By Jonathan Collura, Patrick O'Connor and Colin Pryce

The original "Crystal Palace" was a large glass structure built in 1851 from the design of Sir Joseph Paxton. The structure was erected in Hyde Park and the nickname was provided by the local press. After the Great Exhibition, the event for which the "Crystal Palace" was built, the structure was moved to Sydenham. There it became a theme park until 30 November 1936, when it burned down.

The original Crystal Palace team was formed in 1861 and played in the first FA Cup held in 1871/72. This team became Crystal Palace as we now know it in 1905, formed by some of the workers on the original ground, and the original colours of claret and blue were chosen as Aston Villa lent them their kits!

Some of the original FA Cup Finals were held at the ground from 1895-1914 with Palace going to the quarter-finals as a member of the Southern League. In 1915, the club left the "Crystal Palace" for Herne Hill, then in 1918 for The Nest. In 1920, Crystal Palace became a league club when the Southern League formed the Third Division.

In the Southern League, Crystal Palace won promotion in 1920/21 to the Second Division and the following season, the Northern League became the Third Division (North) and the original Third Division that was formed from the Southern League became the Third Division (South) to which, in the 1924/25 season, Palace was relegated. In 1958, these two divisions were combined with the upper-half of each forming the Third Division and the lower-half of each forming the new Fourth Division.

Palace never were able to gain a position in the First Division (now known as the Premier League). The names of the managers and players of this time are often obscure. One manager who seems to stand out is Arthur Rowe. One player who seems to stand out is Johnny Byrne, despite the fact that he is remembered as a West Ham United player. Managers such as J. Tesadern and L. Scott as well as players like Peter Simpson no longer command instant recognition, moreover Simpson was Palace's greatest goal scorer!

The late 1960's saw Bert Head come to the club and despite low financial resources, took the club to the First Division for the first time in 1969. For the next four seasons, Palace played a precarious game of "see how close we can miss relegation" and with a change of management, bringing in Malcolm Allison, it was no surprise to see the club back in the Second Division. Allison became the "new broom" and was responsible for changing the Crystal Palace nickname from the Glaziers to the Eagles as well as giving the club a greater emphasis on the youth system. Most thought that these were excellent moves, but the immediate result was Palace being relegated again, this time to the Third Division. The following three seasons saw the club miss promotion, however the Eagles' Peter Taylor won an England International cap while in the Third Division! After missing promotion too many times, Allison was out. He was replaced by his assistant - Terry Venables.

With Venables, Crystal Palace won promotion the next season to the Second Division, and two seasons later the Eagles were once again in Division One, set on Allison's youth system. During the course of the season, Palace held the top slot in the division (some two months from the start) and ended up in the middle of the table. Over the course of the close-season, two separate incidents occurred which led to the demise of the "Team of the Eighties." Kenny Sansom departed and Venables was soon to leave. The 1981 season saw four managers at the helm, new owners, a failure of the youth system to live up to its' potential as well as relegation back to the Second Division (as Ron Noades took over as the chairman). The following season, Alan Mullery took over the club and disbanded the youth system. Soon, the number of supporters at the matches fell, despite the club managing to retain a spot in the Second Division.

It was time for a transformation, but what was erroneous? Most moves had been tried. The needed change came with the appointment of a man in his first role as a manager - Steve Coppell. Coppell was one of the best scouts of talent. Players that he chose for the club, giving little or nil to get them, were developed and then sold for seven figure fees. Players such as Mark Bright, John Salako, Geoff Thomas and Ian Wright were all "discovered" by Coppell, and within the next three seasons, he led his victorious Eagles back to the First Division in 1988.

The season was off to a poor start (a 9-0 drubbing at Anfield Road), however became one of the most successful seasons for Palace. Their first FA Cup Final arrived that season, and despite the loss to Manchester United, their first Wembley Stadium venture had arrived (and beat Liverpool 4-3 in the Cup). The team settled for a middle of the table position. It seemed to get better the next season with the club going to third in the table, their highest finish ever! With Liverpool still banned from European competition, Palace saw an initiation in Europe, however UEFA decided to re-allow Liverpool and thus Palace lost their spot.

It was UEFA's decision that sent the club into a free-fall decline. Players of the likes of Ian Wright decided that "bigger name" clubs were going to enhance their own ambitions. It was at this time that the youth system, put in place once again by Coppell, took the reins and a middle of the table slot was the result. The next season, Palace filled a relegation position with the most points ever (having won the same number of games as Liverpool, who was sixth) for a club going down.

Feeling that he hit a wall, Coppell quit that same season and the race was on to locate a manager that could take the club back to the Premiership. The new manager, after an exhaustive search of all the "big names" in the game, was Alan Smith, Coppell's assistant. So spectacular was Smith's approach, that in his first season, Palace went to the Premier League (as it was now known) and did so with a number of players gaining England and England Under-21 international caps.

At this time, Selhurst Park underwent major improvements which saw the Whitehorse Road End covered and the start of the current Holmesdale Road Stand set into motion. An apparent excellent season, the Eagles were in the semi-finals of the FA and Coca-Cola Cups, saw the club not maintain its' position in the Premiership. With four clubs being relegated that season (for the smaller Premier League), Palace filled the extra (for that season) relegation slot and it was back to Division One.

Smith was out, Ray Lewington was the new manager of the first team and Coppell was back as director of football. In the 1995/96 season, Dave Bassett took up the reins and sent Palace from low in the table to the high position of third. Back in the play-offs, Palace beat Charlton Athletic, but lost in stoppage time to Leicester City in the final. Doomed to yet another season (for 1996/97) in Division One, Bassett made some turns to the squad, bringing in some younger players and allowing goalkeeper Nigel Martyn to leave in an attempt to better control the game (as well as assets). Bassett left in mid-season for an appointment with Nottingham Forest as general manager (to gain relegation to Division One with his new club) to the surprise of all Eagles supporters. With no manager once again, the position was once again Coppell's, who after an abortive 33 days as manager of Manchester City had returned to Palace as technical director earlier in the season. Managing to steer the club to sixth in the division, Palace were in a play-off slot for the second season running, and this time there were no mistakes. The Eagles won over Wolverhampton Wanderers and then went to Wembley Stadium to square off versus Sheffield United in the final. Palace were victorious on a last minute goal, again gaining promotion to the Premier League. Once again Palace contrived to get demoted that season, so it was back to Division 1.