Crystal Palace took their name from a palace made of glass. The professional club was founded on 10 September 1905 in south London, and on 10 September 2027 it turns 122 years old. From the claret and blue of the early years to today's red and blue stripes, this is the story of its shirt.

A team for the cup final ground

The Crystal Palace was a huge building of glass and iron that was moved to south London in 1854. Its grounds hosted the FA Cup final, and the company that owned it wanted a professional team of its own for the stadium.

So the club was born, guided by Edmund Goodman, assistant secretary of Aston Villa. Goodman stayed on and became the longest-serving manager in the club's history, from 1907 to 1925.

Palace also see themselves as the continuation of an amateur team from 1861, a founder member of the Football Association. That is why the crest has read 1861 since 2022, although the professional club we know today was founded in 1905.

Claret and blue from Birmingham

Because of Goodman, the new team wore Aston Villa's colours: claret and blue, usually with white shorts. A 1906 handbook speaks of "cardinal and blue", and some link the shades to the interior of the glass palace.

Claret and blue lasted around 68 years. There was one curious exception, though: in 1937/38 the papers reported a shirt with red and blue vertical stripes, which a team photo and programme covers also show. Nobody knows why it was worn.

1973: Allison changes everything

In March 1973 Malcolm Allison took charge of a side on its way down from the top flight. He decided to give it a brand-new image to drive an immediate return to the big time.

The red and blue stripes made their debut on 25 August 1973, in a 4-1 defeat by Notts County. Allison is widely said to have been inspired by Barcelona, while the chairman explained that the new colours would also end frequent clashes with opponents' shirts.

The nickname changed too. The "Glaziers" became the "Eagles", modelled on Benfica according to English Wikipedia.

An eagle and a glass façade

The new 1973 crest showed a bird of prey perched on a football, a symbol, the club said, of aggression and fresh thinking. According to legend, Allison wanted the team to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the old palace.

In 1987 the eagle was combined with the façade of the Crystal Palace, a motif every version of the crest has kept to this day. Since 1924 the team has played at Selhurst Park, where a new, bigger Main Stand is planned for 2029.

From Ian Wright to the first trophies

For more than a century, Palace were a team full of passion but without a major trophy. Their legends include Ian Wright, goalkeeper Nigel Martyn and Jim Cannon, who holds the record with 660 appearances.

Everything changed in 2025. In the FA Cup final Oliver Glasner's side beat Manchester City 1-0 with a goal from Eberechi Eze, and soon after they also won the Community Shield, beating Liverpool on penalties.

In 2025-26 UEFA moved them from the Europa League down to the Conference League over its multi-club ownership rules. The answer came on the pitch: on 27 May 2026, in Leipzig, Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the winner against Rayo Vallecano for the first European trophy in the club's history. Today Palace continue in the Premier League.

Celebrate with us

From a glass palace to Leipzig, Crystal Palace turn 122 with the eagle on their chest. Happy birthday to the Eagles of south London and to all their fans!

See our Crystal Palace jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Aerial view of Selhurst Park (2023) – Arne Müseler, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 de.