Crystal Palace Football Club

Crystal Palace: Team Logo, Names, and Premier League History

Crystal Palace History and Highlights.

Crystal Palace Football Club is a professional English association football club based in Selhurst, South London. While the club was formally constituted in 1905 as a professional football club, there are claims that Crystal Palace existed as far back as 1861. If these claims are accepted, this would make the club the world’s oldest football club.

Founding and Early Years

The club was an amateur football club in 1861, and in 1863, it became one of the founding members of the Football Association.

First Year in the FA Cup

The club played in the first FA Cup competition organized in the 1871-1872 football season, where they got to the semifinals. Unfortunately, the Royal Engineers eliminated them in a replay match after a goalless first game.

Disappearance From the History Books

The team would go on to play another four consecutive FA Cup seasons before disappearing from football records. The last game played before the gap in history was against Barnes F.C on December 18, 1875.

Return to the History Books

Crystal Palace did return to the history books in 1905 when the club was formally instituted as a professional football club.

Southern League and United League

The club had applied to be a part of the Football League. This application was denied, and Crystal Palace had to settle for the Southern League Second Division. The club also joined the United League, whose games were on weekdays. This helped increase the number of fixtures, and the club earned its first victory in a professional game in a 3-0 win over New Brompton away.

Southern League Second Division Win

The club went on to win the Southern League Second Division and got promoted into the First Division of the same league. Their first season in the First Division wasn’t that good, as the club finished 19th. But subsequent seasons saw improvement as the club finished 4th, 16th, 7th, 4th, and 5th over the next few seasons. They would go on to win the London Challenge Cup in 1913.

The Football League Years

The club remained in the First Division of the Southern League until it gained a spot in the Football League in 1920.

Entry to the Football League

The club started in the Third Division of the Football League, which they won and got promoted to the Second Division after the first season. Crystal Palace also won its third London Challenge Cup that season with a win over Clapton Orient at White Hart Lane.

Selhurst Park Stadium

While the club continued to play in the Football League until 1958, the highlight of the period was the construction of Selhurst Park, which is still Crystal Palace’s home stadium.

The club bought the stadium grounds on January 3, 1922, and the stadium was commissioned by the Lord Mayor of London on August 30, 1924. The first game at the stadium was against The Wednesday. Palace lost the game 0-1, with the only goal of the match scored by Billy Marsden.

A New Identity

The nickname for the club was The Glaziers up until the 1973/1974 season when they changed to the Eagles. The season also saw Crystal Palace adopt Barcelona’s theme as their official colors as they switched from claret and blue to red and dark blue. In addition, the club changed its mascot to an eagle and redesigned its badge.

The Modern Era

From this point, the club competed in the top two tiers of English Football. The best season for the club came in the 1990-91 season when they competed for the league title. The club finished in third place, just behind Arsenal FC, the eventual winners, and Liverpool, the runners-up. This was the club’s best performance in the league to date.

The club did miss out on a chance to play in Europe that season. While the European ban on English clubs, as a result of the Heysel Stadium disaster, was lifted at the time, it gave English clubs a low rank in European competitions. This meant that the only slot for UEFA Cup went to Liverpool that season as they finished above Crystal Palace.

Premier League for a Season

Crystal Palace was a part of the founding teams for the Premier League in the 1992/1993 football season. However, the club got relegated the same year despite garnering 49 points. The points remain the highest point scored by a relegated football club in the Premier League to date.

Financial Crisis and Premier League Reestablishment

In 1999, when team owner Mark Goldberg was unable to keep up his support of the club, Crystal Palace entered into financial administration. English businessman Simon Jordan stepped in to rescue the club.

However, the comeback was not without difficulties, and the team was almost relegated to the third division. Additionally, Jordan also faced difficulties sustaining the club and it was again placed into administration in 2010. This time, a consortium of wealthy fans known as the CPFC 2010 rescued the club.

Eventually, after a series of management changes, the club once again earned a spot in Premier League in 2012.

FA Cup Finals

The club has also reached the finals of two FA Cup competitions in both 1990 and 2016. However, they lost to the same opponent, Manchester United, on both occasions.