Towards the end of last season we kept being spoon fed the same old line that ‘Palace are in the most successful period in the clubs history’ and my favourite ‘Palace have never been in the Premier League for a fourth consecutive season before!’
Both these points are true but only from a certain point of view.
The only way the current period of time can be classed as our most successful period is if you think of it in financial terms, which would be wrong to do. Who judges how successful their football club is based on the revenue? I, for one, do not.
In my opinion, and in the opinion of any sane minded Palace fan, the most successful period in the history of our club was between 1989 and 1993 when we competed in the top division for four years. We competed for three years in the old First Division and for one year in the new Premier League.
What keeps being repeated is that we have been in the Premier League for four years, something we have not done before. But, as we all know, football didn’t begin in 1992! Palace competed in the top flight of English football for four consecutive years twice before. In 1969-1973 and 1989-1993.
With this in mind, let us compare the first three years of the period from 1989 to 1993, to use the fourth year would be unfair because we have not completed the current season, the fourth one.
Here is an overview:
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Honours | |
| 1989-93 | 15th | 3rd | 10th | 20th | FA Cup runners up (replay) Full Members Cup winners (ET) |
| 2013-16 | 11th | 10th | 15th | ? | FA Cup runners up (ET) |
Taking our league positions into account, have we finished third recently? No, I thought not!
Here are the total statistics:
| Average position | Total points | Total goals scored | Total goals against | |
| 1989-93 | 10th (9.33th) | 174 | 145 | 168 |
| 2013-16 | 12th | 135 | 119 | 160 |
So, as you can see, from 1989 to 1993 Palace won a total of 174 points, scoring 145 goals and conceding 168 goals. We got to the FA Cup Final, losing to Manchester United in a replay.
In addition, we won the Full Member’s Cup against Everton. You can scoff if you like but it was a recognised cup competition and a Wembley final! If you would prefer to not count the Full Member’s Cup you may do so, it only adds garish to the meat of my point.
In the period from 2013 to current, Palace finished 11th, 10th and 15th, scoring a total of 135 points, scoring 119 goals and conceding 160 goals. We got to the FA Cup Final, losing to Manchester United in extra time.
If we average out our league positions for the first three seasons of the 1989-94 period it would be 9.33, so we’ll say 10th to be generous. Our current average position would be 12th.
Anything else I want to add? Sure, in 1989-93 we had the likes of Wright, Bright, Gray, Salako, Shaw, McGoldrick, Thorn, etc.
Who do we have today who is on a par with them? I would say only Zaha would make it into the 1991 team from today’s team.
So, in conclusion I stress again that this is NOT the most successful period of our history and I appeal to everyone to stop repeating it. Just because Steve Parish says it is, that doesn’t mean it’s true!
But how do we judge a clubs success in the absence of trophies and European qualification? If we manage the unthinkable and stay up for a fifth consecutive season is that a better achievement than finishing 3rd in 1990/91? Would staying up for a sixth season and losing another final equal 1990/91?
It’s tough. To have a more successful season we have to finish 3rd or better but to judge a period … it’s tricky and it will mean different things to different people.
