Crystal Palace F.C.

Crystal Palace Football Club is a football club based in London and playing in the Coca-Cola Football League Championship, the second level of English football. The club is currently celebrating its Centennial.

History

Pre-1980's Palace

Crystal Palace was formed on the 10th of September 1905, with its headquarters at The Crystal Palace in Sydenham. The team played in the Southern League until 1920, when they were promoted to Division Three of the Football League.

Related Topics:
1905 - The Crystal Palace - Sydenham - 1920 - Division Three - Football League

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The original club's colours were claret and blue, chosen as Aston Villa lent them their original kits.

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The club was forced to relocate from their original headquarters in 1915, and after a brief move to Herne Hill and The Nest in Selhurst, they eventually settled at their present home, Selhurst Park, in 1924. Their first match at the new ground was against Sheffield Wednesday on 30th August.

Related Topics:
1915 - Selhurst Park - 1924

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Nicknamed "The Glaziers" - a reference to their original home in the shadow of Joseph Paxton's enormous glass exhibition hall - Palace remained in the lower divisions of the Football League until the 1960s. One of the most loved players of those days was Johnny Byrne (deceased) who had the distinction of being the first player from the old division four to play for England. By 1969, the club was a member of the First Division.

Related Topics:
Glass - 1960s - 1969 - First Division

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Unfortunately, the only constant in the life of a Palace fan is change, and "The Eagles" - as they became known - plummetted back to the Third Division in the early 1970s. It was during the Malcolm Allison managerial stint that the club decided it should be rebranded, changing it's colours away from the original claret and sky blue. The Eagle was also introduced as the club mascot at this time. It is thought that the colours and mascot were chosen to copy those of the big teams, the colours coming from Barcelona F.C. and the mascot from Benfica.

Related Topics:
1970s - Malcolm Allison - Barcelona F.C. - Benfica

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'Big Mal', in his first game in charge, gave a debut to young Scottish defender Jim Cannon, who had come through the juniour ranks of the club. He repaid Allison by scoring the second, in the 2-0 win over Chelsea. Cannon would go onto make a total of 660 appearances for the club, with 571 of those in the league, over his 16-year, one-club career. Though FA Cup glory beckoned for a while, when Palace reached the semi-final stage for the first time in their history, it wasn't until the arrival of former Chelsea star Terry Venables as manager that Palace's fortunes took a change for the better. Venables took the team back up to Division One for two seasons from 1979 to 1981, before leaving for QPR early in the 1980-81 season. Coach Ernie Walley was placed in temporary charge, and after two months of indifferent results was offered the job permanently on one condition - that he accept joint managership with returning former manager Malcolm Allison. Walley refused and resigned from the club, leaving Allison in sole charge. Unfortunately the decision seemed to have backfired, as the club's form turned out worse under Allison than it did Walley, and the side were virtually relegated by the start of February when another, even bigger change occurred.

Related Topics:
Jim Cannon - Chelsea - FA Cup - Terry Venables - 1979 - 1981 - QPR - Malcolm Allison

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The Ron Noades Takeover: 1981

Ron Noades, formerly chairman of Wimbledon bought out the club and sacked Allison, much to the relief of the fans. The new manager was Dario Gradi, who had established Wimbledon in the league and lead them to promotion in their second season. They had been immediately relegated, but were in good position for regaining their place in the Third Division when Gradi left.

Related Topics:
Ron Noades - Wimbledon - Dario Gradi

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The First Division situation was already beyond Gradi's ability to salvage, but things didn't improve in the Second Division in 1981-82, giving the impression that Gradi was out of his depth. Gradi was sacked and Steve Kember appointed player-manager. Palace's form didn't greatly improve, and the side only saved themselves from another relegation in the second-last match of the season when they beat Wrexham, simultaneously relegating the Welsh club. At the end of the season Kember was demoted to coach, and replaced by Alan Mullery. Given his connections with bitter rivals Brighton, Mullery never proved a popular appointment and it showed, with the side finishing closer to relegation in 1982-83 than they had the previous year and doing even worse in 1983-84. Mullery left the club at the end of the season - ironically to replace Terry Venables at QPR - and was replaced by Dario Gradi's successor at Wimbledon, Dave Bassett. But Bassett stunned the club four days after his appointment by resigning and returning to Wimbledon.

Related Topics:
Steve Kember - Wrexham - Alan Mullery - Brighton

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The Steve Coppell Era (1984-1993)

29-year-old Steve Coppell became the new manager of Crystal Palace after his playing career with Manchester United had been cut short by a knee injury. He co-operated with Noades in rebuilding Crystal Palace and by 1989 they were back in the First Division.

Related Topics:
Steve Coppell - 1989

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But it had not been all plainsailing for Coppell. Many Eagles fans were unhappy at his decision not to resign Scottish club legend Jim Cannon, following the Eagles missing out on promotion in 1988. Cannon left the club in the summer, after 16 years with Palace.

Related Topics:
Jim Cannon - 1988

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Palace finished 15th in their first season back in the top flight (1989-90), but reached the F.A. Cup final for the first time. They drew 3-3 with Manchester United thanks to the commendable efforts of players like Andy Gray, John Salako, Ian Wright, Nigel Martyn (who earlier that season had become Britain's first £1 million goalkeeper) and Richard Shaw. In the replay, Palace lost 1-0 so their chance of a first-ever major trophy was gone.

Related Topics:
F.A. Cup - Manchester United - John Salako - Ian Wright - Nigel Martyn - Richard Shaw

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They progressed in 1990-91 by finishing a club-best third in the league, and a reinstation to european football one year before the scheduled end of their ban from European competitions for Liverpool meant that Palace were denied UEFA Cup qualification for the first time. However, Palace did gain some success that season, as they beat Everton 4-1 in the final of the Zenith Data Systems Cup, to collect their only cup trophy to date.

Related Topics:
Liverpool - UEFA Cup - Everton - Zenith Data Systems Cup

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But a loss of key players through sales and long-term injuries resulted in Palace's form slumping, and they were relegated on goal difference in 1992-93 at the end of the first season of the Premier League.

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The Alan Smith Era (1993-1995)

Steve Coppell resigned as manager following Palace's relegation, and handed over the reins to his assistant Alan Smith, who guided Palace to promotion as runaway champions of Division One. In 1994-95 they reached the semi finals of both domestic cups, but a shortage of Premiership goals counted against them (as did the introduction of a fourth relegation place for the 1994-95 season, as the Premiership was being cut to 20 clubs) and they were relegated on the last day of the season. Smith was sacked within days, and Steve Coppell returned to the manager's seat. Relegation also resulted in an exodus of players. The likes of Chris Coleman, Eric Young, Richard Shaw, Gareth Southgate, Iain Dowie, John Salako and Chris Armstrong were all sold to other clubs and Palace's line-up in the first game of the 1995-96 Division One campaign was barely recognisable. During this period the badge was changed with the phoenix looking bird being replaced with one more closely resembling an eagle.

Related Topics:
Alan Smith - Chris Coleman - Eric Young - Richard Shaw - Gareth Southgate - Iain Dowie - John Salako - Chris Armstrong

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The Dave Bassett Era (1996-1997)

Steve Coppell became Crystal Palace's Director of Football in February 1996, and first-team duties were now the responsibility of new manager Dave Bassett, who transformed the club's fortunes as they stormed from 16th place to finish third in the final table. They reached the Division One playoff final but lost 2-1 to Leicester City at Wembley. Bassett moved to Nottingham Forest in March 1997, but Steve Coppell returned as manager to secure a playoff final victory over Sheffield United and gain promotion to the Premiership. Their stay lasted just one season before they were relegated back to Division One.

Related Topics:
Dave Bassett - Leicester City - Wembley - Nottingham Forest - 1997 - Sheffield United

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The Mark Goldberg Crisis (1998-2000)

In March 1998, just before relegation from the Premiership, Ron Noades sold his controlling interest in Crystal Palace to computer tycoon Mark Goldberg, who was hoping to transform the club into a European force within five years. Steve Coppell was named Director of Football and Terry Venables was appointed head coach, but the dream of success for the 1998-99 season quickly turned into a nightmare. Mark Goldberg withdrew his financial backing of the club and they went into receivership. Terry Venables quit as manager soon afterwards, and Steve Coppell returned to the job once again. He was able to guide Palace to a mid-table finish in 1998-99, and kept up this performance for the following season despite having to sell most of the club's best players due to the financial crisis.

Related Topics:
1998 - Mark Goldberg - Terry Venables

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The Return of Alan Smith (2000-01)

Mobile phone tycoon Simon Jordan purchased an almost bankrupt Crystal Palace in July 2000, and replaced Coppell with Alan Smith - who had previous been manager from 1993 to 1995. Despite the takeover solving Palace's financial problems, their on-the-field form slumped and despite reaching the League Cup semi finals, Smith was sacked in April 2001 with relegation to Division Two looking imminent. Long-serving coach Steve Kember was put in temporary charge of the first team, and defied all the odds by securing good enough results to save the club from relegation at the expense of Huddersfield Town.

Related Topics:
Simon Jordan - 2001 - Huddersfield Town

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The Bruce, Francis and Kember eras (2001-2003)

Palace turned to Steve Bruce for the 2001-02 season, and he came to Selhurst Park after vacating the manager's seat at Wigan Athletic which he had occupied for just seven weeks. A good start to the season gave Palace hope for a promotion challenge, but Bruce walked out on the club after just four months at the helm to take charge of Birmingham City, a decision that has made Bruce hugely unpopular at Selhurst Park (indeed, he is affectionately nicknamed 'Judas' by Palace fans, as they felt he betrayed, having promised chairman Simon Jordan he would stay at Selhurst Park). Bruce was succeeded by Trevor Francis, who had ironically been his predecessor at Birmingham City.

Related Topics:
Steve Bruce - Wigan Athletic - Birmingham City - Judas - Simon Jordan - Selhurst Park - Trevor Francis

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Under Francis, Palace were unable to mount a serious promotion challenge and they finished mid-table in Division One. He resigned the following March after another difficult season, and was replaced by long-serving coach Steve Kember.

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Steve Kember guided Palace to victories in their opening three games of the 2003-04 Division One campaign, which put Palace at the top of the table, but he was sacked in November after a terrible loss of form saw them slip towards the relegation zone. Caretaker Kit Symons was put in charge of first-team duties for a month before the appointment of Iain Dowie, a former Palace player who had previously been in charge of Oldham Athletic.

Related Topics:
Kit Symons - Iain Dowie - Oldham Athletic

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The Iain Dowie Era (2003- Present)

Iain Dowie transformed Crystal Palace from relegation candidates at Christmas into play-off contenders in April. The highlight of this run was arguably a superb 3-0 away win at Sheffield United. On the final day of the season, Sunday 9th May, Palace only needed to draw at Coventry to ensure their play-off place, but they were beaten 2-1 and looked to be heading out of the play-offs until a 90th-minute equaliser by West Ham against Wigan deprived the Lancashire club of two points and secured sixth place for Palace.

Related Topics:
Coventry - West Ham

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Palace achieved a 3-2 victory against Sunderland in the first leg of the play-off semi-final at Selhurst Park on Friday 14th May. In the second leg at the Stadium of Light, Palace dominated most of the first half and had achieved the very rare feat for a southern club of almost completely silencing north-east supporters. However, two goals for Sunderland at the end of the first half, much against the run of play, looked to have taken them through until Palace, who had squandered many chances during the second half as well as the first, equalised through defender Darren Powell in the final minute. The aggregate score was now 4-4 - under the away goals rule Sunderland would still have won, but that rule does not operate in the play-offs so after a goalless period of extra time, when a demoralised Sunderland did not have a single shot on goal and Palace to a lesser extent were also playing for penalties, it went to a shoot-out. The lead and the impetus in the shoot-out changed hands several times, with a succession of penalty saves after it had gone to sudden death - after Sunderland goalkeeper Mart Poom had saved two penalties which would have won it for Palace, Sunderland's Jeff Whitley "shot" one of the weakest and least powerful penalties ever seen in such an important match, and Michael Hughes then scored the winning penalty for Palace.

Related Topics:
Sunderland - Darren Powell - Michael Hughes

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Crystal Palace played West Ham United in the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday 29th May 2004 and won the game 1-0, with a goal from captain Neil Shipperley that was enough for them to claim the match, and with it a place in the Premiership.

Related Topics:
Millennium Stadium - 2004 - Neil Shipperley

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Due to a production error at Diadora's factory in Romania, Crystal Palace's Replica Kit for 2004 was misprinted with "Chrystal Palace" on the Quality Control label.

Related Topics:
Diadora - Romania - Replica Kit - Quality Control

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Despite the valiant efforts of manager Iain Dowie, and the 21 Premiership goals of Andy Johnson (the second highest goalscorer in the division, and the highest English goalscorer), Crystal Palace were relegated on 15th May 2005 after a 2-2 draw at Charlton Athletic. Despite entering the final seven minutes of play ahead by 2-1, Crystal Palace were unable to maintain their fragile lead and Charlton managed to score again in the remaining time. Had Crystal Palace managed to defeat Charlton, they would have avoided relegation from the Premiership.

Related Topics:
Andy Johnson - 2005 - Charlton Athletic

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Crystal Palace now hold the distinction of being the only team to have been relegated from the Premiership four times.

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Famous Crystal Palace fans

Famous fans include the musician Captain Sensible, the comedians Eddie Izzard, Sean Hughes, Jo Brand, Harry Enfield, Kevin Day and Ronnie Corbett actors Nigel Harman of Eastenders, Neil Morrissey of Men Behaving Badly and numerous others including Matthew Wright, Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones, Bill Nighy and Mark Holland of Shadyside FC fame.

Related Topics:
Eddie Izzard - Sean Hughes - Jo Brand - Harry Enfield - Ronnie Corbett - Nigel Harman - Eastenders - Neil Morrissey - Men Behaving Badly - Matthew Wright - Bill Wyman - The Rolling Stones - Bill Nighy

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