THE LOWDOWN — THE FULL HISTORY
THE WAIT
Crystal Palace, founded in 1905, lost both of their cup finals in a century, both to Manchester United. Then, on 17 May 2025, Eze scored in a 1-0 FA Cup final win over City: the club's first major trophy, 119 years on.
THE FIGHT
The prize was a Europa League place, but UEFA moved them down to the Conference League over ownership rules, and their appeal failed. So they won the Conference League, beating Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in Leipzig. Oliver Glasner, who had said in January he was leaving, called it the perfect ending. With the Community Shield, that made three trophies in 375 days.
THE UPSET
As holders, Palace lost 2-1 at sixth-tier Macclesfield, which Opta called the biggest gap in FA Cup history.
THE REBUILD
Eze was sold back to Arsenal for £67.5m and Glasner went to Forest. Pierre Sage arrived, and Palace now play in the Europa League they were removed from. Number 15 in THE COUNTDOWN.
MORE FROM THE COUNTDOWN
THE TERRACES — DISCUSSION
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