The FA Cup Final in 1990, I was 5 years old, my first main memory of being a Crystal Palace fan.
The buzz around Croydon and South London was like nothing I had seen before, and with a team of characters such as Ian Wright, Mark Bright, Andy Gray and John Salako to name a few, it felt like we had a real chance to win it against the mighty Manchester United.
An exciting first game finishing 3-3, Palace took the final to a replay. The iconic, but cursed ‘bumblebee‘ kit worn sadly was not our lucky charm, and we fell to a narrow defeat.
With another good FA Cup run, we reach the final in 2016, again against United – was it written in the stars? Well, sadly not, but it could have been if not for a poor refereeing decision, in which Mark Clattenburg later admitted he should have let play go on, but that’s another story.
Reaching the final in 2025, the feeling was reminiscent of 1990. That feeling of excitement, speaking to fellow fans we were all in the same mindset of ‘we’re going to win it‘.
This time, we were against the blue side of Manchester, facing the mighty Pep Guardiola’s City. As ever deemed the main attraction, it almost took the pressure off Palace, with many people and pundits predicting a City win.
Having only conceded one goal in the build up, we were defensively strong, and in typical ‘Palace style‘ were even stronger on the counter-attack. With Jean-Philippe Mateta up top after coming back from that horrific injury against Millwall, it was almost like we had one hand on the trophy.
Being inside Wembley Stadium that afternoon, with that sea of red and blue, the balloons, the
scarves and the touching tribute tifo, that feeling of ‘we’re going to win it‘ really hit home.
Experiencing this whole journey with my Dad, who has been following Palace for over 60 years, was something that will live with me forever. Two grown men crying at full time after witnessing Palace win our first major trophy, then looking round and realising every fan in red and blue were doing exactly the same, filled your heart with pride. To see that a game of football meant so much to so many made you realise Crystal Palace is not just a football club, it is a family.
Before the game in an interview, Maxence Lacroix stated “Wembley will shake, and it will be beautiful”. How right he was. In by far the most historic domestic club football competition, Crystal Palace was etched into the FA Cup.
