Crystal Palace F.C. was an amateur football club formed in 1861 who contributed a major role in the development of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

during its formative years. They went on to become founder members of

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

in 1863, and competed in the first ever

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

competition in 1871–72. It is thought the amateur club disbanded around 1876, although a team playing under the name "Crystal Palace Football Club" competed against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in an exhibition match in November 1895. The Palace team mostly contained guest players from the

Corinthian Football Club Corinthian Football Club was an English amateur football club based in London between 1882 and 1939. Above all, the club is credited with having popularised football around the world, having promoted sportsmanship and fair play, and having ch ...

. The current professional

Crystal Palace F.C. Crystal Palace Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon, Borough of Croydon, South London, England, who compete in the Premier League, the highest level of English ...

claim to be a continuation of the original amateur club, after historians discovered a lineage, although disputed, through the Crystal Palace Company ownership. This has led to claims that Crystal Palace should be recognised as the oldest professional football club in the world in existence today.

History

Formation

In 1854, the Crystal Palace Exhibition building was relocated from

Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a Grade I-listed major park in Westminster, Greater London, the largest of the four Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance to Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Pa ...

and rebuilt in South London near to

Sydenham Hill Sydenham Hill forms part of a longer ridge and is an affluent locality in southeast London. It is also the name of a road which runs along the northeastern part of the ridge, demarcating the London Boroughs of Southwark, Bromley, and Lewisham ...

. This area was renamed

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

and included the

Crystal Palace Park Crystal Palace Park is a Victorian pleasure ground located in the South London suburb of Crystal Palace which surrounds the site of the former Crystal Palace Exhibition building. The Palace had been relocated from Hyde Park, London after the 18 ...

that surrounded the site where various sports facilities were built. The amateur Crystal Palace football club was formed here in 1861. It is claimed the football team was established from the Crystal Palace Cricket Club founded in 1857, and that most of its original players were previously members of the cricket club.

Crystal Palace Park

The cricket and football clubs both paid rent to the Crystal Palace Company who owned the exhibition building to use the pitch inside Crystal Palace Park which they shared. Membership of the football club was by subscription only, at a price of one

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per season, and spectators who wished to watch the games had to pay the one-shilling entrance fee into Crystal Palace Park.

Players membership

The football club’s players were not company employees; typical membership was formed from wealthy upper-middle-class businessmen who could afford the subscription and had the leisure time to participate in sport. Walter Cutbill (1844-1915) and A. Cutbill were prominent members and both former pupils at

Forest School Forest School or Forrest School may refer to: Educational philosophy * Forest school (learning style), a learner centred outdoor learning approach. Religious philosophy * Thai Forest Tradition, a Theravada school of Buddhism in Thailand. * Sri La ...

, which was a leading school in the early development of the game. Committee member and

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, Croydon-born wine merchant James Turner (1839-1922) became the first proper treasurer of

after its formation, and numerous Palace players were influential committee-members of the F.A. during its formative decade. When international football commenced in 1870 and 1872, players from Crystal Palace featured in both the

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

and the ‘

unofficial {{Short pages monitor