History of Crystal Palace F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = Crystal Palace
current = Crystal Palace F.C. season 2007-08


fullname = Crystal Palace Football Club
nickname = "The Eagles"
founded = 1905
ground = Selhurst Park London England
capacity = 26,309
chairman = flagicon|England Simon Jordan
mgrtitle = Manager
manager = flagicon|England Neil Warnock
league = The Championship
season = 2007-08
position = The Championship, 5th
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pattern_la2 = _blueborderyellow
pattern_b2 =
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leftarm2 = FFFF00 | body2 = FFFF00 | rightarm2 = FFFF00 | shorts2 = 0000FF | socks2 = FFFF00|

"This is an article about the history of the English football team Crystal Palace. For more information on the club please see the main Crystal Palace article."

1905 Formation

The current Crystal Palace club is a separate club to that of the team of the same name formed in 1861. This was an amateur team (comprised initially of The Great Exhibition groundkeepers, though famous amateurs like Cuthbert Ottaway played for them too). They played in the early FA Cups (reaching the first ever semi-finals) and were one of the 11 founding fathers of the Football Association. Four players from the club appeared for England including the famous goalkeeper, Alexander Morten.

Crystal Palace Football Club was formed on 10 September1905 by workers at the Crystal Palace, and played its home games on the cup final ground at the The Crystal Palace. The colours chosen were the claret and blue of Aston Villa, a result of the important role in the club's formation played by Edmund Goodman, an Aston Villa employee who was recommended to the fledgling club by the Villa chairman. Edmund Goodman organised the business side of the club and managed the team from 1907 to 1925. A former amateur player with Villa, Goodman had lost his leg after taking a kick on the knee which he said himself "took bad ways".

Along with two other newly formed London clubs, Chelsea and Clapton Orient, Palace applied to join the Second Division of the Football League. Chelsea and Clapton Orient were accepted, but Crystal Palace were not. Unfortunately Palace were too late to be considered for the First Division of the Southern League and were forced to settle for a place in the Second Division. To increase the number of club fixtures, they also joined the United Counties League. The first manager was John Robson who had been Middlesbrough's manager in their inaugural league season and who led them into the First Division.

1905-1906 Southern League Division Two

Thus in 1905-1906, "The Glaziers" started play in the Southern League Division Two and the United Counties League. Division Two of the Southern League consisted mainly of other clubs' reserve sides alongside Southall, Southern United, St. Leonard's and Grays United. Their opening match was against Southampton Reserves, and approximately 3,000 people paid 6d to stand or a shilling to sit. Palace led 3-0 after 30 minutes, before fading and losing 3-4. However, that was the club's only defeat in the League all season, and Crystal Palace won the championship over Leyton Reserves, and were promoted to the Southern League First Division. The season included a run of 17 straight victories, and a 9-1 win over Grays United at Crystal Palace. Attendances for the season were regularly between 2,000 and 3,000 although 4,000 attended the 4-0 defeat of Watford Reserves in March.

Crystal Palace's first ever competitive fixture was actually in the United Counties League and on September 1, Palace visited New Brompton (later Gillingham) and were convincing 3-0 victors. They finished the season as runners-up to Watford.

The FA Cup saw Crystal Palace defeat Clapham 7-0 in the First Qualifying Round with Walter Watkins scoring the first ever Crystal Palace hat-trick. In the Second Qualifying Round, the Grenadier Guards were defeated 3-0 to set up a Third Qualifying Round tie with Chelsea. Unfortunately for Chelsea, they had a league fixture to fulfil on the same day, and with promotion to Division One a possibility they opted to play the first team against Burnley and field a reserve team against Palace who ran out easy winners by 7-1 with another hat-trick being scored by Walter Watkins. A hollow victory it may have been, but Palace had reached the Fourth Qualifying Round where they beat Luton. In the First Round of the competition proper, Palace drew at Blackpool, then drew the replay at Crystal Palace before losing in a second replay at Villa Park.

It was during this season, in a friendly game in April, that the club achieved a record victory of 17-2 over West Beckenham.

1906-1907 Southern League Division One

Crystal Palace's first season in the Southern League First Division started with a 3-0 opening day victory over Northampton, but Palace struggled after that winning just two matches of the next ten. The season included a 5-1 defeat of Queens Park Rangers and a 0-6 defeat by Portsmouth in April. The season was notable for a remarkable run in the FA Cup. Drawn at home to Rotherham County in a qualifying tie, Crystal Palace were obliged to play the game at Stamford Bridge as the Crystal Palace ground had been scheduled to stage a Rugby international that day. After a comfortable 4-0 win, Palace were then drawn to play away to Newcastle United in the First Round. Newcastle had played in the previous two FA Cup Finals, were league champions in 1905 and were on their way to another championship having won all 10 of their home league games to date and having a home unbeaten run stretching back to November 25, 1905. In what still stands as one of the club's greatest ever wins, Crystal Palace had an early goal against them disallowed for offside, scored through Horace Astley against the run of play, and then held off Newcastle to come away with a shocking 1-0 win. The Second and Third Rounds saw Palace dispose of Fulham and Brentford respectively, the latter after a replay, and the Quarter-finals saw Palace drawn at home to First Division Everton, currently flying high in second place. In front of a record crowd of 35,000, Palace took the lead, but Everton equalised taking the tie to a replay where Everton proved too strong, running out 4-0 winners.

1907-1908

John Robson left Palace to take over at neighbours Croydon Common, and Edmund Goodman took over as manager and club secretary. The club had a good 1907-08 season, finishing fourth. One curious Southern League opponent had been Bradford Park Avenue who had been drafted in after Fulham had been elected to the Football League. On March 7, 1908, Bill Davies became the first player from the club to win an international honour when he was called up for Wales to play against Scotland in Dundee. Scotland won 2-1. Local hero George Woodger was chosen as a reserve for England's match against Scotland, but did not play.

In the FA Cup, Palace reached the Third Round after defeating Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle away from home. Drawn away again, they faced Grimsby Town and lost 0-1.

1908-1909

Crystal Palace failed to maintain their good form of the previous season, finishing the league in a disappointing 16th place. In the FA Cup they impressed again, defeating Cup holders Wolves in the First Round 4-2 after a 2-2 draw at Molineux. In the Second Round they faced Burnley at home, and in front of a crowd of 17,076 drew 0-0. The replay didn't go Palace's way at all. One down after three minutes, two down after fifteen, Palace were 0-5 down at half-time. The game finished 0-9, a record defeat for Palace and a record victory for Burnley.

1909-1910

Another disappointing season for Palace after a bright start with just one defeat in the first twelve games including a 6-0 mauling of Southend where Jim Williams scored five times. One victory in the last seven games saw Palace end the season in seventh place. The season saw Palace play local derby games against Croydon Common, who were newly promoted to the Southern League First Division. Palace drew a crowd of 12,000 to the Nest for the away game, and game was described by the Croydon Advertiser - who had stopped covering Palace in favour of Croydon Common - as "bad tempered". Palace did the double over Croydon Common, who were relegated after just one season. The FA Cup was disappointing with Palace eliminated in the First Round at Swindon Town, losing 1-3.

1910-1911

Palace lost the services of stalwart George Woodger at the start of the season, receiving a fee of around £800 from First Division Oldham Athletic for his services. While with Oldham, Woodger played for England before returning south and joining Spurs. Palace matched their highest ever placing of fourth, with league attendances as high as 12,000 high for the game against Swindon Town. The FA Cup saw Palace again paired with Everton, but in front of a crowd of 35,000 Palace went down to a 0-4 defeat.

1911-1912

After just one defeat in the first eleven games, Palace looked like improving on the previous season, but erratic form saw them again finish in seventh place. Palace signed Ted Smith from Hull and on his debut he scored a hat-trick at Upton Park in a 6-1 win, a game in which Dick Harker also scored a hat-trick. Ted Smith followed this with a hat-trick in his second game for the club, this time against Bristol Rovers. In the FA Cup, Palace got by Brentford after a reply, before facing Sunderland. After a 0-0 draw at home, Palace lost at Roker Park to a single goal in front of 20,000 fans. In March "Ginger" Williams was selected by Wales to play against Scotland. Wales lost 0-1 but Williams earned a second cap against Ireland, with Wales losing 2-3.

1912-1913

Another disappointing season in the league, although the highlight was undoubtedly an 8-0 victory over Southampton, but the FA Cup saw Palace reach the Third Round with wins over Glossop North End and Bury. Palace were drawn away to manager Goodman's former team Aston Villa, who were too strong and ran out comfortable 5-0 winners.

Crystal Palace did win the London Challenge Cup, beating Croydon Common, Spurs and Fulham before defeating West Ham United 1-0 in the final.

1913-1914

This was Crystal Palace's best ever season with the club putting together some long unbeaten runs. Unfortunately too many of these were draws, and Palace finished the season runners-up to Swindon Town on goal average. Crystal Palace did have their first England representative in Horace Colclough who played in the team that beat Wales in Cardiff on March 16.

Crystal Palace retained the London Challenge Cup, defeating Spurs 2-1 at Highbury.

Palace also defeated Spurs by the same score in the Professional Footballers' Charity Fund Match staged at White Hart Lane.

1914-1915 Wartime and a New Home at Herne Hill

On August 4, shortly before the new season kicked-off, Britain declared war on Germany. Palace had high hopes of improving on the previous season's second place, but Palace had three players called up as Reservists before the season started and in a season where the continuation of football during a time of war won little public sympathy, Palace won just one of the first ten games and finished in fifteenth place. Attendances had dipped as low as 1,000 and when Palace drew 2-2 at Birmingham in the FA Cup in January, Palace reluctantly chose to sell the game and play the replay in Birmingham to guarantee healthy gate receipts. Palace lost the game 0-3.

In March 1915, the Admiralty, who had taken over the ground at the start of the war, ordered the club to leave. At the time, the club thought they were seeking a temporary home, but Palace never returned. It was also the end of FA Cup Finals at the Crystal Palace, with the 1915 match between Chelsea and Sheffield United - the Khaki Final - being held at Old Trafford.

Palace were offered ground-sharing at both Millwall Athletic and Croydon Common, but chose to move to Herne Hill Stadium, not far from Millwall's ground. The first visitors were Northampton Town who held Palace to a 1-1 draw, before Palace then suffered a humiliating defeat from Croydon Common by 5-1.

1915-1918

1917-1918

Palace finished seventh.

1918-1919

The only club that had been a member of the Southern League at the outbreak of war, but which failed to survive, was Croydon Common. 'The Robins' were the first professional football club in Croydon, but after they had gone into liquidation, it was to their ground, The Nest opposite Selhurst Station, that Crystal Palace now moved. (Railway sheds now occupy the former ground).

Palace's opening game that season was a 2-1 win at Clapton Orient, and the first game at the new home saw Palace beat QPR 4-2. The last match while the country was at war was a 2-3 defeat in the return match at QPR. On the following Monday, November 11, 1918, the armistice was signed. Palace finished the season without a win in the last nine games, and again finished in seventh place.

1919-1920 Southern League

During the war, Harry Hanger had been killed, as had former Palace players Ginger Williams and Joe Bulcock. However, Palace had several experienced players available during the first season of post-war football, including England amateur international Ben Bateman, Albert Feebury, Jimmy Hughes, Ernie Rhodes and Ted Smith.

Palace opened the 1919-1920 season with a 2-2 draw with Northampton and by mid-October had only one victory. They had a five game winning streak in December / January, including a Christmas Day / Boxing Day double over Brighton. The Boxing Day game attracted a crowd of more than 15,000, and this figure was exceeded by 2,000 the following day when the visitors were Millwall Athletic. Palace lost just four more times all season, and finished in third position. In the FA Cup, Palace returned to the scene of their greatest triumph, but in front of 15,000 spectators lost to Newcastle United by 2-0.

1920-21 Football League Division Three

Crystal Palace became a league club in 1920 when the Football League accepted the entire Southern League "en bloc" as associate members in a new Division Three.

Having had a successful final season in the Southern League, Palace strengthened their squad with Welsh international J.T. Jones from Stoke City and Irish international Roy McCracken. They also signed Tommy Storey from Middlesbrough.

In their first season as a League Club, Crystal Palace lost their opening game at Merthyr Town 1-2 with A.G. Milligan scoring Palace's first ever league goal. Milligan's Palace career was short-lived however, and he made just one more appearance for the club. Palace's first ever home league match was a disappointing 0-0 draw against Plymouth Argyle but Palace then went on a run of six consecutive wins. Goalkeeper Jack Alderson, who had been signed in 1919, kept a clean sheet in six consecutive games. Palace lost just six more games all season, were unbeaten in the final sixteen games of the season (including an eight game winning streak)and went on to win the championship by five points from Southampton and earning promotion to the Second Division. They conceded just 34 goals, a record that stood until 1978-79.

Crystal Palace thus joined Preston North End, Small Heath, Liverpool and Bury as the only clubs to have won a championship in their first season as a League club.

Crystal Palace were forced to play their home game with Exeter City on November 27 at Southampton, after the FA closed the Nest for a fortnight and Palace were banned from playing within 10 miles of their home ground. Palace had been offered the use of grounds at Tottenham Hotspur and Clapton Orient, but had delayed in accepting and were forced to play at Southampton.

Attendances had been strong, with the December 27 Boxing Day game at home to Brighton drawing over 22,000. The leading scorer was Scotsman John Conner with 29 league goals.

In the FA Cup, Palace beat Manchester City - who finished the season as runners-up in the First Division behind Burnley - 2-0 in front of 18,500 at home before losing to Hull City by the same score in the next round.

Palace also won the London Challenge Cup, beating Clapton Orient with a Conner goal at White Hart Lane.

1921-1925 Division Two

1921-1922

The following season, 1921-22, saw the formation of a Northern section of the Third Division and the Third Division became the Division Three South. This arrangement would continue until 1958 when the Third and Fourth Divisions were formed, but for the moment, Crystal Palace were above all that, and in 1921 they opened their season as a Second Division club.

The first game was at home to Nottingham Forest who had strengthened their team following relegation the previous season, but Palace ran out 4-1 winners. One win in the next seven and the season turned into one of consolidation with Palace finishing the season in fourteenth place. The high attendance for the season was 20,000 for the Fulham game.

Once again, the FA Cup provided a highlight with Palace drawn away to First Division Everton. In one of the biggest shocks in Cup history, Palace came away with a 6-0 win. In the second round Palace had a home tie against Millwall, a team one division below Palace, but could only draw 0-0 before losing the replay 0-2.

It was during this season that Palace signed Albert Harry from Kingstonian, with Harry making his debut on March 25 versus Bury.

1922-1923

Any hopes that Palace might improve on their first season as a Second Division side were dashed when the club opened the season with a fourteen game winless streak, before finally beating The Wednesday at home 2-0 on November 11. This record stood until 1973-74 when Palace opened with fifteen winless games. Not surprisingly, Palace were bottom at this stage of the season, but form improved and they ended the season in sixteenth place. The outstanding performance of the season was undoubtedly the 4-0 win at eventual champions Notts County.

Palace also had another international honour, with goalkeeper Jack Alderson called up to play for England against France in Paris, with England winning 4-1.

1923-1924

During the close season, Palace signed Frank "Tom" Hoddinott from Chelsea, and he scored on his debut in the opening day 1-2 home defeat by Port Vale. Another debutant during the season was Jimmy Hamilton who became a club stalwart for the next six years. Palace finished the season in fifteenth place and once again it was the FA Cup that provided some excitement.

Palace defeated First Division Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in front of 17,000 fans, a figure that would have been higher but for the fact that the Corinthians were defeating Blackburn Rovers 1-0 at Crystal Palace in front of 20,000 people that same afternoon. In the Second Round Palace faced newly promoted First Division side Notts County. After a 0-0 draw at the Nest in front of 19,500 spectators, and an identical scoreline in the replay at Meadow Lane, Palace played the second replay at Villa Park with the game again finishing scoreless. In the third replay, again at Villa Park, Notts County finally broke the deadlock, but Hoddinott equalised straight from the kick-off. In the second half, Bill Hand grabbed the winner and Palace earned a Third Round tie at home to Swindon five days later. Whitworth's goal was not enough, and Palace lost 1-2 in front of a crowd of 20,000.

elhurst Park

Back in 1919, the Palace minute book contained an entry instructing the Secretary to investigate the possibility of obtaining a lease on the 'ground at Selhurst'. Calling it a 'ground' was a little misleading since at the time it was a piece of waste land valuable only to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company. At one time it had been a brickfield, and two chimney stacks still remained. On January 3, 1922 the club purchased the ground at a cost of £2,750, and renowned football ground architect Archibald Leitch was commissioned to design Selhurst Park. Leitch had designed stands at Craven Cottage, Stamford Bridge, White Hart Lane and Leeds Road, but the design for Palace was unusual in that it had no roof gable. The other three sides of the ground remained open banking with just the lower parts being terraced. Construction work was delayed by industrial disputes, and when the ground was opened by the Lord Mayor of London on the first day of the 1924-1925 season, August 30, the stand was not finished. It did however boast many luxuries, including "offices, tea rooms, training quarters, plunge, slipper shower and needle baths".

1924-1925

The opening fixture at Selhurst Park was against the Wednesday, and in front of a crowd of 25,000, Palace lost 0-1, with the first goal at Selhurst Park being scored by Billy Marsden. Absent from the Palace team was goalkeeper Jack Alderson, who had left the club after a pay dispute. Palace started the season steadily enough, and after avenging the Wednesday defeat by the same score at Hillsborough on December 27, Palace were in fifth place with promotion hopes high.

However, Palace won just two more games all season (at home to Manchester United 2-1 and Chelsea 1-0) finished in 21st place, and were relegated along with Coventry City. A win in the last game at home to Oldham Athletic would have secured survival, but Palace went down 0-1 and it would be almost 40 years before Palace would again grace the second level of English football.

One small consolation was the decision by the FA to stage the England versus Wales international at Selhurst Park on March 1, 1925. It remains the only full international staged at the ground, and Wales won the game 3-1.

1925-1939 Division Three South

The Third Division (South) years were not kind to the club, and were to last as long as the Third Division South itself. With only the champions gaining promotion, it was a hard division to escape from, but Palace came close on more than one occasion.

In the fourteen pre-war Division Three South seasons, Palace finished in the top seven ten times, and never lower than 14th.

Palace finished runners-up no less than three times. There was a suspicion in those days of a fixed maximum wage with win bonuses, that players were better off playing at a lower level and winning lots of games, than gaining promotion and then struggling to win games at the higher level. Plymouth Argyle finished runners-up six consecutive seasons from 1921-1927.

1928-1929

The 1928-1929 season saw Palace finish second behind Charlton Athletic on goal average. In the First Round of the FA Cup, Palace beat Kettering Town 2-0 at Selhurst Park. Playing for the Poppies that day was Peter Simpson who impressed Palace manager Fred Maven with his performance. In the Second Round of the Cup, Palace beat Bristol Rovers 3-1 at home, facing a Third Round tie at Luton. Palace drew 0-0 and in the replay at Selhurst Park, Palace scored 7 goals without reply. The Fourth Round saw Palace drawn away to Millwall, and again the drew the away game 0-0. The replay, a rare Thursday game played on January 31, saw Palace defeat Millwall 5-3 and so Palace advanced to the Fifth Round to face First Division Huddersfield. The Terriers proved to strong, and Palace lost 2-5.

In the summer of 1929, Maven signed Simpson for Palace, a deal which proved to be one of the club's best ever transactions.

1929-1930

In the fifth game of the season, Palace gave Peter Simpson his debut at home to Norwich City. Simpson scored all three goals in a 3-2 win.

1930-1931

In 1930-1931 Palace placed second behind newly relegated Notts County, this time by six points. On October 4, Palace beat Exeter City 7-2 with Peter Simpson scoring a club record six goals. He finished the season with a total of 46 goals, a club record that still stands.

1931-1932

1932-1933

1933-1934

1934-1935

At the end of the 1934-1935 season, Peter Simpson was transferred to West Ham. His final Palace total was 165 goals from 195 appearances, a record that still stands today.

1935-1936

1936-1937

1937-1938

1938-1939

In 1938-1939 Palace finished second again, three points adrift of Newport County.

1939-1940

When the 1939-1940 season ended, Palace topped the table, but unfortunately the season was only four matches old, and was cancelled with the onset of the Second World War.

1939-1945 Second World War Years

1945-1958 Division Three South

1945-1946

1946-1947

1947-1948

1948-1949

Palace finished the season in last place with just 8 wins, 27 points and 38 goals. Bradford City finished bottom of the Northern Section, and had two points and 12 goals more than Palace.

1949-1950

Palace finished 7th

1950-1951

Palace finished 24th, and last, with 8 wins 27 points and 33 goals.

1951-1952

Palace finished 19th

1952-1953

Palace finished 13th

1953-1954

Palace finished 22nd

1954-1955

Palace finished 20th

1955-1956

Palace finished 23rd

1956-1957

Palace finished 20th

1957-1958

Palace finished 14th, in the bottom half of the 24-team field, and thus had to form the Football League Fourth Division.

1958-1961 Division Four

1958-1959

Palace finished 7th

1959-1960

Palace finished 8th

1960-1961

Palace finished 2nd behind league newcomers Peterborough United, who thus matched Palace's 1921 achievement of winning a championship in their inaugural league season. Surrey born Johnny Byrne scored 31 of Palace's 110 goals (his strike partner Roy Summersby netted 25).

1961-1964 Division Three

1961-1962

Palace finished 15th. In November, Johnny Byrne, was called up to the England team, despite playing outside the top two divisions at the time, one of only five people ever to achieve this. Byrne played the whole of the 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland, part of the 1962 British Home Championship, at Wembley Stadium. After international recognition, Ron Greenwood paid a British record transfer fee of £65,000 and ex-Palace striker Ron Brett to take "Budgie" to West Ham United in March 1962. This was a record fee between two British clubs at the time. Byrne left having scored 96 goals for Palace, then a post-war record.

On Wednesday April 18, Real Madrid made their first appearance in London to celebrate the opening of Palace's new floodlights, with Byrne returning to the Palace line-up as a guest player. Real Madrid ran out 4-3 winners.

1962-1963

Palace finished 11th

1963-1964

Palace finished 2nd behind Coventry City on goal average.

The Dave Clark Five's chart-hit Glad All Over became a crowd favourite at Selhurst, with fans banging on advertising hoardings in time with the drum beat in the chorus of the song. The club began to play the song regularly, and though it was not played for a period in the 1970s, it was re-established by the following decade, and remains the club's anthem today.

1964-1969 Division Two

1964-1965

Palace finished 7th, their highest ever league placing.

1965-1966

Palace finished 11th

1966-1967

Palace finished 7th, matching their best ever league placing.

1967-1968

Palace finished 11th

1968-1969

Palace finished 2nd behind Derby County and achieved promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history. Promotion was clinched with a 16 game unbeaten run to end the season.

1969-1973 Division One

1969-1970

Palace's life in the top division of English football began with a home game against Manchester United. Scoring the first goal Division One goal for the club was Mel Blyth after 6 minutes, and a second goal from new signing Gerry Queen saw Palace hold Manchester United to a 2-2 draw. The next game was another home game versus Sunderland which Palace won 2-0. After a season long struggle against relegation, Palace were eventually able to secure safety finishing in 20th place, above relegated Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland.

1970-1971

Palace made a stronger start this time around, and although their form was poor during the latter part of the season, they were never in serious danger of relegation, eventually finishing in 18th place - the club's highest ever league placing to that point.

1971-1972

Palace fans had to endure another struggle to avoid the drop, but thankfully for them, as two seasons earlier, Palace finished one place clear of relegation in 20th place.

Following the trend of many other top flight clubs at the time, Palace introduced a new "Player of the Year" award that has been presented at the end of every season since the 1971-72 campaign.

Player of the Year: John McCormick

1972-1973

After never really establishing themselves in the top flight in four years, Palace finally succumbed to the drop. The club appointed Malcolm Allison in March of that year, replacing Bert Head, but he was unable to keep the club at the top level. For his first game in charge, he gave young Scottish defender Jim Cannon his debut in the home game against Chelsea. Palace had never won a London derby in the top flight to this point, but Jim Cannon, who had risen through the youth ranks at Palace, marked Blues striker Peter Osgood out of the game and then scored the second goal in a 2-0 win to begin a long career in SE25.

Player of the Year: Tony Taylor

1973-1976 The Allison Years

1973-1974

Despite relegation, the 1973-74 season started with much optimism among supporters. Malcolm Allison had a strong recent record as a coach, having won trophies with Manchester City as an assistant to Joe Mercer, and had a flamboyant personality that was something of a change for the club, who had always previously had something of a conservative image. "The Glaziers" became "The Eagles" and the club changed its colours from the original claret and sky blue to a red and dark blue scheme. The Eagle was also introduced as the club mascot at this time, and the club badge was redesigned. It is thought that the colours and mascot were chosen to copy those of two of Europe's biggest teams, the colours coming from FC Barcelona and the mascot from Benfica. The squad was considered one of the strongest in the Second Division, and 'Big Mal' promised that the club would not be there for long. Another factor that appeared to help the club was that the new season would see the introduction of a three-up, three-down promotion / relegation system. As is often the case with newly relegated teams, Crystal Palace struggled to find their feet, failing to win any of their first 15 league games before a 1-0 win at Bristol City in November. The club then found some form, aided by the signing from Southend United of pacey winger Peter Taylor and after spending most of the season adrift in last place, a 3-1 win at Fulham on Good Friday saw the team in 17th place and out of the relegation zone. However, three consecutive losses, including a home loss against Fulham, saw Palace needing to win the last game of the season at Cardiff City. They could only draw 1-1, and were relegated for the second successive season, ironically in the newly added third relegation position, and also fulfilling Malcolm Allison's pre-season prediction that the team would not be in the division for long.

Player of the Year: Peter Taylor

1974-1975

The 1974-75 season was the club's first season in Division Three since 1963-64, and although the team had a good season, and attendances were the highest in the division, they missed out on promotion finishing in fifth place. Malcolm Allison acquired Terry Venables and Ian Evans from QPR in exchange for Don Rogers, a trade that was to be significant to Palace's, and indeed England's, football future. It was also around this time that Malcolm Allison persuaded the club to put more resources into developing a strong youth team, a decision that was to lead to success at that level, and the emergence of a number of promising players.

Player of the Year: Derek Jeffries

1975-1976

The 1975-76 season started with the club winning their opening five games in the league, and losing just one game before defeating Walton and Hersham 1-0 at home in the first round of the FA Cup. Palace then took on Millwall in the Second Round at The Den, beating them after a replay. Palace were seven points clear at this time, but then league form began to suffer. Having lost one game all season, Palace then lost four in a row.

Drawn away in the Third Round to Scarborough, Palace comfortably won 3-1, only to be drawn away again, this time to the mighty Leeds United, who were in second place in the First Division. In one of the FA Cup's biggest ever shocks, Palace emerged with a thoroughly deserved 1-0 win after a first-half Dave Swindlehurst goal.

Drawn away yet again, Palace faced Chelsea in the Fourth Round, and were again victorious, with a 3-2 win (with two goals from Peter Taylor, including a memorable winning free-kick that is still remembered as one of the great FA Cup goals) in front of a crowd of over 55,000 and Palace were in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for only the second time in their history. This goal was a factor in Taylor being called-up to the England side.

League form continued to suffer, and as the March 6 quarter-final approached, Crystal Palace were locked in a three-way tie for second place, having played two more games than Brighton and Shrewsbury. Palace were drawn away yet again, this time to Sunderland, who were unbeaten at home all season, and thanks to an Alan Whittle goal the Eagles left Roker Park as victors, and were drawn against Second Division Southampton in the semi-final, guaranteeing a finalist from outside the top flight for the second successive season and the third time in four years (following Sunderland in 1973, and Fulham in 1975). Palace faced Southampton at Stamford Bridge on April 2, but the good luck charm of Allison's legendary fedora and cigars finally ran out, as his side were beaten 2-0 by the Saints, who would go on to beat Manchester United in the final.

Despite the distractions of the cup run, Palace were still in a good position to achieve the main goal of promotion. In second place on semi-final day, with seven league games remaining, Palace then lost games at Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff City and could manage just one more win, finishing in a disappointing fifth place.

Player of the Year: Peter Taylor

The "Team of the Eighties" (1976-1981)

1976-1977

Malcolm Allison was replaced as manager by Terry Venables, who had been assistant to Allison during the previous season, and Palace started the 1976-77 season steadily enough, in sixth place at the end of October.

At the end of 1976, Palace stood in 8th place, and after losing to Port Vale on April 26, with four games remaining, the Eagles were five points out of third place, with an inferior goal difference. Crucially however, two of the final three games were against Wrexham, who were in second place, but with a tough final game against Mansfield Town who were also in the promotion hunt. Palace beat Wrexham at home to close the gap to two points with just two games remaining to Wrexham's three. Wrexham's goal difference was +29, Palace's was +23. On Saturday May 7, Palace beat Lincoln City 4-1 whilst Wrexham were held to a 2-2 draw at Oxford United. Palace were now one point behind, with just one game left - at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground, with the Dragons not only holding a one point advantage, but also had a goal difference 3 better than Palace's. Anything other than an away win would mean that Wrexham were promoted. A Palace win by one goal, and Wrexham would need just a point in their final game Mansfield; a Palace win by more than one goal, and Wrexham would need to win their final game. The Eagles raced into 2-0 lead by half-time, before giving up two second half goals, the second with just a few minutes remaining. In one of the club's most dramatic wins, Rachid Harkouk and Jeff Bourne both scored to give the Eagles a 4-2 win and climb over Wrexham into the third and last promotion spot. The pressure was on Wrexham, and in front of their own fans and a coach full of Palace supporters, Wrexham were beaten by a single goal to give Mansfield the title and Palace the final promotion spot.

Away from the first team front, Allison's legacy continued. Having stressed the importance of youth when he took over the then First Division Eagles in 1973, the Palace youngster won the FA Youth Cup, defeating Everton's youngsters in the final. This young Palace side would go on to be part of the infamous "Team of the Eighties", and including the likes of Youth team captain and first-team "Player of the Year" Kenny Sansom, who would make 86 appearances for England, Vince Hilaire, one of the first black footballers, and Billy Gilbert (footballer born 1959).

Player of the Year: Kenny Sansom

1977-1978

1977-78 was a year of consolidation, with Palace never looking likely to go up or down, and finished the season in 8th place.

The youth team repeated their success of the previous year, and became the first team to win the FA Youth Cup in successive seasons since Chelsea in 1960 and 1961. Palace were by now gaining a reputation as a club that would become a major force in years to come with such exciting talent.

Player of the Year: Jim Cannon

1978-1979

The 1978-79 season saw Palace lose just four games all season, conceding a club record total of just 24 goals all season, and finished the season with a Friday night game at home to Burnley in front of a still-standing record crowd of 51,801. A Palace win, and Palace would be champions; a draw, and Palace would be promoted, but hand the championship to fierce rivals Brighton; a loss and Palace would stay down, with Sunderland clinching the final promotion place. At half-time the deadlock had not been broken despite Palace's dominance, but a second-half cross from Vince Hilaire allowed Ian Walsh to head the opener, before a great run by Dave Swindlehurst was completed by a finish from outside the penalty area to give the Eagles a 2-0 win, and for the first time, Palace were champions.

Player of the Year: Kenny Sansom

1979-1980

As an increasing number of players from the FA Youth Cup winning team began to establish themselves in the first team, the press gave Palace the title of the "Team of the Eighties". The Eagles began the season well and stayed unbeaten longer than any other club in the top flight, as well as moving to first place in the top flight for the first and to date only time in the club's history after beating Bobby Robson's Ipswich Town side by four goals to one at Selhurst Park.

Sadly however the young starlets could not keep this form up, and a slide down the table resulted in the Eagles finishing in 13th, though this was still the club's highest ever finish.

Player of the Year: Paul Hinshelwood

The Ron Noades Takeover (1981)

1980-1981

The slide continued into the 1980-81 season, with 9 defeats in the first 10 games, and Venables quit Selhurst Park for QPR. Coach Ernie Walley was placed in temporary charge, and after six matches was offered the job permanently, conditional on him agreeing to 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 backfire, as the club's form turned out to be worse under Allison than it had under Walley; the side were virtually relegated by the start of February when another, even bigger change occurred.

Ron Noades, formerly chairman of Wimbledon, bought out the club and sacked Allison immediately. 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 had departed.

The First Division situation was already beyond Gradi's ability to salvage, and Palace were unsurprisingly relegated.

Player of the Year: Paul Hinshelwood

1981-1982

However fortunes failed to 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 caretaker 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.

Player of the Year: Paul Barron

1982-1983

At the end of that season Kember was sacked 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.

Player of the Year: Jerry Murphy

1983-1984

Palace's form slumped to even lower levels in the 1983-1984 season, with attendances rapidly decreasing due to the lack of support for the manager from the fans. Mullery left the club at the end of the season – ironically to replace the Barcelona-bound Terry Venables at QPR – and was replaced by Dario Gradi's successor at Wimbledon, Dave Bassett.

Player of the Year: Billy Gilbert

The Steve Coppell Era (1984-1993)

1984-1985

Bassett then stunned the club four days after his appointment by resigning and returning to Wimbledon, leaving Noades to appoint 29-year-old former Manchester United and England midfielder Steve Coppell as manager after his playing career had been cut short by a knee injury. Assisted by Ian Evans, Coppell worked to rebuilding Palace after the "Team of the Eighties" dream had long-since disappeared, and indeed relegation to the third tier seemed more likely. Coppell's first season saw Palace again avoid relegation, finishing a more-respectable 15th.

Player of the Year: Jim Cannon

1985-1986

Palace made history the following season by hosting the first official groundshare, with Charlton Athletic coming to play at Selhurst Park, after The Valley had been closed, following its deterioration, with the Addicks promoted as runners-up in the first season of this groundbreaking partnership while Palace also improved massively this season as well, finishing fifth though a significant distance behind third-placed Wimbledon's "Crazy Gang". However the signs were there for Palace, with Ian Wright, signed from non-league Greenwich Borough beginning to excite fans.

Player of the Year: George Wood

1986-1987

This season saw Palace's improvement under Coppell continue, with Wright joined by Mark Bright to form what would become the famous "Wrighty & Brighty" strike partnership. The club narrowly missed out on the brand-new play-offs, finishing just two points and one place outside of them in sixth.

Player of the Year: Jim Cannon

1987-1988

Palace came even closer to the play-offs this time, with a memorable victory over Manchester City at Selhurst marked by the rumours that champions Millwall were beating Blackburn Rovers, allowing Palace a route into the play-offs provided they could maintain their lead over City. It later emerged that the rumours were false and Rovers had comfortably beaten the Lions, meaning that Palace again finished 6th and missed out in the play-offs, despite beating City.

This second failure to make the play-offs resulted in Coppell deciding not to offer Jim Cannon a new contract, with Palace's record appearance player departing after sixteen years at Selhurst, appearing for the club a massive 660 times.

Player of the Year: Geoff Thomas

1988-1989

("See 1989 Football League Championship play-offs for more information on this play-off campaign")

After two years of missing out of the play-offs by small fractions Palace this time missed out on automatic promotion by a single point to Man City. However the Eagles had finally reached the play-offs, and Coppell's men beat Lou Macari's Swindon Town over two legs before suffering a 3-1 defeat at Ewood Park to Blackburn. However Coppell's men pulled off the unlikiest of comebacks, beating Rovers 3-0 at Selhurst to return to the First Division.

Player of the Year: Ian Wright

1989-1990

After a shaky start, which included a 0-9 defeat in the fifth game of the season at Liverpool, Palace finished a creditable 15th in their first season back in the top flight (1989-90), also setting the record for the most expensive goalkeeper, being the first club to pay £1million for one when buying Nigel Martyn from Bristol Rovers.

However it was in the FA Cup that Palace really shone. After a succession of ties against lower division teams (Portsmouth, Huddersfield Town, Rochdale and Cambridge United), Palace reached the semi-finals, drawing the same Liverpool side that had beaten them 9-0 earlier in the season. The tie was played at Villa Park, and saw Liverpool score first and hold a seemingly comfortable 1-0 lead at half-time in a somewhat uninspiring match. However, Palace emerged from the half-time interval with a sense of purpose, and within a minute of the restart were level with Bright equalising. After going 2-1 up, they gave up two goals late, and were seemingly out, before a late equaliser took the game into extra-time. The winner was scored by Alan Pardew and for the first time in their history, Palace were in the FA Cup Final.

The Eagles then faced Manchester United in their first ever appearance at Wembley Stadium, with Gary O'Reilly opening the scoring and substitute Wright recovered from twice breaking his leg earlier in the season to score an equaliser immediately after coming onto the pitch to take the tie to extra time, before scoring again early in the extra period, though Mark Hughes scored a third for United to leave the thrilling tie at 3-3.

In the replay the Eagles wore a new yellow and black striped shirt to further commemorate the occasion, but this second final failed to live up to the thrills of the first. In a dull game United left-back Lee Martin capped a 40-yard run by slotting past Martyn to win the Cup for the Red Devils.

This replay was shrouded in controversy however, as Manchester United were permitted to play loan goalkeeper Les Sealey despite having signed him after the transfer deadline, for seemingly no reason other than their regular custodian Jim Leighton was suffering from a dip in form.

Before the final the Palace squad recorded two songs in celebration. One was called "Where Eagles Fly", which was written to commemorate the fans' support in the win over Liverpool, while the other was a cover of Palace's anthem "Glad All Over", by The Dave Clark Five.

Player of the Year: Mark Bright

1990-1991

The club built on the success of the previous season and for a while challenged for the league title. However Palace fell just short of champions Arsenal and runners-up Liverpool, nevertheless finishing a club-best third in the league. Liverpool's ban from European competition following the Heysel Stadium Disaster should have meant UEFA Cup qualification for the Eagles, but the ban on Liverpool was lifted twelve months early, cruelly denying Palace a first European place.

More success was achieved that season however when Palace made their third trip to Wembley in twelve months, beating Everton 4-1 in the final of the Zenith Data Systems Cup, the Eagles' only cup win to date.

Palace then resumed groundsharing at Selhurst Park, this time with neighbouring Wimbledon, after the Dons' Plough Lane ground was closed for safety reasons.

Player of the Year: Geoff Thomas

1991-1992

The following season was somewhat anti-climatic, with Wright sold to champions Arsenal for a record fee and the club finishing in mid-table.

Player of the Year: Eddie McGoldrick

1992-1993

("See FA Premier League 1992–93 for more information on this season")

Palace were founder members of the FA Premier League, but a loss of key players such as Bright through sales and Salako through long-term injuries resulted in Palace's form slumping, with the Eagles struggling to score goals. They were relegated on goal difference in 1992-93 at the end of the first season of the Premier League, after Oldham Athletic's 4-3 victory over Southampton, with Palace's 49 points from 42 games the joint-highest total of any club ever to have been relegated from the top flight of English football.

Player of the Year: Andy Thorn

=The Alan Smith Era (1993-1995)=

1993-1994

Steve Coppell resigned as manager following Palace's relegation, and handed over the reins to his assistant Alan Smith, who immediately guided Palace back to the Premier League as runaway champions of Division One, with Chris Armstrong top-scoring with 23 league goals. During this period the badge was changed with the phoenix looking bird being replaced with one more closely resembling an eagle.

Player of the Year: Chris Coleman

1994-1995

("See FA Premier League 1994–95 for more information on this season")

In 1995 Palace reached the semi-finals of both domestic cups, but a shortage of Premier League goals (only top-scorer Chris Armstrong, with 16 goals, ever really made a big impact on scoring) counted against them (as did the introduction of a fourth relegation place for the 1994-95 season, as the Premiership was being cut from 22 to 20 clubs) and they were relegated on the last day of the season once again.

On 25 January 1995 Palace played Manchester United at Selhurst Park. Following a bad tackle on Richard Shaw, United midfielder Eric Cantona was sent off. As he walked towards the tunnel he was taunted by Palace fan Matthew Simmons. This angered Cantona, who launched a kick at him. There were serious repercussions for Cantona as a result of the incident, which was given the cult name 'The Cantona Kung-Fu Kick'.

Player of the Year: Richard Shaw

The Second Coming of Coppell (1995-1996)

1995-1996

("See 1996 Football League Championship play-offs for more information on this play-off campaign")

Smith was sacked within days of relegation, 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. The campaign went poorly, and Coppell's second spell was brought to an end after only seven months, with relegation looking increasingly possible. Dave Bassett then joined the club for a second spell, which proved to be far more productive than his first as the club embarked on a stunning run of form which took them to the play-offs. The Eagles beat Charlton Athletic in the semi-finals to take them to the final against Leicester City at Wembley Stadium, in which they narrowly lost to The Foxes by a long range Steve Claridge goal in the final minute of extra time.

Player of the Year: Andy Roberts

The Coppell Era III

1996-1997

("See 1997 Football League Championship play-offs for more information on this play-off campaign")

Bassett moved to Nottingham Forest in March 1997, but Steve Coppell returned as manager to secure a play-off spot. Palace beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in the semi-finals after two late goals by Dougie Freedman in the first leg at Selhurst Park, to move a final against Sheffield United at Wembley. David Hopkin scored a long-range goal in the 90th minute of the game, a moment that has become a centrepiece of the club's history, to secure promotion back to the Premiership for the Eagles. When asked what promotion meant to him, Coppell famously replied "nine months of hell".

Player of the Year: David Hopkin

1997-1998

("See FA Premier League 1997–98 for more information on this season")

On 4 August 1997 Palace signed Italian international midfiedler Attilio Lombardo, who amazed supporters with his pace and skill and, even today, many fans still regard him as the best player ever to turn out for Palace. In early 1998, with Palace bottom of the Premiership, Lombardo, along with former Swedish striker Tomas Brolin, assumed the manager's job for the remainder of the season, in the hope that the club's fortunes might be turned around. This, however, was not the case, and Palace's stay in the Premier League was short-lived lasting just one season before they were relegated back to Division One, having won just two home games (and a match at Selhurst Park against Wimbledon where Palace were the official away team) and finishing bottom of the table, with 33 points.

At the end of that season Palace got their first, and to date only, experience of European football. The Eagles were entered into the Third Round of the UEFA Intertoto Cup, against Samsunspor, of Turkey. Palace lost by two goals to nil at both Selhurst Park and the Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadyumu, and their European experience quickly ended.

Player of the Year: Marc Edworthy

1998-1999

Palace's return to the First Division started well and by October they topped the league. However from there things went wrong. 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, after the end of the Lombardo/Brolin tenure, Terry Venables was appointed head coach, but the dream of success for the 1998-99 season quickly turned into a nightmare. Goldberg was unable to sustain his financial backing of the club and they went into administration.

Player of the Year: Hayden Mullins

Coppell IV (1999-2000)

His bank balance now significantly swollen, Terry Venables quit as manager soon afterwards, and Steve Coppell returned to the job once again, while, with the approval of the administrators, Peter Morley was installed as chairman. Coppell was able to guide Palace to a mid-table finish in 1998-1999.

1999-2000

In the 1999-2000 season it seemed certain that Palace would be relegated. However, Coppell and his players defied the odds to achieve a 15th place finish.

Player of the Year: Andy Linighan

The Simon Jordan takeover (2000-2001)

2000-2001

Singapore financer Jerry Lim purchased an almost bankrupt Crystal Palace in July 2000, and immediately sold the club to mobile phone tycoon and life-long fan Simon Jordan who, following defeats to non-league sides in pre-season, replaced Coppell with Alan Smith – who had previously been manager from 1993 to 1995. The takeover solved Palace's financial problems, but 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. With two away games remaining, at Portsmouth and Stockport County, Palace were in 22nd place, three points behind Portsmouth (with an inferior goal difference and having played a game more, and four points behind Huddersfield (who had played the same number of games and had a superior goal difference). Long serving coach Steve Kember was put in temporary charge of the first team alongside Terry Bullivant, and after making changes to the playing side, Palace travelled to Portsmouth and came away with a much needed 4-2 victory. When the last day of the season arrived, Palace were in 20th place, one goal better off than Portsmouth. With 87 minutes of the game at Stockport gone, the score was 0-0, a result that would have resulted in Palace's relegation, but Dougie Freedman burst into the Stockport County penalty area and lashed a shot past Stockport 'keeper Lee Jones into the back of the net, triggering the relegation of Huddersfield Town and saving Palace. The goal was controversial, as there had been a clear handball by Palace midfielder David Hopkin just moments before, which the referee had not awarded a free-kick for. Still, the Palace fans didn't care, and many of the 3,000 who had travelled poured on to Stockport's Edgeley Park pitch, celebrating with the players.

Player of the Year: Fan Zhiyi

teve Bruce and Trevor Francis (2001-2003)

2001-2002

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 attempted to walk 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 nicknamed "Judas" by Palace fans, as they felt he betrayed the club, having promised chairman Simon Jordan he would stay at Selhurst Park). After a short spell on 'gardening leave', Bruce was allowed to join Birmingham City. He was succeeded by Trevor Francis, who had ironically been his predecessor at Birmingham. Despite the not-so-acrimonious split, Steve Bruce is still currently Palace's most successful manager, with Palace winning 61.11% of the games he was in charge of.

Player of the Year: Dougie Freedman

2002-2003

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.

However, his reign at Palace was highlighted by one of the best transfer deals of all time. Clinton Morrison (who had been such a revelation for the club in previous seasons) headed to Birmingham for a £4 million fee in a part-exchange deal which saw Andrew Johnson come to Selhurst Park for just £750,000, having been deemed surplus to requirements by Steve Bruce following Blues' recent promotion to the Premier League. Johnson who went on to become an even bigger success at Palace than Morrison, and helped take the club into the Premier League before eventually moving on to Everton for a fee of £8.6million, Morrison's return to Selhurst Park a year prior to this move cost Palace £2 million (a snip of the fee when he left), meaning Palace had not only had a year in the Premiership (and all the monetary benefits it brings) but left the club with Morrison back at the club anyway and a total profit of £9,850,000.

Player of the Year: Hayden Mullins

The Iain Dowie Era (2003-2006)

2003-2004

("See 2004 Football League Championship play-offs for more information on this play-off campaign")

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 player-manager Kit Symons, who was put in charge of first-team duties for a month, oversaw an improvement in form before the appointment of Iain Dowie, a former Palace player who had earned a good reputation as a manager at Oldham Athletic.

Shortly before Dowie's appointment, Palace finally had Selhurst Park to themselves, after Wimbledon moved to Milton Keynes.

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 9 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 (who had beaten Palace 5-0 in Kember's final game) of two points and secured sixth place for Palace.

Palace achieved a somewhat fortunate 3-2 victory against Sunderland in the first leg of the Play-off Semi-final at Selhurst Park on Friday 14 May, with a late goal from league topscorer Andrew Johnson (32 goals). In the second leg at the Stadium of Light, Palace had achieved the very rare feat for a southern club of almost completely silencing the north-east supporters. However, two goals for Sunderland at the end of the first half 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's header 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 took 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.

Palace then played West Ham United in the Play-off Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday 29 May 2004. A goal from captain Neil Shipperley was enough for them to win the match, and with it a return to the Premiership.

In the summer following promotion, there were strong rumours that Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi would attempt to purchase the club from Jordan, though these never came to fruition.

Player of the Year: Andrew Johnson

2004-2005

("See FA Premier League 2004-05 for more information on this season")

Despite the valiant efforts of manager Iain Dowie, and the 21 Premiership goals of Andrew Johnson (the second highest goalscorer in the division, and the highest English goalscorer that season), Crystal Palace were relegated on 15 May 2005 after a final day 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 defender Jonathan Fortune managed to score an equaliser in the remaining time. Had Crystal Palace managed to defeat Charlton, they would have avoided relegation from the Premier League, but Palace now hold the dubious distinction of being the only team to have been relegated from the Premier League four times.

However, Palace still went down with pride, and several weeks before the end of the season Palace recorded one of the shocks of the season, beating future European Champions Liverpool, by a goal to nil. Johnson's first-half header secured the win.

Player of the Year: Andrew Johnson

2005-2006

In the 2005-06 season Palace pulled off another major coup by beating Liverpool at Selhurst again, this time in the Carling Cup, by a scoreline of 2-1. Despite a disappointing league campaign, Palace did eventually secure a play-off tie against third-place Watford, with the Eagles humiliated by losing the home leg by three goals to nil, all conceded in the second half. A no score draw followed at Vicarage Road, and thus Palace were consigned to another year in The Championship.

In the aftermath of Palace's play-off exit, it was announced that Iain Dowie had left the club, citing that he wanted to be closer to his family in Bolton. Jordan had accepted Dowie's reasons and waived a £1million compensation fee in the manager's contract.

Just days later, bids of £8.5m from Lancashire clubs Wigan Athletic and Bolton Wanderers were received for Andrew Johnson, which were accepted by Chairman Simon Jordan. Responding to this, Everton offered £8.6m a day later, and Johnson signed for the Toffees, ending a four-year Palace career that will never be forgotten by Palace fans.

However that was not the main event of the day for Palace. Iain Dowie had been appointed as manager of south London club Charlton Athletic. In dramatic style, an unknown representative of Simon Jordan tried walking up to Dowie during the Charlton press conference and served him with a writ, with Jordan citing that Charlton is just eight miles nearer to Bolton than South Norwood.

During his managerial stay at Palace Dowie coined the word 'bouncebackability' to describe Palace's ability to come back from the brink of defeat. The word is now often used by sports fans across the globe.

Press speculation had well-travelled Graeme Souness, former manager of Galatasaray and Newcastle United among others, Hull City (and former England) coach Peter Taylor (who had a three-year spell at Palace during the 1970s and was even picked for England, despite playing in the Third Division), Mike Newell of Luton Town, and even former Inter and A.C. Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni appeared as front runners for the vacant managerial position at Selhurst Park. [http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=nonwire_soccer/06/05/31/manual_134119.html&TEAMHD=soccer]

Aside from the controversy over Dowie, the club did make a major step forward during this season, with the club's Chairman Simon Jordan, Vice-Chairman Dominic Jordan, Chief Executive Phil Alexander and Director of Football Bob Dowie (brother of Iain), along with American Jim Cherneski laying the foundations for an American academy to be founded in Baltimore, Maryland, to hopefully provide the south London club with young American starlets in the future. The American academy's first team is dubbed "Crystal Palace Baltimore", and play in the United Soccer Leagues Second Division, the third tier of the American game.

Player of the Year: Emmerson Boyce

The Return of Peter Taylor (2006-2007)

2006-2007

In the end it was Peter Taylor who got the job, with Hull City being paid a compensation package of £300,000 by Simon Jordan. For this he received praise from Hull chairman Adam Pearson for his conduct in the process of appointing Taylor.

Most Palace fans were very pleased with this appointment, and were looking forward to an exciting 2006-07 season.

Taylor made a whole host of summer signings, and despite a superb start which saw Palace at the top of the table after three games, a terrible run of form saw the Eagles slip down the order, falling to 20th at one stage. Despite this, Jordan was content to leave Taylor in charge of first-team affairs, and his faith was rewarded as Palace picked up their form in the post-Christmas period.

After being unbeaten in eight games, the Eagles finally disappointingly lost to Dennis Wise's struggling Leeds United side. Controversy followed the game as Wise revealed an unnamed Leeds player had shared information about the Leeds teamsheet to Taylor's side before the game. Many Palace and Leeds fans believed that former Eagle Shaun Derry might have been the player who shared the information, and though Derry's agent played down these reports, it is notable that Derry rejoined Palace in the following season.

After a season of ups and downs, Palace eventually finished in 12th position.

In June 2007 Jordan succeeded in his High Court battle against Dowie, with The Hon. Mr Justice Tugendhat ruling that Dowie had lied when negotiating his way out of his contract at Palace. Dowie won the right to appeal and thus the case dragged on, finally being settled out of court the following April for an unknown fee.

Player of the Year: Leon Cort

Neil Warnock - "A Dream Ticket" (2007-)

2007-2008

("See Crystal Palace F.C. season 2007-08 for results and appearance details. See 2008 Football League Championship play-offs for more information on this play-off campaign")

The 2007-08 season started poorly for the Eagles and Taylor lost his job after two months. Neil Warnock was then appointed Palace manager, turning the club around massively, taking them from the relegation places into the play-offs. However the Eagles then hit a sticky patch that saw results and performances plummet, and Palace players making news for the wrong reasons, with Shefki Kuqi transfer-listed for swearing at Palace fans during a home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After thrashing Burnley 5-0 at home on the final day of the season, Palace lost 2-1 at home to Bristol City in the first leg of the play-off semi-finals, while the second leg saw the Eagles beat the Robins over 90 minutes by one goal to nil to take tie into extra time, with Ben Watson's penalty miss deying Palace an aggregate win that would have sent them through. In the extra-time period the Robins scored two high-quality goals to win the tie 4-2 on aggregate and move on to Wembley.

The season was remembered however for the massive upheaval all around the club however, particularly the way in which several young players matured very quickly, such as Sean Scannell, Lee Hills and Victor Moses, who were all just seventeen years old at the time and playing confidently in the first team, and have reminded many older fans of the famous double FA Youth Cup-winning "Team of the Eighties".

Player of the Year: Julián Speroni

2008-09

("See Crystal Palace F.C. season 2008-09 for results and appearance details.)

The 2008-09 season will see Warnock in charge of Palace for a full season for the first time. The Eagles have returned to their legendary sash shirt of the 1980s, and many fans are hoping that the "Team of the Eighties" Championship win will be repeated.

Palace's preparations for the season were tinged with yet more controversy however, with the club's youngest ever player, sixteen year-old John Bostock rejecting a contract at Palace in favour of moving to Tottenham Hotspur. A Football League tribunal ruled that Spurs should pay the Eagles an initial fee of £700k, a valuation far below the general standard of player sales, with Cardiff City's seventeen year-old Aaron Ramsey moving to Spurs' rivals Arsenal for £5m just weeks before. This triggered the news that Jordan intends to sell the club during the 2008-09 season, having grown disillusioned with the game.