Crystal Palace Trophies and Titles

Having been formed in 1905, Crystal Palace have been around the footballing block for long enough to mean that silverware is hard to come by. The club’s origins can actually be traced back as far as 1861, but officially formed as a professional team for the Crystal Palace Exhibition. In the years that followed, Palace competed in both lesser-known local competitions as well as more well-known major ones. Although they haven’t won the FA Cup, they have been losing finalists a couple of times. There have also been plenty of regional competitions that they’ve been on the victorious end of during the club’s existence.

That sense of lower league victories is something that Palace know well, having won numerous league titles away from the top-flight. They have also come close on a few occasions only to ultimately miss out. Their worse record on that front is in the Third Division, the third-tier of the English Football League pyramid, which they have finished as runners-up in on four occasions. Palace fans have grown used to the club being one of the footballing world’s almost-rans. This isn’t a side that has regularly challenged for the major trophies over the years, but supporters have still had plenty to get excited about at various times.

League Titles

Crystal Palace have never won the top-flight in England, nor have they even come all that close. It took the club until 1969 to even compete in it. Their best finish came in the 1990-1991 campaign when the Eagles ended up third; a feat that they repeated two years later. The same cannot be said of the Second Division, which was known as the First Division for a time after the advent of the Premier League and is nowadays known as the Championship. Similarly, Palace won the third tier of the game and narrowly missed out on the Fourth Division when they finished as runners-up in the 1960-1961 season.

It is also worth pointing out that Palace won some less important league competitions, such as the Southern Football League Division Two, the United League and the Wartime South D League. They also won the Football League South during the Second World War, which is not thought of as being a real league title because of when the competition took place.

Second Division / First Division / Championship

Perhaps few things in football are as confusing as the names that have been given to the second tier of the English game. When the top-flight was the First Division, it was known as the Second Division, then when the First Division became the Premier League it became the First Division. The rebrand to the Championship has made things clearer, of course.

Palace won it when it was known as the Second Division and First Division, finishing as runners-up in the 1968-1969 campaign. They have won the Play-Offs a record four times, which has included when it was the Championship. Here is a look at their wins:

Season	Points	Second Place	Second Place Points
1978-1979	57	Brighton & Hove Albion	56
1993-1994	90	Nottingham Forest	83

Third Division / Third Division South

You might think that Crystal Palace would do better in the lower leagues and, to some extent, you’d be right. The Eagles finished as runners-up in 1928-1929, 1930-1931, 1938-1939 and 1963-1964. They also finished as runners-up in the Fourth Division at the end of the 1960-1961 season, showing how much the club has often been the bridesmaid but rarely the bride.

In terms of Third Division success, it came when the league was a united one. At times over the years the third tier of English football has been split into North and South, which was when Palace finished as runners-up on a couple of occasions.

Season	Points	Second Place	Second Place Points
1920-1921	59	Southampton	54

Cups and Trophies

For Crystal Palace, the biggest trophies in the game have long avoided them. That doesn’t mean that they have never won silverware, however. Equally, it would also be untrue to suggest that the club’s supporters have never had anything to get excited about, with two FA Cup finals having taken place with them involved.

They lost 1-0 to Manchester United at the end of the 1989-1990 season, missing out to the same opposition at the conclusion of the 2015-2016 season. That latter final went to extra-time after a 1-1 draw in normal time. There have been some well-known trophies worth mentioning, though.

Full Members Cup

When English clubs were banned from European competition between 1985 and 1992 as a result of the Heysel Stadium Disaster, a new competition was created in order to five them a chance to earn some money. The name was a reference to the fact that some clubs were Full Members of the Football League, which were the teams that were allowed to take part in it.

Palace took on Bristol Rovers, then Brighton & Hove Albion to reach the semi-finals, at which point they defeated Luton Town to reach the Southern Area final and won 3-1 on aggregate over Norwich City, which put them in the final against Everton.

Season	Opposition	Scoreline
1990-1991	Everton	4-1 (a.e.t.)

Other Cups and Trophies

There have been numerous lower league trophies that Crystal Palace have won over the years. Whilst these wouldn’t mean much to the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal and have been largely scrubbed from the history books, they certainly are worth remembering for Eagles fans.

They have also been runners-up in some of the lesser competitions, such as their six time runners-up finishes in the London Challenge Cup to match their three wins in the tournament. Whether competitions such as the Southern Football League Division One were leagues or another form of trophy is a matter for some debate.

*The first match between Millwall and Crystal Palace ended as a 1-1 draw, forcing a replay.