Crystal Palace F.C.

Crystal Palace Football Club, often referred to simply as Palace, is a professional football club based in Selhurst, South London, England, which competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was officially established as a professional outfit in 1905 at the Crystal Palace exhibition building, but has origins as far back as 1861. They used the FA Cup final stadium inside the exhibition grounds for their home games between 1905 and 1915, when the club were forced to leave due to the outbreak of the First World War. In 1924, the club moved to their current home at Selhurst Park.

In their early years as a professional club, Palace initially played in the Southern League, before being elected to the Football League in 1920 and have mainly competed in the top two tiers of English football during its league history. Since 1964, the club has only dropped below the second tier once, for just three seasons between 1974 and 1977. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, they enjoyed a successful period as a top-flight club. After reaching the 1990 FA Cup final, Palace then challenged Arsenal and Liverpool for the English league title in 1990–91, eventually ending the season in third place, their highest league finish to date. Palace only missed out on UEFA Cup qualification because of the limited number of places available to English top-flight clubs after the Heysel Stadium disaster. The club were also founder members of the inaugural Premier League in 1992–93.

However, the club was soon to suffer a severe decline in fortunes after its relegation from the top-flight in 1998. This was due to financial problems which saw Palace go into administration twice, in 1999 and 2010. They steadily recovered and since their promotion back to the Premier League in 2013, Palace have achieved a club record-extending thirteenth consecutive top-flight season as of 2025–26, as well as reaching two more FA Cup finals in 2016 and 2025, with victory in the latter final resulting in the club's first major trophy in its history. The club followed up this success by winning their first FA Community Shield title that same year.

The club's kit colours were claret and blue until 1973, when they changed to the red and blue vertical stripes worn today. Palace have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Brighton & Hove Albion that emerged in the 1970s for competitive reasons. Other strong rivalries exist with nearby Millwall and Charlton Athletic, against whom they contest the South London derbies.

In 1854, the Crystal Palace exhibition building had been relocated from Hyde Park, London, and rebuilt in an area of South London next to Sydenham Hill. The surrounding area was renamed Crystal Palace and included the Crystal Palace Park, where various sports facilities were built. In 1857, the Crystal Palace Cricket Club was established here using the cricket ground inside the park. Its members later lobbied for a continuation of sporting activities during the winter months and set up an amateur Crystal Palace football team, who became founder members of the Football Association in 1863. They competed in the first FA Cup competition in 1871–72, reaching the semi-finalsand played in the FA Cup over the next four seasons, but disappeared from historical records around December 1875.

In 1895, the Football Association found a new permanent venue for the FA Cup final to be played at the sports stadium situated inside the exhibition building grounds. Some years later, the Crystal Palace Company who owned the Palace and its grounds and were reliant on tourist activity for their income, sought fresh attractions for the venue and decided to form a new professional football club to play at the stadium. The owners wanted a club to play there and tap into the vast crowd potential of the area.

The professional Crystal Palace Football Club was formed on 10 September 1905 under the guidance of Aston Villa assistant secretary Edmund Goodman, who later became Palace's longest ever serving manager. The club applied for election to the Football League, but were rejected and instead found itself in the Southern League Second Division for the 1905–06 season. Palace were successful in their inaugural campaign, achieving promotion to the Southern League First Division, after being crowned as champions. They also played in the mid-week United 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.

Palace remained in the Southern League up until 1914, their one highlight the 1907 shock First Round victory over Newcastle United in the FA Cup. The outbreak of the First World War led to the Admiralty requisitioning the Crystal Palace and its grounds, which meant the club was forced to leave and they moved to the home of nearby West Norwood at the Herne Hill Velodrome. Three years later, they moved again to the Nest following the demise of Croydon Common.