Crystal Palace Football Club Women, formerly known as Crystal Palace Ladies Football Club, is a
women's association football
Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries and 176 national t ...
club based in south-east
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
which competes in the FA Women's Championship. The club, known as the "Eagles", is affiliated to
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club is a professional football club based in Selhurst in the Borough of Croydon, South London, England, who compete in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. Although formally created as a profes ...
, the men's equivalent. The women's section encompasses the under-9 age group through to senior level, including an academy at The Priory School in
Orpington
Orpington is a town and area in south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross.
On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Ma ...
. The club plays their home matches at
Hayes Lane
Hayes Lane is a football stadium in Bromley, Greater London, England. Located between Bromley town centre and Hayes, it is the home of Bromley F.C., and also used by Cray Wanderers and Crystal Palace Women.
The current capacity of the groun ...
, after forming a partnership with
Bromley F.C.
Bromley Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Bromley, Greater London, England. They are currently members of and play at Hayes Lane.
History
Established in 1892,England's football pyramid, winning the
South East Combination Women's Football League
The South East Combination Women's Football League, also known simply as the South East Combination, was a women's football league in England from 1998 to 2014. Until the creation of the FA WSL, FA Women's Super League in 2011, they sat at the thi ...
in 2003–04, and later achieved their first cup success beating
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
in the Surrey FA County Cup Final in 2011. Palace reached the FA Women's Premier League in 2013–14. The club won the Division One title in 2015–16 after going the whole season undefeated and also won the Surrey FA County Cup that same season beating AFC Wimbledon in the final.
In 2018, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' newspaper claimed that the Crystal Palace Ladies
reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...
players were told "they face not being able to represent the club any longer if they cannot each raise £250 in sponsorship, or put up the money themselves", though the club reported this as "inaccurate." The Crystal Palace F.C. men's star first team player
Wilfried Zaha
Dazet Wilfried Armel Zaha (born 10 November 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Crystal Palace and the Ivory Coast national team.
Zaha advanced into the Crystal Palace first team from their academy, in 2010. In ...
, who had just signed a new contract made "a substantial financial contribution" to help subsidise the club's female section. The club issued a statement: "Everyone knows what Crystal Palace means to Wilf and he wants to give the same opportunities to the next generation of aspiring players at Palace Ladies that he enjoyed when coming up through junior teams."
In 2019, the women's team was featured in '' Harry's Heroes: The Full English'', a television documentary shown on ITV. They lost 1–0 to a team of male former professional footballers.
On 10 June 2019, the club announced it would play as "Crystal Palace FC" instead of "Crystal Palace Ladies F.C." following the growing trend within the women's game to move away from the term "Ladies".
Players
Current squad
Former players
Club staff
Honours
Leagues
* FA Women's Premier League Division One Champions (1): 2015–16
*
South East Combination Women's Football League
The South East Combination Women's Football League, also known simply as the South East Combination, was a women's football league in England from 1998 to 2014. Until the creation of the FA WSL, FA Women's Super League in 2011, they sat at the thi ...
Champions (1): 2003–04
Cups
* Surrey County Cup Winners (2): 2011, 2016
See also
*
Crystal Palace Baltimore
Crystal Palace Baltimore was an American professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, US. Founded in 2006, the club was originally named Crystal Palace USA and was affiliated with English side Crystal Palace.
The club was a member of t ...
Ladies
The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...