Crystal Palace FC is based in Selhurst, South London and has been around since 1905. ‘The Eagles’ play their games at Selhurst Park and it has its origins as an amateur club that was established in 1861.
As the club claims to be a continuation of this amateur club, it would have a claim as being the oldest active professional football club anywhere in the world.
History of Crystal Palace
The official founding date for Crystal Palace FC is 1905. However, the club says that it is a continuation of the Crystal Palace amateur team that was started in 1861. The Crystal Palace Company was the owner of both of these clubs and both were founded at the Crystal Palace Exhibition building. The games were played on the grounds for many years, with games taking place at the FA Cup Final stadium until 1915.
After the First World War began, the club had to leave these grounds. It was in 1924 that Crystal Palace first started playing in Selhurst Park. The amateur Crystal Palace was a founder of the Football Association back in 1863 and was part of the first-ever FA Cup that began in 1871/1872, getting to the semi-final stage.
However, the amateur club then went missing before the professional Crystal Palace side emerged in 1905. The team played in the Southern League after getting rejected from the Football League.
Going pro
It was in 1920 that it finally got entry into the Football League. Ever since most of their seasons have been in the top two flights of English football. Crystal Palace has only been outside the top two tiers once since 1964. This was when the team was in the Third Division from 1974 through 1977.
It was towards the end of the 1980s and the start of the 1990s that Crystal Palace had its most successful period as a club. It managed to finish a club record high 3rd place in the First Division for the 1990/1991 season.
Palace narrowly missed out on qualifying for the UEFA Cup as the places for English teams were limited in the aftermath of the UEFA ban on English teams in European competitions. It was in 1992 that Crystal Palace was a founder of the Premier League. The club has been back up and down between the Championship ever since.
Crystal Palace FC honours
Crystal Palace does not have much silverware to boast about. The club has won the second tier of league football in England on two occasions, as well as winning the Third Division on one occasion. It has twice lost in FA Cup finals, the first time in 1990 and the second time in 2016. It won the Full Member’s Cup in 1990/1991 and has twice won the FA Youth Cup.
Crystal Palace supporters
Most of the Crystal Palace fans are from the local South London area, as well as the likes of Surrey and Kent. There is a passionate fan base at the club and there are a number of fan clubs. There are a lot of other clubs in the local area that it competes with.
The new owners took over the club in 2010, they asked the supporters of the club for input on certain decisions. Crystal Palace has been playing at Selhurst Park since 1924 and there are plans to increase the current all-seater stadium to hold 40,000 people.
At the moment, it can hold about 25,500 fans. Most of their rivals as a club are from South London. This includes the likes of Millwall and Charlton Athletic. Charlton even played some of its home games at Selhurst Park for a time. The fiercest rival for Crystal Palace is Brighton & Hove Albion, a club that was created after Crystal Palace got relegated in 1974 to the Third Division.
Betting on Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace has been cemented in the Premier League for a number of years now. While they are not competing for top honours, they are known to create upsets against some of the bigger teams in the league. This represents some lucrative betting opportunities for you.
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