The Crystal Palace

The name Crystal Palace could refer to 3 things:
 1. A founder member club of the FA formed by groundskeepers at the Great Exhibition site at Hyde Park . The club existed from 1861-1876.
2. The London based Premier League club founded in 1905.

3. The sports venue.

Here we are turning our attention to the sports venue.

Crystal Palace was  the venue for the FA Cup final from 1895 -1914, 22 matches including 1 replay.

20.04.95	Aston Villa	1	0	West Bromwich Albion	42,560
	Villa scored after 30 seconds.
18.04.96	The Wednesday	2	1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	48,836
	Another first minute goal- Fred Spiksley scoring the first of his brace. All the goals came in the opening 18 minutes. The story goes that Tennant, the Wolverhampton goalkeeper, was dazed, and didn’t realise that Spiksley’s second goal had been awarded, the ball cannoning down off the bar.
10.04.97	Aston Villa	3	2	Everton	65,891
	Often referred to as one of the great games of all time- a see saw affair with all 5 goals coming in 27 minutes before half time. Villa sealed The Double when results of League matches played on the same day confirmed them as Champions.
16.04.98	Nottingham Forest	3	1	Derby County	62,017
	An east midlands derby famous for an error by Fryer the Derby goalkeeper.
15.04.99	Sheffield United	4	1	Derby County	73,833
	With 2 3rds of the match played Derby were 1-0 up. The final 30 minutes saw United romp home.
21.04.00	Bury	4	0	Southampton	68,985
	Southampton of the Southern League had the great Jack Robinson in goal, but Bury overwhelmed them in the final.
20.04.01	Tottenham Hotspur	2	2	Sheffield United	114,815
	The replay took place at Burnden Park, Bolton. The first match gave us the earliest known movie footage of a Cup Final.  Tottenham were a Southern league side at the time.
19.04.02	Sheffield United	1	1	Southampton	76,914
26.04.02	Sheffield United	2	1	Southampton	33,068
	The first match gave rise to Willie Foulke’s legendary naked pursuit of the referee, Mr Kirkham.
18.04.03	Bury	6	0	Derby County	63,102
	Bury have appeared in 2 Cup Finals, winning both with a 5-0 average! Derby were actually favourites going into the match, but the scoreline remains the biggest margin in an FA Cup Final.
23.04.04	Manchester City	1	0	Bolton Wanderers	61,374
	The first all- Lancashire Cup Final, and Manchester City’s first major trophy win.
15.04.05	Aston Villa	2	0	Newcastle United	101,117
	Newcastle’s Crystal Palace Cup Final hoodoo begins…Harry Hampton’s 2 goals sink a Newcastle team featuring 6 Scottish players.
21.04.06	Everton	1	0	Newcastle United	75,609
	7 Scots for Newcastle this time out- a goal from Sandy Young wins it for Everton.
20.04.07	The Wednesday	2	1	Everton	84,584
	Everton failed to retain the Cup- George Simpson’s winner coming in the 86th minute.
25.04.08	Wolverhampton Wanderers	3	1	Newcastle United	74,967
	Further misery for The Magpies in the final of the Aitches- Hunt, Headley, Howie and Harrison being the goalscorers.
24.04.09	Manchester United	1	0	Bristol City	71,401
	United’s first Cup win.
23.04.10	Newcastle United	1	1	Barnsley	77,747
	A hard fought match in which Barnsley, playing a physical game, enjoyed periods of dominance. The replay was at Goodison. Newcastle winning 2-0.
22.04.11	Bradford City	0	0	Newcastle United	69,068
	The replay was at old Trafford- normal service was resumed for Newcastle- Jimmy Speirs getting City’s winner.
20.04.12	Barnsley	0	0	West Bromwich Albion	54,434
	The 3rd drawn final in succession. A disappointing match by all accounts. The replay was at Bramall Lane, the only goal coming in the 118th minute as Harry Tufnell won it for Barnsley.
19.04.13	Aston Villa	1	0	Sunderland	121,919
	With the exception of the 1923 debacle this was the largest ever FA Cup Final attendance. Charlie Wallace missed a penalty for Villa in a match noted for rough play. Villa played with 10m men for 10 minutes whilst their goalkeeper, Hardy received treatment. The game was also marked by 10 minutes plus of added time.
25.04.14	Burnley	1	0	Liverpool	72,778
	The King, George V, became the first reigning monarch to attend a Cup Final.

Crystal Palace also hosted international matches:

03.04. 97	England	1	2	Scotland	33,715
	Steve Bloomer put England ahead in the 19th minute. 3 Minutes later Scotland were level thanks to a Tom Hyslop free kick. Hyslop’s Glasgow Rangers teammate, James Millar, got Scotland’s winner in the 80th minute.
30.03.01	England	2	2	Scotland	18,520
	Harry Rennie saved a penalty from Ernest Needham early in the game.  Fred Blackburn opened the scoring, tapping in from an offside position in the 36th minute. John Campbell equalised 3 minutes after the break. On 75 minutes Bob Hamilton headed Scotland into the lead, but Bloomer ran the length of the pitch to score an equaliser in the 80th.
01.04.05	England	1	0	Scotland	27,599
	Aston Villa’s Joe Bache shot England’s winner from 20 yards in the 78th minute.
03.04.09	England	2	0	Scotland	27,000
	George Wall scored both England’s goals in the opening 10 minutes. Late in the game England ‘keeper Sam Hardy saved a James Stark penalty.
04.03.11	England Amateurs	4	0	Belgium	4,000
	A meagre crowd to watch one of The Amateurs routine wins against continental opposition.  Vivian Woodward inevitably scored, George Webb of West Ham got 2 and Belgium contributed an own goal.

The stadium was developed in the area of the map enclosed in the rectangle.

When Surrey County Cricket Club withdrew The Oval from football service there was a call to establish a national centre at which to play internationals and the Cup Final. England, of course , had been playing internationals in the north and midlands since the 1880s. 

25,000 watched the last final to be played at The Oval in 1892, and the next 2 finals were played at Fallowfield and Goodison respectively. Fallowfield was a disaster, with only 45,000 out of 60,000 plus spectators paying admission, and crowd encroachment interfering with play. 37,000 watched the Goodison final.

 In order to secure the contract to host the Cup Final The Crystal Palace Company guaranteed the FA  a sum equal to the Final receipts from 1894 (£1189) plus a percentage of the gate money. The 1895 Final drew receipts of £1545.

The Crystal Palace , constructed in Hyde Park for the great exhibition of 1851, was relocated to Sydenham in 1854 . 

In 1895 the football stadium was created in a natural basin in the Palace Park.

The change from The Oval was welcomed in most quarters-  the popularity of the Final as a spectacle in the professional era having outgrown the cricket ground. The accommodation for spectators was limited by the playing area being in the cricket outfield. The cricket club were also concerned about damage to the turf. 

In 1895 Wolverhampton petitioned the FA to switch the all midland final against Villa to a venue more convenient to supporters- they proposed Wolverhampton!

The Final was moved to Manchester as a wartime measure in 1915, and by the time the war was over Crystal Palace was no longer considered a suitable venue.