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Ever Wonder if Crystal Palace are named after a palace?

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Joe Prince-Wright explores the connection between Crystal Palace Football Club and the original Crystal Palace that hosted the Great Exhibition of 1851 in Hyde Park, London.

Our ‘Ever Wonder’ series will run throughout the 2022-23 Premier League season and focuses on key stories behind the history, tradition and culture of all 20 Premier League clubs.

[ MORE: Check out our ‘Ever Wonder’ series in full ]

Have you ever sat there and wondered why certain chants became iconic at a club? Why a team has a certain nickname? Why they play in those colors? How they were founded? Yep, us too.

[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]

This season we will be digging deep to tell the stories of the rich history, tradition and culture from around the Premier League and give you the answers to things you want to know more about.


Ever Wonder if Crystal Palace are named after a real Palace?

Crystal Palace have a unique name and have you ever wondered: hey, are Crystal Palace actually named after a, erm, a Palace made of Crystal?

This answer is, yes, of course they are!

World's Fair

The original Crystal Palace building was a cast-iron and glass structure which was considered an engineering masterpiece and was build to host the Great Exhibition in 1851, which was first exhibition of culture and industry of the World’s Fair, and was opened by Queen Victoria.

After the Great Exhibition the entire structure was moved from Hyde Park in central London to Sydenham in south London (from 1852-54) and the area around its new surroundings was renamed Crystal Palace. The palace continued to host incredible events and exhibitions and was world renowned.

Original Palace


How did the Crystal Palace Football Club arrive on the scene?

In 1857 a cricket club was set up by the Crystal Palace Company, the company which ran the original Crystal Palace once it moved to south London.

The cricket club then set up Crystal Palace Football Club in 1861 as a way to stay fit in the winter during the offseason and in 1863 they were founding members of the first-ever Football Association.

Old school Palace

In 1875 Crystal Palace Club actually stopped playing football games for nearly two decades, as records of them vanished. Why? Club records suggest it was because the football team were damaging the cricket pitch!

However, football did return as a new stadium was built at the Palace and it actually hosted 20 FA Cup finals from 1895 to 1914.

FA Cup final


Moving away from the Palace

Crystal Palace Football Club moved to their current home, Selhurst Park, in 1924, just two miles away from Crystal Palace.

Despite no longer being based at the actual Crystal Palace, their team name remained.

music legends

Over the years most of the original Crystal Palace had to be demolished after a huge fire in 1936.

But parts of it remained and have been used as a music venue as Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, Elton John, the Beach Boys and many other superstars played there, as well as other huge events being hosted there.

Today the site has an athletics track and other community venues on its site.


The palace will return to Selhurst Park!

Even if the actual Palace is no more, the memory of it lives on every day at Crystal Palace Football Club.

It is shown on the club logo, on huge tifos on a Matchday at Selhurst Park and on the famous gates in front of the stadium.

Crystal Palace v Arsenal FC - Premier League

LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 05: Crystal Palace fans create a tifo of the Crystal Palace Exhibition building prior to the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal FC at Selhurst Park on August 05, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Getty Images

And plans have just been approved (October 2022) for the main stand at Selhurst Park to be redeveloped on a huge scale in the coming years, with the design of the new stand and facilities to resemble the original Crystal Palace.

Over 170 years later the legacy of the original, magnificent Victorian Crystal Palace lives on each and every day at Crystal Palace Football Club.

New Palace stand 2

New Palace stand


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