Crystal Palace 2024-25 season review: History makers, Glasner the Great and Wembley shaken

New York Times

26-05-2025

Crystal Palace brought the curtain down on a remarkable season with an afternoon of celebration at Anfield as the FA Cup winners drew with the Premier League champions Liverpool in a prequel for August's Community Shield.
For all that there might have been frustration that Palace could not build on the lead Ismaila Sarr's early goal gave them, particularly with the hosts reduced to 10 men midway through the second half, Oliver Glasner could take some satisfaction from a season in which they claimed their first major trophy, recorded their highest-ever Premier League points tally and also made the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup.
Advertisement
A campaign that began at a snail's pace, with Palace going eight league games without a win, gave way to unprecedented success.
Welcome to The Athletic's review of a historic season that will live long in the memory.
The greatest in the club's history. A campaign which culminated in the Wembley victory over Manchester City last weekend that left supporters and staff alike in tears as Joel Ward and Marc Guehi lifted Palace's first major trophy.
It is easy to forget that Palace went deep in the Carabao Cup too, losing against Arsenal in the last eight, as well as recording 53 points — the most they have ever mustered in a 20-team top division. And all after that dreadful three-points-from-24 start.
You can't really look beyond the FA Cup final.
It did not have the most goals or the most entertaining matchplay, with Palace in a defensive block for much of the game, but none of that mattered. The result was key. It was pure ecstasy at full time.
Dean Henderson's penalty save made it more dramatic, Eberechi Eze's superb finish all the more enjoyable. Palace snuffed out Manchester City expertly and had made their own luck.
If we're going by the importance of the goal, then clearly it's Eze's FA Cup-winning strike against City. It was also an aesthetically appealing goal; of a sort that decorated many a Palace performance over the second half of the season.
Eze has scored many of Palace's most impressive (and important) goals this season, but the award for their best one goes to Daniel Munoz, for his in the Premier League win over Fulham in February.
It was the perfect encapsulation of Palace's play this season and their success in transition. Jean-Philippe Mateta's close control to beat two Fulham players and the presence of mind to pass to Munoz was outstanding before the Colombian did well to compose himself and lash his shot into the top of the net.
Now that, is how you break…#CPFC // #FULCRY pic.twitter.com/lhPjiJ1W0S
Picking only one is tough. The FA Cup final win, naturally; not just for the obvious reason, but also because it gave an endearing, amusing moment in the 4-2 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers three days later.
As the crowd was in a buoyant mood, their attention turned to Glasner. 'Oli, give us a wave. Oli, Oli, give us a wave,' they sang, prompting no response. As the song went up for a second time, the manager asked his coaching staff what was being sung, then acknowledged the crowd, to cheers. He pointed to his head and the pitch, smiling, to indicate he had been too engrossed in the play to comprehend what was being chanted.
In a celebratory Selhurst Park, three days after winning the club's first major trophy, it just felt like the perfect moment.
A special mention, too, for the Wembley Tifo of the late Mark Wealleans clutching his sons Dominic and Nathan after Darren Ambrose's 40-yard goal in the 2011-12 League Cup quarter-final against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Palace won the FA Cup. Not sure if it's been mentioned already, but Palace won the FA Cup.
Advertisement
They won the FA Cup.
'Wembley will shake… and it will be beautiful.'
The banner that accompanied the FA Cup final Tifo set the scene perfectly, capturing the moment and reflecting the certainty that Palace fans would create an incredible atmosphere.
It was an adapted version of defender Maxence Lacroix's quote to reporters in the build-up to the final, making it all the more prescient.
'I look at more to win this trophy… I think this could be beautiful for this Palace team,' Lacroix had said. 'It's beautiful to win a trophy, especially for Palace. We start tomorrow, we're gonna do it again, because I think Wembley will shake.'
It would be remiss not to mention Glasner's quote after the 5-2 league defeat by City at the Etihad in April, though.
'I said to Pep afterwards, if we meet again, you can't play in this system because we will solve it.'
And he did, too.
How well Justin Devenny has adapted to Premier League football.
A first senior goal for the club in November's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa encapsulated his determination and willingness to work for the team with a fantastic run to be in the perfect place and provide an accomplished finish. The 21-year-old has become an important squad player and has proven himself to be dependable.
Winning 2-1 at home to arch-rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in April despite Eddie Nketiah and Guehi being sent off. It was the first time Palace had completed a league double over Brighton since 1933.
Kevin De Bruyne was instrumental in overturning Palace's two-goal lead to earn City that emphatic 5-2 win last month, scoring a free kick, heading back for Omar Marmoush to convert the equaliser and assisting Mateo Kovacic for City's third.
But his overall play in midfield that day was also a huge contributor to the win.
Ten. If this season doesn't earn full marks, it's hard to know what a Palace manager could do to earn them.
Not only has Glasner demonstrated his impressive tactical knowledge, won the club's first major trophy and taken them to their highest Premier League points total, but his manner off the pitch has been exemplary, too. He speaks with conviction and confidence, but most importantly with empathy and understanding. If he had only achieved those great things on the pitch, maybe it would be just under full marks, but he has shown himself to have moral integrity as well.
Advertisement
His ability to stay present and grounded, and to impart that on his players, is just as impressive.
Preparing for the Europa League, and with that comes the question of whether or not Palace will sell any of their best players.
Guehi only has a year remaining on his contract and, to date, has shown no intention of extending it. Eze and Mateta will be in demand and both have two years to run on their deals. Adam Wharton's contract status is not an issue and his injury-hit season may also mean his suitors come calling in summer 2026 rather than this one.
Palace will need to decide whether this is the right time to take the next step in their recruitment model and sell those players to whom they have become so understandably attached. In turn, they will be tested by the need to improve the strength in depth of the squad, given the extra games from playing in Europe.
How incredible it was that Palace won the Europa League.