Name: Crystal Palace
Ground: Selhurst Park
Nickname: The Eagles
Home Kit: Red / Royal Blue stripe

The Crystal Palace that now plays its football in the Coca-Cola Championship was formed on 10th September 1905 by workers at the Crystal Palace but they are actually the second team by that name.

The original side was set up in 1861 also by staff at the Palace and 10 years later they were one of the founder entrants of the FA Cup, competing in the competition until 1876 when they were disbanded. The name continued in the tournament though with the ground becoming the venue of the FA Cup Final from 1895 to 1914.

In 1904 an idea to form a new Crystal Palace was rejected by the Football League who objected to a team representing the company who owned the Cup Final venue. A new company was formed a year later and hired the ground for its home matches.

Originally they took on the claret and blue, as worn by Aston Villa, with the Midlands club having a big impact on their creation. Edmund Goodman was Assistant Secretary at Villa Park before he was employed by the Manager of Crystal Palace to set up the club. They were also then known as The Glaziers because the players worked for the huge glass building of the Palace - which was originally erected in Hyde Park to house the Great Exhibition of 1851.

They joined the Southern League Second Division immediately but lost their first match 4-3 against Southampton Reserves but it turned out to be their only defeat of the campaign,. as they went on to take the League title and win promotion to the First Division, at their first attempt.

When World War I broke out the club were forced to find a new home, when the Admiralty requisitioned the Crystal Palace. They went on to play their home games at Herne Hill, the home of Norwood FC.

Three years later they were on the move again, as they went to The Nest after Croydon Common folded, their first match at their new home was a 4-2 win over Queens Park Rangers on September 14th 1918.

The Club finally joined the Football League in 1920 as founder members of the Third Division and they won promotion as Champions, again at the first attempt. Their new success forced the club to move to a new purpose built stadium called Selhurst Park in 1924, playing in front of 25,000 fans in their first match against Sheffield Wednesday, which they went on to lose 1-0.

Palace became known as the Eagles in 1973 when the club took the decision to change the nickname, crest and image of the club in a rebranding exercise. The new crest included an eagle but the original designers insisted it should bear a resemblance to a phoenix - the name of one of the original towers at the Crystal Palace, which had been burnt down in 1936.

They have gone on to be known as the Eagles to this day but their long and interesting history should never be forgotten.

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