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.

Rival Clubs

Crystal Palace's rival clubs are Brighton & Hove Albion, and locally Millwall.

Related Topics:
Brighton & Hove Albion - Millwall

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Millwall are the closest club to Palace geographically, with just 6 miles separating Selhurst Park and The Den.

Related Topics:
Millwall - Selhurst Park - The Den

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Brighton rivalry has a lot more to it, though.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The two were drawn together in one of the early rounds of the FA Cup in late 1976. The first game at the Goldstone Ground signalled the arrival onto the Palace scene of one Rachid Harkouk.

Related Topics:
Goldstone Ground - Rachid Harkouk

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Rash the Smash", as he was dubbed because of his penchant for long range shooting, came to the club from non-league Feltham and went on to end that season and the next as top scorer - his first ever goal for the club took this game to a replay after a 2-2 draw.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A 1-1 draw at Selhurst took the tie to a second replay at Stamford Bridge, scene of Palace's win at Chelsea the season before, where the Eagles emerged triumphant 1-0 with a Phil Holder goal and after a hotly disputed Brian Horton penalty miss.

Related Topics:
Stamford Bridge - Phil Holder - Brian Horton

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Palace fans loved it but Brighton and manager Alan Mullery in particular were outraged, criticising all and sundry for the Palace encroachment at Horton's penalty that led to its being retaken (even though Horton had scored first time) and probably in frustration that Terry Venables had outwitted him on the night.

Related Topics:
Brighton - Alan Mullery - Terry Venables

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After that, Brighton were determined to gain revenge on the Eagles, and there some fiercely contested games.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

One of the recent highlights for Palace fans was the 5-0 thrashing of Brighton at Selhurst Park, on Tuesday 26 October 2002, including a hatrick from Andy Johnson.

Related Topics:
Brighton - Selhurst Park - Tuesday - 26 October - 2002 - Andy Johnson

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~