (Director), E Goodman (Secretary), A Birch (Trainer). Front row: G Thompson, R Hewitson, A Needham, W Watkins, E Birnie, W Innerd, G Walker, R Roberts. Sitting: R Harker, C Wallace. |
1907
Palace record one of their most famous victories as they beat Newcastle United at St. James' Park 1-0 in the FA Cup. A Horace Astley goal separated the sides and the defeat was the Magpies first at home since November 1905.
Newcastle went on to win the Division One championship and Palace finished 19th in the Southern League First Division.
1908
Right-winger Bill Davies becomes the first Palace player to represent his country on 7th March when he plays for Wales in their 2-1 defeat to Scotland in Dundee.
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The Crystal Palace Sports Ground pictured in 1911. |
1914
Henry Colclough becomes the first Palace player to represent England on 16th March when he plays in a 2-0 victory over Wales in Cardiff.
1915
The outbreak of the First World War led to the Admiralty requisitioning the Crystal Palace and the club was forced to move to the home of West Norwood FC, Herne Hill running track. Palace would continue to play at Herne Hill throughout the war in the London Combination League.
1918
As the First World War drew to a close Palace moved to a new stadium in Selhurst called The Nest. The Nest was originally the home of Croydon Common, but when the club folded Palace stepped in and leased the stadium from the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company.
The first Palace game to be played at the new ground was a London Combination league match against Queens Park Rangers on 14th September and the Glaziers celebrated with a 4-2 win.
The site of the stadium is now a Southern Railways depot opposite Selhurst station.
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The Nest. Palace's home from 1918 to 1924. |
1921
Palace win the inaugural Division Three title and secure promotion to Division Two at the first attempt.
1924
Palace move to a new purpose built stadium named Selhurst Park, playing their first match in their new home against Sheffield Wednesday on 30th August.
The land for the new stadium was purchased in 1922 for £2,570 and £30,000 was spent on the stadium's construction.
1925
The club finish 21st in Division Two and are relegated.
1931
Peter Simpson sets the Palace record for most league goals in a season as he finds the net on 46 occasions in only 42 games. Simpson also scored eight goals in six FA Cup games taking his overall tally for the season to 54 in 48 games.
Simpson's record haul included nine hat-tricks and he even scored six against Exeter City on 4th October 1930, another Palace record.
To this day, Simpson remains the highest scorer in Palace history with 165 goals in only 195 games.
1939
At the start of the Second World War, Palace were still in Division Three South despite finishing second on three occasions. During the war Palace played in a number of competitions including the South Regional League, London League and Football League South.
1948
Belgian Marcel Gaillard becomes the first player from outside of the British Isles to represent Crystal Palace when he plays in the 5-2 win over Watford on 14th February. Minutes later, Gaillard becomes the first overseas player to score for Palace as he finds the back of the net on his debut.
1958
The club becomes part of the newly formed Division Four and Arthur Wait begins a 16-year stint as Chairman. Under Wait, Palace win promotion to the top flight for the first time and Selhrust Park was redeveloped into a modern football stadium.
1961
Palace finish second in Division Four and win promotion to Division Three.
On 22nd November, Johnny Byrne plays for England against Northern Ireland at Wembley and joins a select few who have played for England whilst plying their trade in the third tier of English football.
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Johnny Byrne waves to his wife as he departs for England training. |
1964
Manager Dick Graham leads Palace to second in Division Three and promotion.
1969
Under the leadership of Bert Head, Palace finish second in Division Two and win promotion to the top-flight for the first time in the club's history. Local boy Steve Kember was the hero as he scored the winner against Fulham on 19th April to secure a place in Division One.
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The Palace players celebrate promotion to the top-flight. |
1973
Soon after Malcolm Allison was installed as the Palace manager, it was deemed worthwhile - in common with other clubs at the time - to alter the club nickname, crest and the image of the club.
The new crest included an Eagle, although the original designers insisted it should bear some resemblance to a phoenix - in relation to the fire that caused the Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill (in the shadow of which the team played in their early years) to be destroyed in the 1930s. From this time onwards the club has been known as 'The Eagles'.
The club's first period in the top-flight comes to an end as the Eagles slip into Division Two and a young Scot named Jim Cannon scores on his Palace debut against Chelsea on 31st March.
1974
A second successive relegation follows and Palace find themselves in Division Three.
1976
Palace finished mid-table in Division Three but the year will be remembered for a run into the FA Cup semi-finals. Victories over Division One Leeds United and Division Two Chelsea and Sunderland put the Eagles on the brink of becoming the first club to reach the FA Cup final while in Division Three.
At Stamford Bridge, Palace eventually succumbed to future Cup final winners Southampton and the season ended with the Eagles just missing out on promotion.
In March, Peter Taylor becomes the second Palace player to represent England whilst in Division Three when he plays in the victory over Wales in Wrexham, the left winger also gets on the scoresheet making him the first Palace player to score for England.
1977
Terry Venables becomes Palace manager and leads the club to third in Division Three and promotion.
1979
Palace win the Division Two title and a record crowd of 51,801 turn out to see the Eagles play Burnley at Selhurst Park. Ian Walsh and Dave Swindlehurst score to send the fans home happy and looking forward to top-flight football again.
In their first season back in the top-flight, Palace reach their highest ever league position when they topped the table on 29th September. Unfortunately the Eagles could not continue their good form and they finished the season in 13th place.
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Palace v Burnley in 1979 saw the record attendance at Selhurst. |
1981
After two seasons fighting against relegation in Division One, Palace finish 22nd and drop down to Division Two.
1988
Jim Cannon plays his last game for the club after 15 years of service. The defender played 660 games for Palace, a record for the club, and it is a record that is unlikely to be beaten for many years.
1989
After eight seasons in Division Two, Steve Coppell leads Palace back into the top-flight. For the previous few seasons Ian Wright and Mark Bright became the most lethal striking partnership in the division and it was two goals from Wright and a penalty from Dave Madden that led to a 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers in the play-offs.
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From left to right: Top row: G Nebbeling, P Barber, P Suckling, B Parkin, M Harris, N Redfearn. Middle row: S Coppell (Manager), M Bright, J Hopkins, G Thomas, G O'Reilly, D Madden, D Bailey, D Burke, I Evans (Assistant Manager). Bottom row: J Pemberton, G Pennyfather, A Pardew, I Wright, J Salako. |
1990
The Eagles found life in Division One tough, but they survived despite a record 9-0 league defeat against Liverpool. The Eagles got their revenge however, as in April they beat Liverpool in the semi-final of the FA Cup. In a match that many Eagles fans rate as their favourite, Alan Pardew's 109th minute header made the score 4-3 and sent Palace to Wembley for the first time.
The FA Cup final against Manchester United was one of the most exciting in recent years. Palace took the lead through Gary O'Reilly before United scored twice to take the lead. Substitute Ian Wright scored twice for the Eagles but a late Mark Hughes equaliser prevented the Cup travelling to SE25 for the first time.
Palace lost the replay 1-0, but the final put Palace back on the footballing map.
1991
This was to be the most successful season to date for Crystal Palace Football Club, as they finished third in the top flight (their highest league finish to date) and Steve Coppell took his team back to Wembley. This time they left as winners, beating Everton to take the Zenith Data Systems Cup.
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Geoff Thomas lifts the 1991 Zenith Data Systems Cup. |
1993
At the end of season 1992/93, Palace were relegated at Arsenal on the final day of the season with former hero Ian Wright scoring for the Gunners.
1994
Palace bounce straight back into they Premiership by winning the First Division title.
1995
Despite a brave display, Palace are relegated from the Premier League. The Eagles finished fourth from bottom but were still relegated as the Premiership was to be reduced to a competition of only 20 teams.
The year was an unsuccessful one for Palace as far as the Premiership was concerned, but in the two major cup competitions Palace got to the semi-finals. Unfortunately Liverpool beat the Eagles 2-0 on aggregate in the League Cup semi-final and Manchester United won the FA Cup semi-final after a replay.
1997
A last gasp goal by David Hopkin was enough to secure a 1-0 win over Sheffield United at Wembley in the First Division play-off final and take the Eagles back into the Premiership.
1998
Once again the Eagles top-flight stay was a brief one as they finished bottom of the Premiership. Mark Goldberg takes over the club and becomes Chairman.
The club's ambitions under the new reign were not to be fulfilled and the season ended with the club in financial problems and the business in the hands of administrators where it was to remain for two seasons.
2001
In July 2000, the administration period finally came to an end as Simon Jordan completed his takeover of the club. After just a few weeks of Crystal Palace 2000 Ltd, former manager Alan Smith was named as the new boss. The 2000/01 season started with supporters' confidence and pride in the club regained and an exciting new era ahead.
There followed a disappointing season, and with Palace sitting third from bottom, Alan Smith was relieved of his duties.
The season ended with coach Steve Kember installed as caretaker manager with two games left. The club retained their place in the First Division with a victory in the last game at Stockport County thanks to a goal from Dougie Freedman.
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Steve Kember is held aloft by Aki Riihilahti, Dougie Freedman, Clinton Morrison and Mikael Forssell after Palace's last gasp escape from relegation. |
2004
At the start of the year, Palace were in the bottom four of the First Division but Iain Dowie arrived as manager and a remarkable run of results lifted Palace into a play-off place. The Eagles overcame Sunderland on penalties to reach the final in Cardiff where Neil Shipperley's goal was enough to beat West Ham United and take Palace back into the Premiership.
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Palace celebrate their play-off victory over West Ham United. |
2005
Palace's trip back to the Premiership started with an away draw with fellow newcomers Norwich City and the start of Andrew Johnson's goal tally. Palace proved they were not afraid of the big guns throughout the season, taking points from Premier League champions Arsenal and Manchester United with home draws. There were full points from Tottenham, Fulham, Aston Villa and future European Champions Liverpool. The season also saw a Palace player back in an England shirt for the first time in 12 years, with Andrew Johnson coming on as substitute in the game against the Netherlands.
The season culminated in a very close finish with all of the bottom four teams having a chance to escape the drop in the last game of the season. Palace were away to Charlton and in the course of the day, the bottom four all kept changing places. Palace had a foot in the Premiership with the help of goals from Dougie Freedman and Johnson only to lose the three points with eight minutes to go with Charlton's equaliser. Along with West Brom's victory, Palace's relegation was sealed.
2006
Life back in the Championship was hard going for the Eagles but they still managed to reach the play-offs. A 3-0 defeat at home to Watford in the semi-finals put paid to another appearance at Cardiff and the Eagles were destined to another season in the Championship.
It was all change in the summer as manager Iain Dowie departed along with striker Andrew Johnson (for a club record £8.6m fee), Fitz Hall, Player of the Year Emmerson Boyce and Mikele Leigertwood. A few weeks after Dowie's departure former Palace player Peter Taylor was appointed as the new boss with hopes high for a successful 2006/07 season. The season started brightly too, with the team winning their first three games to top the early season table.
However, a barren run through October saw the team slip away from the promotion race and into the mid-table of the Championship. Things picked up as the year came to a close and Palace enjoyed a productive spell over the festive period to head into 2007.
2007
The year started with a convincing win over Norwich City at Selurst Park on New Year's Day and the Eagles looked a much tougher nut to crack in the second half of the 2006/07 campaign.
A decent run through January and February saw Taylor's men flirt with the top six, but they ultimately fell just short with the manager and players admitting that the first half of the season had cost them their chance of really challenging for promotion on this occasion.
A poor start to the following campaign saw Taylor depart and replaced by Neil Warnock who, after inititially failing to get a win in his first six games, led the Eagles to a 12-game unbeaten run - their best sequence in Simon Jordan's chairmanship - by the turn of the year.
Warnock was rewarded for the Eagles' rise to a position on the edge of the play-offs by scooping Manager of the Month for December.
2008
An excellent 3-0 away win over other promotion hopefuls, Wolves, was the highlight of January. Clinton Morrison opened the scoring with a powerful shot from just inside the box before Sean Scannell doubled the lead with a close range strike. The afternoon was capped off in memorable style when James Scowcroft capitalised on a headed clearance to unleash an unstoppable 25-yard volley past the keeper - a goal that eventually won Goal of the Season at the 07/08 Player of the Year awards.
February saw scoring draws keeping them in contention around the Play-Off area. But it was in March and April where Palace began to pick up momentum at the right time with a total of 22 points from a possible 33 a creditable haul in a busy period of games.
On the final day of the season, Palace were placed sixth and met Burnley. A five goal thrashing ensued with goals from Ben Watson, Tom Soares, Scott Sinclair and Morrison securing an eventual fifth spot and a Play-Off fixture with Bristol City.
The first leg was played out at a packed Selhurst Park crowd who watched in the bright sunshine as Palace succumbed to an early set back. A well worked free kick, later revealed as 'The Weasel', saw Louis Carey end a neat passing move to fire past Julian Speroni. Ben Watson brought a goal back from the penalty spot late in the second half, after Jose Fonte had been felled in the area by a desperate Carey challenge. But it was David Noble who left a bitter taste in the home fans' mouths. Deep into stoppage time the ball was fed to him by Nick Carle, 30 yards out from goal, and the little midfielder unleashed a dipping drive that flew past Speroni and into the postage stamp in the top corner.
It was a blow to the Eagles hopes going into the second leg, with a 2-1 defecit being turned around away from home a rarely achieved feat. However, Warnock's men set out their stall early at Vicarage Road and took an early lead through Ben Watson when he looped a header over a stranded Adriano Basso from outside the box.
Midway through the second half and Palace were awarded a golden opportunity to take the aggregate lead when Carle was adjudged to have brought Soares down in the area. Watson stepped up but, unlike his Saturday penalty, the ball richocheted off the base of the post and to safety.
The game seeped into extra time, but unfortunately, it turned out to be a step too far for Warnock's young side. A goal in the first half from Lee Trundle was added to by a Michael McIndoe free-kick to seal the victory for the Gloucestershire outfit.
2009
Palace fans had good reason to be optimistic for the future in 2009, as alongside the progression of Sean Scannell and Victor Moses, Selhurst Park welcomed right-back Nathaniel Clyne to the team. Clyne would go on to make 29 appearances in all competitions in his debut season.
After a bright start to the season the lack of a cutting edge told after Christmas, where the turn of the year saw the Eagles gradually slide down the table.
Having picked up 13 points from 18 in December and reaching a season high of fifth place, the club ended January on a four game losing streak, including a 1-0 loss at The Valley to struggling rivals Charlton Athletic.
Bad luck was a continuing theme throughout the season and reared its head during the visit of Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys somehow exited Selhurst Park with a 4-1 victory despite Palace dominating most of a controversial game.
Attendances slipped with the results as the lowest attendance of the season took in Palace's lone home game of February, where only 12,847 fans turned up to see the 0-0 mid-week draw with Birmingham City.
However, the Eagles picked it up in March with a win over Preston and goals from Jose Fonte, Victor Moses and top-scorer Shefki Kuqi ensuring a 3-1 victory over the Swans on their first visit to Swansea since 1983. Victory here meant Palace had a reasonable chance of making the play-offs - Preston were now only 10 points off with two games in hand.
Results in April though meant any lingering hopes of making the top six were extinguished as three consecutive draws with Reading, QPR and Coventry left an 11 point gap. The latter game did provide the stage for yet another academy prospect, Kieran Cadogan, who marked his debut with the equalising goal.
The final game of the month bought with it more bad luck with the Eagles losing 2-0 at the Keepmoat having hit the woodwork three times in a five minute spell.
Although out of it themselves, the final game of the 08/09 season saw the visit of play-off chasing Sheffield United, whose 7,000 travelling support helped provide Selhurst's biggest attendance of the season, with over 22,000 seeing yet another inspired Julian Speroni performance. The 'keeper ensured a 0-0 draw, enough for United to stay in the play-offs and Palace to cement 15th position.
Fans may have been forgiven for losing the optimism of the previous season though as the 2009/10 campaign started under a cloud. Palace were the subject of a transfer embargo imposed by the Football League.
Darren Ambrose's brace against former club Ipswich Town ensured the first three points of the campaign before the visits of Newcastle United an Manchester City in the League cup provided some much needed revenue for the club- Neil Warnock was limited for the second time by an embargo, with instalments from Alan Lee's transfer now added to the list of unpaid items.
September looked like it was going to be a hard month following a 4-0 home loss to Scunthorpe but two brilliant results against Derby and promotion chasers WBA lifted the gloom. A draw with Sheffield Wednesday rounded off the month and left the Eagles in the play-off mix.
The next two months provided just two losses as the Eagles soared up the table and looked like mounting a play-off charge going into the new year, before the club's money problems really hit home.
2010
Palace narrowly avoided relegation to League One on the final day of the 2009/10 season when a 2-2 draw against Sheffield Wednesday was just enough to keep the Eagles up and send the Owls down.
It was a campaign that will go down as one of the most memorable in the club's history considering the following:
First there was Freddie Sears' perfectly legitimate goal disallowed at Bristol City, then the club was paired with Premier League outfit Manchester City to Selhurst in the League Cup.
That was followed up with an FA Cup run that pitted us against Wolves, which included the fastest hat trick in the club's history by Danny Butterfield and then Aston Villa where a draw at Selhurst Park was followed by a 3-1 defeat at Villa Park.
The club then went into administration; Neil Warnock left for QPR; Victor Moses went to Wigan, and the club came within 90 minutes of being relegated to League One.
On Tuesday 2nd March when Paul Hart was named as Manager and, along with his new team of Dougie Freedman as his Assistant and John Pemberton as his First Team Coach, he was charged with one task - keeping Palace in the Championship.
But after picking up three wins, five draws and five defeats from 13 games it meant that survival would all depend on the final game of the season - away at Sheffield Wednesday.
Over 37,000 people crammed into Hillsborugh to watch both sides battle it out for their Championship lives. For Palace anything but defeat would be good enough, but for Wednesday they needed a win and nothing less.
In front of the television cameras, Palace refused to shrink beneath the imposing home atmosphere and rose to the occasion by going 2-1 up, thanks to goals from Alan Lee and Darren Ambrose, with just under half an hour to go.
Darren Purse scored with three minutes left of normal play to make things a little nervy towards the end but Paul Hart's Eagles held on to the draw to ensure the Eagles would be playing Championship football in the 2010/11 season.
The summer months saw the takeover completed and CPFC 2010 took control of the club and the consortium named George Burley as the new first team manager with Dougie Freedman named as his assistant.
2011
Palace began the year in the relegation zone and a 3-0 defeat against close rivals Millwall led to the dismissal of manager George Burley, who had been appointed six months earlier. Dougie Freedman took over as caretaker manager as Palace beat relegation rivals Preston at Selhurst Park before being knocked out of the FA Cup by Coventry.
Dougie appointed a new coaching team with the experienced Lennie Lawrence joining as Assistant Manager and former Palace defender Tony Popovic coming in as first team coach.
A spectacular goal from Darren Ambrose provided an invaluable win at home to Sheffield United in February. The midfielder, after some neat work from Sean Scannell and James Vaughan flicked the ball up with his left-foot and thundered a right-footed volley past Steve Simonsen. Not only did Ambrose win goal of the season but that strike put five points between Palace and their fellow strugglers.
Despite looking over their shoulders at the wrong end of the table, a 13 game unbeaten home run, which included wins over Middlesborough and Cardiff, ensured there was always a gap between the Eagles and the bottom three. But when that streak was ended by third from bottom Scunthorpe, who left Selhurst with a 2-1 win, Palace were dragged straight back into the mire.
Even so the spirit of the squad was not broken and with a 0-0 draw with Doncaster preceding a 1-0 home victory over Leeds saw the side restore a six point gap over the third bottom side, Sheffield United.
The club finally came through safely and Championship survival was secured with a draw at Hull City on the penultimate weekend of the season.
After the previous season's heroics and the takeover of CPFC 2010, Palace stormed into the 2011/12 season, with a strong impetus being put on youth and the likes of Nathaniel Clyne, Wilfried Zaha, Sean Scannell and the new emerging star, Jonny Williams. This core of youngsters would help provide Palace with some of its best moments.
Having lost the first game to Peterborough United 2-1, the Eagles recorded four wins and a draw from the next five, including a league cup victory over Crawley Town.
That cup success over Crawley was the start of an amazing cup run for the south London side, where the extra-time victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford would provide one of the results of the season. Another screamer from Ambrose and a Glenn Murray header ensured the fans would make the late-night journey back south happy.
Of course amidst the euphoria surrounding the cup run, there was another highlight. The Eagles travelled to the south coast to the AMEX stadium for the first time to face bitter rivals Brighton. Gus Poyet's side were flying high and could end the night top of the Championship. They certainly looked destined for it with Craig Mackail-Smith's seventh minute opener but Palace came back and scored three times in the last ten minutes to claim victory. After Zaha and Darren Ambrose put the visitors ahead, Glenn Murray, Brighton's leading scorer the previous season, made certain of victory with a late third. As well as denying them top spot, the win marked the first league defeat for our south coast rivals on a memorable night.
Palace steadily climbed up the table and by the time Millwall were defeated on New Year's Eve, there was were only three points separating Palace and sixth placed Hull City.
2012
The Eagles looked like they could go all the way in the Carling up after the first leg victory over the Bluebirds. Anthony Gardner headed home at Selhurst to give the Eagles a 1-0 first leg advantage in an assured performance from the team.
There was no hiding from the fact that the return leg would be difficult and so it proved on the night. Gardner would score in both legs, but unfortunately for himself and Palace, this time in the at the wrong end.
The Eagles bravely held on after skipper Paddy McCarthy's second half dismissal but would have to endure the heartbreak of a penalties loss and this denied the club a first appearance at the new Wembley.
Earlier in the month of January the club's FA Cup adventure came to an end at the first attempt with a third round defeat against Derby County as a young Palace side suffered a 1-0 defeat at Pride Park.
Following the semi-final exit it was back to league action and after that defeat to Cardiff the team went on a ten match unbeaten run beginning with the 1-1 draw against Brighton at Selhurst.
The first victory of 2012 came against The Hornets as they were left stung by a rampant Eagles team and left on the back of a 4-0 defeat. In a clinical display of finishing, Wilfried Zaha, Chris Martin (2) and Kagisho Dikgacoi sealed the win against Watford.
Contrary to the past two seasons, there wasn't to be a nail-biting season rundown and a season of progression came to an end that saw us come out of eight local derby matches unbeaten including that away win at The New Den. The club finished in 17th place and plenty of positives to take into the next campaign.
