-
Crystal Palace Formation in 1905
The professional Crystal Palace club was formed on 10 September 1905 under the guidance of Aston Villa assistant secretary Edmund Goodman. Palace applied for election to the Football League, but were rejected and the club found itself in the Southern League Second Division for the 1905 – 1906 seasons. The club was successful in its inaugural season and was promoted to the First Division, crowned as champions. Palace also played in the mid-week United Counties League, finishing runners-up to Watford, and it was in this competition that the club played their first match, winning 3–0 away to New Brompton.
-
Crystal Palace Arrive to First Division 1969
Palace stayed in the top flight from 1969 until 1973, and achieved some memorable results, arguably the best was a 5–0 home win against Manchester United in the 1972 – 1973 season. Arthur Wait stepped down as chairman during that season and was replaced by Raymond Bloye who appointed Malcolm Allison as a manager in March 1973, with Bert Head moving upstairs to become general manager. Unfortunately, the managerial change came too late to save the club from relegation back to the Second Division.
After their 1905 establishment, Crystal Palace applied for election to the Football League, but were rejected and instead played in the Southern League. Palace did eventually join the Football League in 1920, and have overall spent the majority of their league history competing in the top two tiers of English football. Since 1964, they have only dropped below the second tier once, for three seasons between 1974 and 1977. Palace’s highest ever league finish to date is third place in the top flight achieved in the 1990–91 season, which saw them denied a place in Europe at the end of that season partly due to the UEFA ban on English clubs following the Heysel Stadium disaster. Though by that time the ban had been lifted, it resulted in England being unranked in the UEFA coefficient rankings used that season, which meant the English top flight was only entitled to one European place in the UEFA Cup, and this went to the runners-up Liverpool. The club became founder members of the Premier League in 1992. Palace have also been FA Cup finalists twice, losing to Manchester United on both occasions in 1990 and 2016.
Founded
1905
Location
Selhurst, South London
Team History
1905 – Present / Crystal Palace Football Club
Nickname
The Eagles, The Glaziers
Crystal Palace was originally nicknamed “The Glaziers” which was in reference to the Crystal Palace that was made from steel and glass and also where a lot of the players worked. They became known as “The Eagles” when Malcolm Allison became the manager, known as Allison’s Eagles. During his term as manager, he also changed the club’s kit colors from claret and sky blue, too red and blue. Some people believe Allison was copying European teams with Benfica’s nickname also “The Eagles” and Barcelona playing in blue and red.
Championships
Premier League / 0
FA Cup / 0
Premier League – FA Cup Double / 0
Stadium
1924 – Present / Selhurst Park
1918 – 1924 / The Nest
1915 – 1918 / Herne Hill
1905 – 1915 / Crystal Palace
Current Owner
2010 – Present / Steve Parish, Joshua Harris, David S. Blitzer
*Blue is this team’s history