It was a glorious day for Crystal Palace, the 17th of May, 2025. The glory of winning the FA Cup belongs to them after securing a 1:0 win over Manchester City. With the way Crystal Palace started the season, and it was their worst start since the 92/93 season, no one could have predicted a year that would end up with a trophy. Oliver Glasner stood firm over his football principles, and in addition to giving the Eagles a safe mid-table finish, he brought home the FA Cup.
After an amazing finish to the last season, much was expected from Glasner and his lads. What no one saw coming was eight rounds without a win. Luck turned its face toward Crystal Palace in the 9th week of the 2024/25 Premier League season and showed a direction in which Palace will go, and showed us the year Tottenham Hotspur will endure after losing to the Eagles. Now that we're seven months removed from that sunny afternoon on October 27th, every Crystal Palace fan has more than enough reasons to rejoice and look forward to another amazing year under Glasner.
The Austrian expert gave Crystal Palace their biggest success in the club's history. It was what their fans waited for decades, and they more than deserved it after the support they gave their team at Wembley, singing the club's anthem, Glad All Over. It was the ultimate reward for everyone associated with the club. A special thanks goes to Steve Parish and Selhurst Park's top brass as they remained firm in keeping their trust in Glasner, whose position was a bit shaky in October.
It is easy to say now that the 50-year-old Austrian was always the right man for the job. Many wanted to see his back, even claiming that he is not able to get the best out of his players at Crystal Palace. Yet, Glasner was the one to stick out his neck for those same players, stating that he feels that after a bad stretch of results, he needs to hug his players and not kick them. After the referee blew the last whistle at Wembley, hugging was all that was happening between the Palace players, staff, and fans.
Steve Parish was the first one to speak after the trophy. He was quick to praise his coach, stating that it was Glasner who poured confidence into players, fans, and the Crystal Palace hierarchy. Unlike Parish, who was not able to hide his excitement and pride in having his team win a major trophy in their history, Glasner was calm, collected, and measured in his response. While Stake and other major sports betting outlets favoured Manchester City to win the FA Cup, Glasner was the one who had full faith in his team.
The first thing the Austrian manager did after winning was walk over to Pep Guardiola and shake his hand. Respecting his adversaries was a main trait of Glasner's career so far. Respect, but never fear! The qualities that Oliver Glasner brought forth during his one and a half year stint in London were visible back in 2022 when he won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt. After winning a European trophy with the German outlet, Glasner was compared to his compatriot Jurgen Klopp in terms of the football style they hone. Intensity and a positive approach were there even when Crystal Palace struggled early in the season.
It was Glasner who never lost faith in himself and his players during the first two months of the season. Winning only three points after eight rounds would be enough to shake even the strongest of managers. It did nothing to Glasner, as he knew that the Eagles have a good team, and that only small adjustments are necessary for them to start winning. As a true football expert, he knew where the issues for Palace's struggles lay. After ending the 2023/24 season by winning 19 points from a possible 21, Oliver knew that only small tweaks were necessary for the team to regain that form.
Glasner was meticulous and strict. He had to be, as after a stellar start to his London career, a turbulent summer was behind him at Palace. The team had to part ways with their best player in Michael Olise, who moved to Bayern Munich. While a £50m fee was enough to reinforce the team, the absence of Olise was felt early on. Also, the team sold a £30m defender in Joachim Andersen to Fulham, so Palace had to bring in men across both attack and defence.
The team had the numbers and quality. What they lacked was time spent together. Last summer was a busy one from the national team's standpoint. Eddie Nketiah, the £30m Arsenal man, was brought in late in the transfer window. The likes of Eberechi Eze, Adam Wharton, Marc Guehi and goalkeeper Dean Henderson had been with England at Euro 2024. Mateta played for France at the Olympics. Lerma and Munoz were at the Copa America. As we said, the quality was there; the team chemistry was not.
Glasner was the first one to acknowledge this. He was adamant that his players would take time to get up to speed and onto the same page. Everything Palace did over the summer was done at the last minute. All of their reinforcements didn't have the preseason with the team. Turner from Forest and Chalobah from Chelsea were brought in at the deadline. The same can be said of Maxence Lacroix from Wolfsburg. Glasner was given little time to work with almost a completely new team, but he hasn't lost a step through the process, repeating that it will only take a few more weeks before they're back to winning ways established last year. He stood behind his words and proved everyone right in a spectacular fashion.
Some would argue that it was easy for Glasner to speak the way he did, knowing that he had the full backing of the team's owner, Parish. The owner insisted that Glasner's position was never jeopardised and that anyone who saw the Austrian on the training ground working with players would tell you the same. Considering that Glasner was leading the team throughout the year, the faith was not only real, it was also justified after Glasner led Palace to a mid-table finish once again, while winning the coveted FA Cup and securing Palace's playing in the European competition for the first time in years.
If you are a fan of betting on soccer, Palace was the team to follow since the turn of the year. They will also be a dark horse for a top-of-the-table finish next season. After all, it is expected that the deadly trio from London, consisting of Eze, Ismaila Sarr and Mateta, will be there in the 2025/26 season, leading the Eagles' attack. While the attack was working on all cylinders, the standout player of the year, and not only for Palace but for the PL in general, was Munoz. The Colombian full-back was deadly on both crosses and as a goal threat, contributing to six goals and seven assists.
At the back, it was as if Andersen never left. The trio of Richards, Lacroix and Guehi has been solid all year long, and the team even held their own at the Wembley final after Guehi had to leave due to an injury at the 61st minute of the game. Despite setbacks, nothing could have stopped this Palace team. You could claim that the team has that X-factor, which was visible throughout their entire FA Cup campaign. Glasner is a coach who puts faith in his biggest stars and performers, and this season they haven't failed to deliver.
The winning goal at the Wembley final was scored by Eze after a trademark Palace counter-attack. Before the goal, and after it, Palace didn't have too many chances. What they had was complete control over what transpired on the field. It was as if the roles had been reversed, and all of a sudden Pep's City was smothering their opponent. Glasner had one hand on the trophy and pushed hard till the end to make the dream happen for Crystal Palace.
While most of the credit goes to Glasner for Crystal Palace's resurgence, none of it could have been achieved without Eze. Losing Olise was hard for Palace, but Eze had no issues taking on the mantle of the team leader. His season in the FA Cup was nothing short of remarkable as he scored goals en route to the final, almost in every match, with his goals against City, Aston Villa, and Fulham making all the difference. Considering that this was the first major trophy for Crystal Palace in the entire existence of the club, it is clear that the names of Eberechi Eze and Oliver Glasner will be written with golden letters in the club's history books.
While Eze and Glasner did well, they're not the only two men who should be praised for the team's win. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson had more than a few superb saves during the final and before that in duels vs. Fulham and Aston Villa. He was the one giving the confidence to the lads in front. There will be plenty of controversy regarding Henderson, especially when it comes to his time-wasting techniques and one alleged handball outside of the box during the final. Putting these things aside, he was instrumental for Palace during this season and the now-famous FA Cup run.
It might be possible that Henderson had an extra level of motivation to perform as the newly appointed England head coach Tomas Tuchel was in the stands, and with Pickford no longer being a safe No1 for the national team it was in Henderson's best interest to do well and secure that goalkeeper position for the Three Lions.
With all things said and done, there is not a single person with ties to Crystal Palace to be left unsatisfied with the season's result. The Eagles had two trips to the final of the FA Cup, and both times they came home defeated. After the 2024/25 win, the fans will finally be able to put the heartbreak of the 1990 and 2016 losses to rest.
As for Glasner, he will now have an excuse to remember Wembley more than he did before. It is funny to know that he was at the stadium three times before Saturday's final. He came to watch the English national team twice, while once he only dropped off his daughter at a Taylor Swift concert. Now, he will remember England's most famous stadium for his team's remarkable win over the much-favoured Manchester City. The man who was not too eager to talk about what it meant for the fans of Crystal Palace to win this trophy before the kick off now can rejoice in this moment, as his name and the success they achieved in 20205 will echo through aeons.
While fans will be celebrating for weeks and months, and some possible years to come, for Glasner, today is a new day at the office. His team has two more matches to play to close out the season. While the results do not matter now for Palace, they will certainly be looking to win one at the last home game of the season against Wolves, while plenty of fans will ignore the last round Liverpool bout.
After the season ends, and everyone takes a few weeks off, Glasner will be looking to build the team for the future. The biggest challenge will be keeping Eze, Munoz, Mateta, Henderson, and Guehi in London while looking to reinforce the team for a European campaign. It is not to be forgotten that we're talking about a competition Oliver Glasner knows how to win.
