Crystal Palace F.C.

Crystal Palace

Full name	Crystal Palace Football Club
Nickname(s)	Eagles, Glaziers
Founded	10 September 1905 (1905-09-10)
Ground	Selhurst Park
Ground Capacity	26,255[1]
Owner	Jeremy Hosking (25%) Martin Long (25%) Steve Parish (25%) Stephen Browett (25%)
Co-chairmen	Steve Parish Stephen Browett
Manager	Alan Pardew
League	Premier League
2013–14	Premier League, 11th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Crystal Palace Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Norwood, London. They currently play in the highest level in English football, the Premier League. Since 1964, the club has mostly played in the top two leagues of English football. The club was founded in 1905 at the site of the famous Crystal Palace Exhibition building by the owners of the FA Cup Final stadium, who wanted their own team to play at the historic venue. Palace applied to be elected to The Football League, but this was rejected and they instead joined the Southern Football League Second Division, playing home games at The Crystal Palace, inspiration for the club's initial nickname, "The Glaziers". Palace were champions of the Division in their first season, and played in the Southern League First Division for the next fifteen years.

In 1920 the Southern League Division One formed the Football League Third Division. Palace were crowned champions at the end of that season and gained promotion to the Second Division, where they spent four seasons before suffering relegation to the Third Division South. In 1958 a league re-organisation saw Palace become founder members of Division Four. Over the next eleven years, Palace progressed to the highest level of English football, the First Division in 1969, and stayed in the top division for four seasons before suffering successive relegations. In 1973 the club modernised its image, changing the nickname from The Glaziers to "The Eagles" and ending the 68-year association with claret and blue by introducing the red-and-blue vertical stripes now associated with the club. The club stabilised itself in the top two divisions with promotions in 1977 and 1979, the latter saw the club crowned as Division Two Champions. During the period between 1989–91, the club reached an FA Cup Final in 1990, won the Full Members Cup in 1991, and finished in third place in the top division in the 1990–1991 season. Palace became founder members of the Premier League in 1992, but were relegated the same season, despite achieving 49 points which is still a Premier League record for a relegated club. The club then achieved promotion back to the Premier League three times in 1994, 1997 and 2004, but each time suffered relegation at the end of the following season. Palace entered administration in both 2000 and 2010, and are now owned by a consortium of four. The club were promoted back to the Premier League with a 1–0 win over Watford in the Football League play-offs in May 2013, and retained their place the following year.

Crystal Palace initially played their games in the grounds of The Crystal Palace, but the First World War saw them forced to move out, and they enjoyed a number of seasons at both the Herne Hill Velodrome and The Nest. Since 1924, Palace have played their home games at Selhurst Park. Their home colours are red and blue vertical stripes, though prior to 1973 they wore claret and pale blue after the fashion of Aston Villa. They have a fierce rivalry with M23 neighbours Brighton & Hove Albion, with whom they have contested the M23 derby 98 times and also enjoy a strong rivalry with fellow South London team Millwall. The club's kit is currently made by Macron, and the shirt sponsor is Neteller. The club captain is Mile Jedinak and the current player of the year is Julian Speroni. Edmund Goodman is the club's longest serving manager, and Jim Cannon has made the most appearances for the club. Peter Simpson is the club's top scorer for both one season and overall, netting 54 and 165 respectively. The highest transfer fee received has been for Wilfried Zaha from Manchester United in January 2013.

History

As far back as 1861, it is believed that workers at the famous exhibition building formed the initial Crystal Palace team as an amateur club. They became founder members of the Football Association and competed in the first FA Cup, reaching the semi-finals where they were eliminated by the Royal Engineers. The team disappeared from historical records after a 3–0 defeat to Wanderers in the second round of the 1875–76 FA Cup. However, this was not the end of an association between Crystal Palace and the FA Cup. In 1895 the FA adopted a new permanent home for the final, at The Crystal Palace. With the owners of the attraction reliant on tourist activity for their income, they sought fresh attractions for the venue, and it did not take long for the idea of forming their own team to play at the ground to occur.^[2][3]

The new football club, originally nicknamed "The Glaziers", was formed on 10 September 1905 under the guidance of Aston Villa assistant secretary Edmund Goodman.^[4] The club applied to enter the Football League alongside Chelsea and Southampton, but was the only unsuccessful team of the three. The club instead found itself in the Southern League Second Division for the 1905–06 season. The club was successful in its inaugural season and was promoted to the First Division, crowned as champions.^[4] In their first season Crystal Palace also played in the mid-week United Counties League, finishing runner-up to Watford, and it was in this competition that the club played their first match, winning 3–0 away to New Brompton.^[4][5]

Palace remained in the Southern League up until 1914, their one highlight the 1907 shock First Round victory over Newcastle United in the FA Cup.^[6][7] The outbreak of World War I led to the Admiralty requisitioning The Crystal Palace and the club was forced to move to the home of West Norwood F.C., Herne Hill.^[4] Three years later the club moved again to The Nest due to the folding of Croydon Common F.C. The club joined the Football League Third Division in the 1920–21 season, finishing as champions and gaining promotion to the Second Division. During this period, Palace also won the London Challenge Cup three times in 1913, 1914, and 1921. Palace moved to the purpose-built stadium Selhurst Park in 1924, the ground the club plays at today.^[4][8]

The opening fixture at Selhurst Park was against Sheffield Wednesday, Palace losing 0–1 in front of a crowd of 25,000. Finishing 21st that season, the club was relegated to the Third Division South. Before World War II Palace made good efforts at promotion, never finishing outside the top half of the table and finishing second on three occasions. They were less successful after the war, their highest position being seventh, and conversely on three occasions the club had to apply for re-election. The club remained in Division Three South until 1957–58. A league reorganisation would see clubs in the bottom half of the table merge with those in the bottom half of Division Three North to form a new Fourth Division. Palace finished 14th – just below the cut – and found itself in the basement of English football. Their stay proved brief. With Arthur Rowe appointed manager, the 1960–61 season saw Palace gain promotion. Palace also achieved distinction in 1962 when they played the great Real Madrid team of that era in a friendly match. This was the first time that the Spanish giants had played a match in London. Although Rowe then stepped down for health reasons towards the end of 1962, the promotion proved a turning point in the club's history. Dick Graham and then Bert Head guided the club to successive promotions in 1963–64 and 1968–69, taking the club through the Second Division and into the heights of the First Division.^[9]

Palace stayed in the top flight from 1969 until 1973, but then experienced great disappointment. Under the management of Malcolm Allison the club was relegated in consecutive seasons, finding itself back in Division Three for the 1974–75 season. It was under Allison that the club became nicknamed "The Eagles" and they enjoyed a run to the semi-final of the 1975-76 FA Cup, beating Leeds and Chelsea along the way. Allison was sacked at the end of the 1975–76 campaign, and it was under Terry Venables' management that Palace were promoted in 1976–77 and again in 1978–79, the latter saw the club crowned as Division Two champions. That team from 1979 was dubbed " The team of the Eighties" and were briefly top of the whole Football League in the early part of the 1979–1980 season, before financial difficulties suffered by the club caused the break up of that talented side, and this ultimately led to the club being unable to maintain their position in the top tier. They were relegated from the First Division in 1980–81, coinciding with Ron Noades takeover of the club. Steve Coppell arrived as manager on 4 June 1984, and under his stewardship and rebuilding the club achieved promotion via the play-offs back to the First Division in 1988–89. The club followed this up by reaching the 1990 FA Cup Final, drawing 3–3 with Manchester United in the first match but losing the replay 1–0. The club built on the success of the previous season in 1990–91 by achieving its highest league finish of third and returning to Wembley to win the Full Members Cup. The club beat Everton 4–1 (after extra time) in the final.^[4] The following season saw star striker Ian Wright leave the club for Arsenal. Palace finished tenth, allowing the club to become a founding member of the FA Premier League in 1992–93.^[10]

The club sold Mark Bright to Sheffield Wednesday the following season, but failed to rebuild the squad adequately, and Palace struggled to score throughout the season. The club found itself relegated with a record 49 points. Steve Coppell resigned and Alan Smith, his assistant at the club, took over. His first season saw the club win the First Division title and gain promotion to the Premier League.^[11] Their stay on this occasion proved eventful. On 25 January 1995 Palace played Manchester United at Selhurst Park in which Eric Cantona was sent off. He was taunted by Palace fan Matthew Simmons,^[12] and retaliated with a flying kick.^[13] Cantona was sentenced to two weeks in jail,^[14] reduced to 120 hours community service on appeal. Simmons was immediately banned from Selhurst Park,^[15] and found guilty on two charges of threatening Cantona.^[16] More was to follow in March, when Chris Armstrong was suspended by the FA for failing a drugs test.^[17] On the field, Alan Smith guided the club to the semi finals of both the FA Cup and the League Cup, but League form was a concern and Palace once again found itself relegated, finishing fourth from bottom as the Premier League reduced from 22 to 20 clubs.^[18]

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 of Ray Lewington and latterly Dave Bassett's managership Palace reached the play-offs. Palace lost the final in dramatic fashion, Steve Claridge scoring a last minute goal for Leicester City to win the tie 2–1. The following season saw Coppell take charge as first-team manager when Dave Bassett departed for Nottingham Forest in early 1997^[19] The club was successful in the play-offs at the second time of asking when the club defeated Sheffield United in the final at Wembley.^[20]

This stay in the Premier League was no more successful than the previous two, and in true yo-yo club fashion the club was relegated back to the First Division for the 1998–99 season. This season also saw the club plunged into administration when owner Mark Goldberg was unable to sustain his financial backing of the club.^[21] The club emerged from administration under the ownership of Simon Jordan, and Steve Coppell left the club, replaced by Alan Smith for a second time. The club flirted with relegation in Jordan's first season, 2000–01. Smith was sacked in April and Steve Kember managed to win the two remaining fixtures that would guarantee survival, Dougie Freedman scoring the winner in a 1–0 victory over Stockport in the 87th minute on the final day of the season. Steve Bruce was appointed manager for the 2001–02 season.^[22] 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 at the helm to take charge of Birmingham City.^[23][24] After a short spell on 'gardening leave',^[25] Bruce was eventually allowed to join Birmingham City,^[26] succeeded by Trevor Francis, who had ironically been his predecessor at Birmingham.^[27]

Under Francis, Palace finished mid-table for two successive seasons, and Francis left^[28] to be replaced by long-serving coach Steve Kember.^[29] Kember guided Palace to victories in their opening three games of the 2003–04 First Division campaign, which put Palace at the top of the table, but he was sacked in November after a terrible loss of form saw the team slip towards the relegation zone.^[30] Iain Dowie was appointed manager and guided the club to the play-offs, securing promotion with a 1–0 victory over West Ham. Again Palace could not maintain their footing in the top tier and were relegated on the last day of the season after drawing at local rivals Charlton Athletic.

Jordan was unable to put the club on a sound financial footing after 2008, and the club was placed in administration once again in January 2010.^[31] The Football League's regulations saw the Eagles deducted ten points,^[32] and the administrators was forced to sell key players including Victor Moses and José Fonte. Neil Warnock had also departed as manager in the early part of 2010. He had taken over as manager in 2007, replacing Peter Taylor who had a brief spell as manager. Paul Hart took over as caretaker manager for the final weeks of the season. Survival in The 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.^[33]

During the close season CPFC 2010, a consortium consisting of several wealthy fans successfully negotiated the purchase of the club. Led by Steve Parish, the vocal representative for a consortium of four that included Jeremy Hosking and Martin Long. Crucially, CPFC 2010 also secured the freehold of the ground, the consortium paying tribute to a fans' campaign which helped pressure Lloyds Bank into selling the ground back to the club. The consortium swiftly installed George Burley as the Eagles' new manager.^[34] However a poor start to the season saw the club hovering around the bottom of the table by December. On 1 January 2011, after a 3–0 defeat to Millwall, Burley was sacked and his assistant Dougie Freedman named caretaker manager. Freedman was appointed manager on a full-time basis on 11 January 2011,^[35] with former Charlton boss Lennie Lawrence as his assistant and Tony Popovic as first team coach. Palace edged up the table and by securing a 1–1 draw at Hull City on 30 April, the club was safe from relegation with one game of the season left. Freedman departed to manage Bolton on 23 October 2012,^[36] and in November 2012 Ian Holloway became the club's manager. He guided Palace to the Premier League after an 8-year absence by defeating Watford F.C. 1–0 in the Championship Play-Off Final at the new Wembley.^[37] On 23 October 2013 Holloway left his post as manager on mutual consent terms.^[38] This came after only managing one win in the first nine games of the 2013/14 season. Assistant manager Keith Millen was named caretaker manager while Palace searched for a new manager. On 23 November 2013 former Stoke City F.C. boss Tony Pulis was confirmed as the new manager of Crystal Palace.^[39] On 19 April 2014, Crystal Palace ensured they were mathematically safe from relegation from the Premier League for the first time in five attempts. Pulis resigned on the 14th August 2014, just two days before the start of the 2014–2015 season and was replaced by Neil Warnock who returned to the club for a second spell as manager. However, Warnock was sacked by the club at Christmas after a poor run of results. On 2 January 2015, former Palace player Alan Pardew was confirmed as the new manager, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract with the club after a compensation package of £3.5 million was agreed with Newcastle United.^[40] Two days later, in his first match in charge, Palace won 4–0 away to Conference club Dover Athletic in the third round of the FA Cup.^[41]

Colours and crest

When Crystal Palace were founded in 1905, they turned to one of the biggest clubs in the country at the time, Aston Villa, to seek advice. Villa helped the club in a number of ways, not least by donating their kit.^[42][43] As a result, Palace's colours were originally claret and blue shirts paired with white shorts, socks tending to be claret. They kept to this formula fairly consistently until 1938. The 1937–38 strip saw them try vertical stripes of claret and blue on the jersey rather than the claret body and blue sleeves, but then in 1938 they abandoned the claret and blue and adopted white shirts and black shorts with matching socks. Although they returned to claret and blue from 1949–54, the 1955 season saw them return to white and black, now using claret and blue as trim.^[44]

Variations on this theme lasted until 1963 when the club adopted the lucky away strip of yellow jersey as the home colours. 1964 saw them adopt an all-white strip modelled on Real Madrid whom the club had played recently in a friendly, before they returned to claret and blue jerseys with white shorts in 1966. The club employed variations upon this theme up until Malcolm Allison's arrival as manager in 1973.^[44] Allison overhauled the club's image, adopting red and blue vertical stripes for colours and kit, inspired by Barcelona.^[42] The club have played in variations of red and blue ever since, bar the centenary season of 2005 which saw them deploy a version of their 1971–72 claret, blue and white kit.^[44]

The club were relatively late in establishing a crest. Although the initials were embroidered onto 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 in 1967–72. 1972 saw a round badge adopted with the club's initials and nickname "The Glaziers" before Allison changed this too.^[44] The nickname became "The Eagles", inspired by Portuguese club Benfica, and the badge adopted an eagle holding a ball.^[44] This emblem remained until 1987 when the club married the eagle with the Crystal Palace façade,^[45] and although updated in 1996 and again in 2013 the crest retains these features.^[44] Since mid-2010, the club has made use of an American bald eagle, called Kayla, as the club mascot, with the bird flying from one end of the stadium to the other at every home game.^[46][47]

Stadium

In 1905, the owners of the FA Cup Final venue, The Crystal Palace Company wanted a professional club to play there and tap into the crowd potential of the area. A new club, Crystal Palace F.C., was formed to use the ground.^[48] When World War I broke out the Palace and grounds were seized by the military, and in 1915 the club were forced to move by The Admiralty. They found a temporary base at the Herne Hill Velodrome. Although other clubs had offered the use of their ground to Palace, the club felt it best to remain as close to their natural catchment area as possible.^[49] When Croydon Common were wound up in 1917, the club took over their old stadium at The Nest,^[50] but in 1919 they began the purchase of the land on which they would build Selhurst Park, their current home.^[51]

Archibald Leitch, the renowned stadium architect, was employed to draw up plans, and the club constructed and completed the ground in time for the 1924–25 season.^[51] It remained relatively unchanged, with only the introduction of floodlights and maintenance and updating until 1969 when the Arthur Wait stand was constructed. The Main Stand became all-seater in 1979 and more work followed in the 1980s when the Whitehorse Lane End was redeveloped to allow for a Sainsbury's supermarket, club offices and a club shop. The Arthur Wait stand became all seater in 1990, and in 1994 the Holmesdale Terrace was redeveloped, replaced with a two tier Stand. Selhurst's attendance record was set in 1979, with an official total of 51,482.^[52] After all the redevelopments to the ground and safety requirements due to the Taylor Report, the ground's current capacity is 26,309.^[53] Proposals were put forward to move the club back to the Crystal Palace National Stadium in 2010,^[54] but after the club gained promotion to the Premier League in 2013 there has been a renewed focus on redeveloping their current home into a 40,000 seater stadium.^[53][55]

Support base

Crystal Palace have a fan base drawn predominantly from the local area which draws on South London, Kent and Surrey. The club's original home, The Crystal Palace, was on the boundary with Kent, while Selhurst Park was within Surrey's borders until the London Government Act 1963 saw Greater London encompass Croydon. The club's passionate support at home games emanates from the Holmesdale Road Stand, in which the ultras group the Holmesdale 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,^[56] while the Crystal Palace Supporters' Trust was originally established to enable fans to purchase the club during the administration of 2000. The Trust remained in existence, and now lists one of its aims as building "a new state-of-the-art training ground to lease to the Club".^[57]

A number of fanzines have been produced by the fans over the years. Eagle Eye launched in 1987 and ran until 1994, with a number of contributors launching the replacement Palace Echo in 1995, running until 2007.^[58] The Eastern Eagles, So Glad You're Mine and One More Point were also published by fans in the 1990s.^[59] When One More Point ceased publication, Five Year Plan launched in its place,^[60] and maintains an online presence.^[61] Supporters also congregate on two internet forums, The BBS and Holmesdale.net which the club use as channels to communicate with fans.^[62]

Being a London club means they compete against a number of other local clubs for the attention of supporters but the club does have a recognisably large catchment area of 900,000.^[55][63] When the new owners took control of the club 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 fan's idea from an internet forum.^[64] The club are also strengthening their ties with the local community, and through the Crystal Palace F.C. Foundation they work with local London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley and Sutton to provide sports and educational programmes. Through this work the club hope to develop their supporter base and geographical base. The Foundation's work was recognised by The Football League in August 2009 with their Silver Standard Community Scheme Award.^[65]

The club also maintains a healthy celebrity support. Kevin Day and Jo Brand host an annual comedy night for Comic Relief and the Palace Academy,^[66] and the club also count fellow comedians Eddie Izzard, Harry Enfield, Sean Hughes, Mark Steel, Jim Piddock, Ronnie Corbett and Roy Hudd amongst their fans. Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey developed Palace Ale, a beer on sale in the ground,^[67] while actor Bill Nighy is patron of the CPSCC, a Crystal Palace based charity.^[68] Two of the stars of The Inbetweeners, James Buckley and Simon Bird are also Palace fans.^[69] Smooth Radio DJ David Kid Jensen is chairman of the Crystal Palace Vice Presidents Club^[70] and acted as spokesman for the CPFC 2010 consortium during their takeover bid for the club. Also, the heavy metal journalist Dave Ling is a passionate follower.^[71] Actor, writer and producer John Salthouse was on the books of Crystal Palace from 1968 to 1970,^[72] and was also a mascot for the club as a child.^[73] He incorporated the club into his role as Tony in Abigail's Party he was under the name of John Lewis at Palace.^[74] Susanna Reid revealed her love of Palace while taking part in Strictly Come Dancing, visiting Selhurst Park for inspiration.^[75] Rebecca Lowe, currently the host of Premier League coverage for NBC Sports, is also a supporter.^[76]

Rivalries

Because of their location in the capital, Crystal Palace are involved in a number of local derbies, mostly across South London. Their strongest rivalry in London is with Millwall. They also enjoy a smaller rivalry with former tenants Charlton. They have a fierce rivalry with Brighton & Hove Albion which did not develop until 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 game went to two replays, but the controversy was based on referee Ron Challis ordering a successful Brighton penalty be retaken because of Palace player encroachment. The retake was saved, Palace won the game 1–0 and a fierce rivalry was born.^[77]

Ownership

Due to the Football League not wishing the owners of the FA Cup Final to also own a team, a separate company was established to found and own the team. The first chairman, Sydney Bourne, was found by club secretary Edmund 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 he 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 ever meeting. Bourne remained chairman until his death in 1930.^[78]

Arthur Wait established a consortium of seven businessmen to purchase the club in 1949, and initially they rotated the chairmanship.^[79][80] In 1958 Wait became the Chairman, before being replaced by Raymond Bloye in 1972.^[81] Bloye's ownership lasted until 26 January 1981, when property developer Ron Noades and his small consortium took control of the club. Noades eventually sold the club to Mark Goldberg on 5 June 1998, becoming the second longest serving chairman behind Sydney Bourne. Goldberg's tenure of the club was not a success and the club entered administration in March 1999. Although the fans established a group, The Crystal Palace Supporters Trust in a bid to gain control of the club, millionaire Simon Jordan negotiated a deal with creditors and the administrator, and a new company, CPFC 2000 took control. This company entered administration in January 2010, leaving administration in June of that year after a takeover by a consortium of four wealthy fans, CPFC 2010.^[82]

Crystal Palace F.C. is currently owned by CPFC 2010 Limited, a Private Limited Company registered at Company House. CPFC 2010 was established by a consortium of four businessmen, Steve Parish, Martin Long, Stephen Browett and Jeremy Hosking in 2010, each owning a 25% share of the company.^[83][84] The four successfully negotiated a take-over with the administrator Brendan Guilfoyle and a company voluntary arrangement was formally accepted by company creditors on 20 August 2010.^[85] CPFC 2010 also purchased the ground from Lloyds Bank after a demonstration by fans put pressure on the bank to agree terms.^[86][87]

Statistics and records

Jim Cannon holds the record for Crystal Palace appearances, having played 660 first-team matches between 1973 and 1988.^[88] He also holds the record for most League appearances, making 571.^[89] Cannon joined the club as a trainee, and of his appearances only four of them were made as a substitute. His first appearance was made aged 19, scoring in a home win against Chelsea on 31 March 1973. Cannon's last game was on 7 May 1988, a home win against Manchester City.^[90] Peter Simpson holds the record for the most goals scored in a season, 54 in the 1930–31 season in Division Three (South). Simpson, who signed for the club from Kettering Town, is also the top scorer over a career – 165 between 1929 and 1935.^[88] He died in 1974. Aki Riihilahti holds the club record for most international caps, with 36 appearances for Finland while at Palace.^[89][91][92]

Crystal Palace hold a number of records and achievements. They are one of a small group of clubs to have won a Football League Division at the first time of asking, winning the Third Division in 1920–21. Their average league attendance of 19,092 achieved in the 1960–61 season and the attendance of 37,774 for the Good Friday game at Selhurst Park between Palace and Millwall the same season are Fourth Division attendance records.^[93] The club's widest victory margin in the league was their 9–0 win against Barrow in Division Four in 1959, while their heaviest defeat in the league was by the same scoreline, 9–0, against Liverpool in 1989 in Division One.^[94]

Palace's record home attendance is 51,482 for a Division Two match against Burnley, achieved on 11 May 1979.^[94] With the introduction of regulations enforcing all-seater stadiums, it is unlikely that this record will be beaten in the foreseeable future. The highest transfer fee received for a Palace player is £15 million, from Manchester United for Wilfried Zaha in January 2013, while the most spent by the club on a player was the signing of Dwight Gayle for £4.5 million from Peterborough United F.C..^[95] The club's highest league finish was third in the Football League First Division now the Premiership in 1990–91, achieved under the management of Steve Coppell. The club were runners-up in the FA Cup in 1990 and have also reached the semi-final twice. In 1991 they won the Full Members Cup, and they have reached the semi-finals of the League Cup four times, most recently in 2012.

Palace remain the only team ever to be relegated from the Premier League even though they finished 4th from bottom, In the 1994/1995 season, the Premier League was reduced from 22 teams down to the current standard of 20. Palace also hold the record for relegations from the Premier League with a total of 4, (1992/93, 1994/95, 1997/98, 2004/05), they also hold the record for most Play Off wins resulting in promotion to the Premier League amassing 4 Play Off victories, they also hold the record (in any division) for winning promotion at 4 different locations, (Selhurst Park 1989, Old Wembley 1997, Millennium Stadium 2004 and New Wembley 2013).

Shirt sponsors

Year	Kit Manufacturer	Shirt Sponsor[44]
1975–77	Umbro	None
1977–80	Admiral Sportswear
1980–83	Adidas
1983–84		Red Rose
1984–85	Hummel	None
1985–86		Top Score
1986–87		AVR
1987–88	Admiral Sportswear	Andrew Copeland
1988–91	Bukta	Fly Virgin
1991–92		Tulip Computers
1992–93	Ribero
1993–94		TDK
1994–96	Nutmeg
1996–99	Adidas
1999–2000	TFG Sports	Various sponsors[upper-alpha 1]
2000–01		Churchill Insurance
2001–03	Le Coq Sportif
2003–04	Admiral Sportswear
2004–06	Diadora
2006–07		GAC Logistics
2007–09	Erreà
2009–12	Nike
2012–2014	Avec[upper-alpha 2]
2014–2015	Macron	Neteller
2015–2016		TBC

Players

First team squad

As of 24 March 2015.^[96]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Julián Speroni 2 DF Joel Ward 3 DF Adrian Mariappa 4 DF Brede Hangeland 6 DF Scott Dann 7 MF Yannick Bolasie 9 FW Yaya Sanogo (on loan from Arsenal) 10 FW Fraizer Campbell 11 MF Wilfried Zaha 13 GK Wayne Hennessey 14 MF Jerome Thomas 15 MF Mile Jedinak (captain) 16 FW Dwight Gayle

No. Position Player 17 FW Glenn Murray 18 MF James McArthur 22 MF Jordon Mutch 23 FW Shola Ameobi 24 MF Lee Chung-yong 26 GK Chris Kettings 27 DF Damien Delaney (vice captain) 28 MF Joe Ledley 29 FW Marouane Chamakh 34 DF Martin Kelly 40 DF Pape Souaré 42 MF Jason Puncheon

Development squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 35 MF Owen Garvan 38 MF Jake Gray 39 DF Mandela Egbo 41 GK David Gregory 45 DF Ryan Inniss — DF Sam Magri — DF Michael Chambers — MF Ghassimu Sow — DF Luke Croll — MF Jacob Berkeley-Agyepong

No. Position Player — MF Kyle De Silva — MF Connor Dymond — FW Fisayo Adarabioyo — FW Reise Allassani — FW Keshi Anderson — FW Morgan Ferrier — MF Sonny Black

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 5 DF Paddy McCarthy (at Bolton Wanderers until the end of the 2014–15 season) 8 MF Adlène Guedioura (at Watford until the end of the 2014–15 season) 19 DF Zeki Fryers (at Ipswich until the end of the 2014–15 season) 20 MF Johnny Williams (at Ipswich until the end of the 2014–15 season) 21 DF Jerome Binnom-Williams (at Southend United until the end of the 2014–2015 season)[97] 22 DF Jack Hunt (at Rotherham United until 2 May 2015) 25 MF Barry Bannan (at Bolton Wanderers until 30 June 2015) 30 GK Lewis Price (at Crawley Town until the end of the 2014–15 season) 32 DF Peter Ramage (at Barnsley until 30 June 2015) 32 FW Kwesi Appiah (at Reading until the end of the 2014–15 season) 37 MF Sullay Kaikai (at Cambridge United until the end of the 2014–15 season) — MF Andreas Breimyr (at Bryne FK until the end of the 2014–15 season)[98] — FW Stephen Dobbie (at Fleetwood Town until 30 June 2015)

Notable former players

Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found here

Crystal Palace "Centenary XI"

To celebrate Crystal Palace's centenary in 2005, the club asked Palace fans to vote for a "Centenary XI" from a shortlist of ten players per position, provided by the club.^[99]

• 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)

Player of the Year

Year Winner 1972 John McCormick 1973 Tony Taylor 1974 Peter Taylor 1975 Derek Jeffries 1976 Peter Taylor 1977 Kenny Sansom 1978 Jim Cannon 1979 Kenny Sansom 1980 Paul Hinshelwood 1981 Paul Hinshelwood 1982 Paul Barron 1983 Jerry Murphy 1984 Billy Gilbert 1985 Jim Cannon 1986 George Wood

Year Winner 1987 Jim Cannon 1988 Geoff Thomas 1989 Ian Wright 1990 Mark Bright 1991 Geoff Thomas 1992 Eddie McGoldrick 1993 Andy Thorn 1994 Chris Coleman 1995 Richard Shaw 1996 Andy Roberts 1997 David Hopkin 1998 Marc Edworthy 1999 Hayden Mullins 2000 Andy Linighan 2001 Fan Zhiyi

Year Winner 2002 Dougie Freedman 2003 Hayden Mullins 2004 Andrew Johnson 2005 Andrew Johnson 2006 Emmerson Boyce 2007 Leon Cort 2008 Julián Speroni 2009 Julián Speroni 2010 Julián Speroni 2011 Nathaniel Clyne 2012 Jonathan Parr 2013 Mile Jedinak 2014 Julián Speroni

Club staff

Position	Name
Co-Chairman	Steve Parish
Co-Chairman	Stephen Browett
Chief Executive	Phil Alexander
Manager	Alan Pardew
Assistant Manager	Keith Millen
First Team Coach	Ben Garner
Goalkeeping Coach	George Wood
Fitness Coach	Scott Guyett

Managers

As of matches played 27 April 2015. Not including caretaker managers. All competitive matches are counted.

Name	From	To	G	W	D	L	%W
John 'Jack' Robson	July 1905	30 April 1907	7001770000000000000♠77	7001350000000000000♠35	7001180000000000000♠18	7001240000000000000♠24	7001454500000000000♠45.45
Edmund Goodman	1 May 1907	24 November 1925	7002613000000000000♠613	7002242000000000000♠242	7002166000000000000♠166	7002205000000000000♠205	7001394809999999999♠39.48
Alex Maley	24 November 1925	12 October 1927	7001830000000000000♠83	7001360000000000000♠36	7001160000000000000♠16	7001310000000000000♠31	7001433700000000000♠43.37
Fred Mavin	21 November 1927	18 October 1930	7002132000000000000♠132	7001630000000000000♠63	7001330000000000000♠33	7001360000000000000♠36	7001477300000099999♠47.73
Jack Tresadern	27 October 1930	June 1935	7002213000000000000♠213	7001980000000000000♠98	7001440000000000000♠44	7001710000000000000♠71	7001460100000000000♠46.01
Tom Bromilow	July 1935 1 January 1937	July 1936 July 1939	7002162000000000000♠162	7001710000000000000♠71	7001400000000000000♠40	7001510000000000000♠51	7001438300000000000♠43.83
R.S Moyes	July 1936	8 December 1936	7001230000000000000♠23	7000600000000000000♠6	7000600000000000000♠6	7001110000000000000♠11	7001260900000000000♠26.09
George Irwin	July 1939	July 1947	7001450000000000000♠45	7001150000000000000♠15	7001110000000000000♠11	7001190000000000000♠19	7001333300000000000♠33.33
Jack Butler	July 1947	June 1949	7001880000000000000♠88	7001230000000000000♠23	7001240000000000000♠24	7001410000000000000♠41	7001261400000000000♠26.14
Ronnie Rooke	June 1949	29 November 1950	7001620000000000000♠62	7001190000000000000♠19	7001150000000000000♠15	7001280000000000000♠28	7001306500000000000♠30.65
Fred Dawes/Charlie Slade	29 November 1950	11 October 1951	7001400000000000000♠40	7000800000000000000♠8	7001100000000000000♠10	7001220000000000000♠22	7001200000000000000♠20.00
Laurie Scott	11 October 1951	October 1954	7002145000000000000♠145	7001430000000000000♠43	7001410000000000000♠41	7001610000000000000♠61	7001296600000000000♠29.66
Cyril Spiers	October 1954	June 1958	7002181000000000000♠181	7001520000000000000♠52	7001530000000000000♠53	7001760000000000000♠76	7001287300000000000♠28.73
George Smith	July 1958	12 April 1960	7002100000000000000♠100	7001420000000000000♠42	7001270000000000000♠27	7001310000000000000♠31	7001420000000000000♠42.00
Arthur Rowe	15 April 1960	30 November 1962	7002132000000000000♠132	7001520000000000000♠52	7001320000000000000♠32	7001480000000000000♠48	7001393900000000000♠39.39
Dick Graham	30 November 1962	3 January 1966	7002150000000000000♠150	7001680000000000000♠68	7001410000000000000♠41	7001410000000000000♠41	7001453300000000000♠45.33
Bert Head	18 April 1966	30 March 1973	7002328000000000000♠328	7002101000000000000♠101	7001960000000000000♠96	7002131000000000000♠131	7001307900000000000♠30.79
Malcolm Allison	30 March 1973 1 December 1980	May 1976 26 January 1981	7002155000000000000♠155	7001530000000000000♠53	7001480000000000000♠48	7001540000000000000♠54	7001341900000000000♠34.19
Terry Venables	1 June 1976 9 June 1998	14 October 1980 15 January 1999	7002220000000000000♠220	7001800000000000000♠80	7001760000000000000♠76	7001640000000000000♠64	7001363600000000000♠36.36
Dario Gradi	26 January 1981	10 November 1981	7001300000000000000♠30	7000700000000000000♠7	7000300000000000000♠3	7001200000000000000♠20	7001233300000099999♠23.33
Steve Kember	10 November 1981 18 April 2003	June 1982 3 November 2003	7001530000000000000♠53	7001150000000000000♠15	7001140000000000000♠14	7001240000000000000♠24	7001283000000000000♠28.30
Alan Mullery	July 1982	June 1984	7001980000000000000♠98	7001310000000000000♠31	7001270000000000000♠27	7001400000000000000♠40	7001316300000000000♠31.63
Steve Coppell	July 1984 July 1995 28 February 1997 15 January 1999	21 May 1993 8 February 1996 13 March 1998 1 August 2000	7002565000000000000♠565	7002221000000000000♠221	7002146000000000000♠146	7002198000000000000♠198	7001391209999900000♠39.12
Alan Smith	3 June 1993 1 August 2000	15 May 1995 29 April 2001	7002163000000000000♠163	7001620000000000000♠62	7001430000000000000♠43	7001580000000000000♠58	7001380400000000000♠38.04
Dave Bassett	8 February 1996	27 February 1997	7001600000000000000♠60	7001290000000000000♠29	7001150000000000000♠15	7001160000000000000♠16	7001483300000000000♠48.33
Attilio Lombardo[upper-alpha 3]	13 March 1998	29 April 1998	7000700000000000000♠7	7000200000000000000♠2	5000000000000000000♠0	7000500000000000000♠5	7001285700000000000♠28.57
Steve Bruce	30 May 2001	31 October 2001	7001180000000000000♠18	7001110000000000000♠11	7000200000000000000♠2	7000500000000000000♠5	7001611100000000000♠61.11
Trevor Francis	30 November 2001	18 April 2003	7001780000000000000♠78	7001280000000000000♠28	7001220000000000000♠22	7001280000000000000♠28	7001359000000000000♠35.90
Iain Dowie	22 December 2003	22 May 2006	7002123000000000000♠123	7001500000000000000♠50	7001290000000000000♠29	7001440000000000000♠44	7001406500000000000♠40.65
Peter Taylor	13 June 2006	8 October 2007	7001600000000000000♠60	7001210000000000000♠21	7001160000000000000♠16	7001230000000000000♠23	7001350000000000000♠35.00
Neil Warnock	11 October 2007 27 August 2014	2 March 2010 27 December 2014	7002146000000000000♠146	7001500000000000000♠50	7001450000000000000♠45	7001510000000000000♠51	7001342500000000000♠34.25
Paul Hart	2 March 2010	3 May 2010	7001140000000000000♠14	7000300000000000000♠3	7000600000000000000♠6	7000500000000000000♠5	7001214300000000000♠21.43
George Burley	17 June 2010	1 January 2011	7001250000000000000♠25	7000700000000000000♠7	7000500000000000000♠5	7001130000000000000♠13	7001280000000000000♠28.00
Dougie Freedman	11 January 2011	23 October 2012	7001900000000000000♠90	7001320000000000000♠32	7001270000000000000♠27	7001310000000000000♠31	7001355600000000000♠35.56
Ian Holloway	3 November 2012	23 October 2013	7001460000000000000♠46	7001140000000000000♠14	7001140000000000000♠14	7001180000000000000♠18	7001304300000000000♠30.43
Tony Pulis	23 November 2013	14 August 2014	7001280000000000000♠28	7001120000000000000♠12	7000500000000000000♠5	7001110000000000000♠11	7001428600000000000♠42.86
Alan Pardew	2 January 2015	Present	7001170000000000000♠17	7001100000000000000♠10	7000100000000000000♠1	7000600000000000000♠6	7001588200000000000♠58.82

Honours

Crystal Palace's honours and achievements include the following:

League

• First Division (Top Level)
  • Third place : 1990–91
• Second Division/First Division/Championship (Level 2)
  • Champions (2): 1978–79, 1993–94
  • Runners up (1): 1968–69
  • Play Off winners (4): 1988–89, 1996–97, 2003–04, 2012–13
  • Runners up (1): 1995–96
• Third Division (Level 3)
  • Champions (1): 1920–21
  • Runners up (1): 1963–64
• Third Division South ( Joint Level 3 with Third Division North )
  • Runners up (3):^{[upper-alpha 4]} 1928–29, 1930–31, 1938–39
• Fourth Division (Level 4)
  • Runners up (1): 1960–61
• South Regional League
  • Champions (1): 1940–41
• South 'D' Wartime League
  • Champions (1): 1939–40
• Southern Football League Division One
  • Runners up (1): 1913–14
• Southern Football League Division Two
  • Champions (1): 1905–06

Cup

• FA Cup
  • Runners up (1): 1990
• Full Members Cup^{[upper-alpha 5]}
  • Winners (1): 1990–91
• London Challenge Cup^{[upper-alpha 6]}
  • Winners (3): 1912–13, 1913–14, 1920–21

In popular culture

In the 1999 Michael Winterbottom film Wonderland the scenes of the character Dan and his son at a football match were filmed at Selhurst Park, the ground of Crystal Palace in a 1–1 draw against Birmingham City on 6 February 1999.^[100] In the Mike Leigh play Abigail's Party, the character Tony mentions that he used to play professionally for Crystal Palace but it "didn't work out", something actor John Salthouse brought to the character in rehearsals based on his own life.^[74] 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.^[101] In the first series of Only Fools and Horses a Crystal Palace scarf could be seen on the coat rack, placed there by producer Ray Butt.^[102] Headmaster Keith Blackwell, who played Crystal 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.^[103][104]

Crystal Palace Ladies

Crystal Palace Ladies is the women's football club affiliated to Crystal Palace, founded in 1992. They are managed by Ian Jackson. Crystal Palace LFC compete in the Women's South East Combination League, in the third tier of English women's football.^[105] They play their home games at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace, London.^[105]

Notes

References

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

Further reading

• The Crystal Palace Story by Roy Peskett, published by Roy Peskett Publishing Ltd (1969).
• 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.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Crystal Palace F.C..

• Crystal Palace F.C. on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results – Upcoming fixtures – Club statistics
• Official website
• CPFC BBS online fans forum
• Palace Radio 1278am

Crystal Palace Football Club Club Crystal Palace F.C. Original 1861 club Managers Players Grounds Crystal Palace Stadium Herne Hill Velodrome The Nest Selhurst Park Milton Keynes relocation proposals Rivalries M23 derby South London derby Subsidiary teams Crystal Palace Baltimore Crystal Palace LFC

Crystal Palace F.C. seasons 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

Premier League Seasons 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 Clubs 2014–15 Arsenal Aston Villa Burnley Chelsea Crystal Palace Everton Hull City Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Queens Park Rangers Southampton Stoke City Sunderland Swansea City Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Former Barnsley Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Bradford City Cardiff City Charlton Athletic Coventry City Derby County Fulham Ipswich Town Leeds United Middlesbrough Norwich City Nottingham Forest Oldham Athletic Portsmouth Reading Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Swindon Town Watford Wigan Athletic Wimbledon Wolverhampton Wanderers Competition Teams winners Players foreign foreign scorers winners Managers current Stadia Founding Broadcasting foundation Broadcasters Referees Statistics and awards Records All-time table Average attendances Hat-tricks Highest scores Golden Boot Golden Glove Manager of the Season Player of the Season Manager of the Month Player of the Month Players with 100+ goals Top scorers by season Goalkeepers with 100+ clean sheets 10 Seasons Awards 20 Seasons Awards Finances Richest clubs: Deloitte list Forbes' list Team owners Transfer records Game 39 Premier League–Football League gulf Associated competitions Asia Trophy FA Community Shield FA Cup Football League Cup UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League U21 Premier League U18 Premier League Premier League International Cup Category Commons

Football in London League teams (tiers 1-4) 1 Arsenal Chelsea Crystal Palace Queens Park Rangers Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United 2 Brentford Charlton Athletic Fulham Millwall 3 Leyton Orient 4 AFC Wimbledon Barnet Dagenham & Redbridge Non-League teams (tiers 5-8) 5 Welling United 6 Bromley Sutton United Wealdstone 7 A.F.C. Hornchurch Dulwich Hamlet Enfield Town Hampton & Richmond Borough Harrow Borough Hendon Kingstonian Metropolitan Police VCD Athletic Wingate & Finchley 8 A.F.C. Hayes Barkingside Carshalton Athletic Corinthian-Casuals Cray Wanderers Hanwell Town North Greenford United Northwood Redbridge Thamesmead Town Tooting & Mitcham United Uxbridge Rivalries London derbies Arsenal–Chelsea Millwall–West Ham North South East West Cup competitions London Senior Cup London Intermediate Cup London Junior Cup London Charity Cup (defunct) London Challenge Cup (defunct) See also The Football Combination London Football Association London XI London League (defunct) West London League (defunct)