After over a century of struggle, Crystal Palace have finally scaled the mountain.
Palace entered their FA Cup final showdown against star-studded Manchester City as significant underdogs, a full 16 points behind Pep Guardiola's club in the Premier League standings this season. But Eberechi Eze staked the Eagles to an early lead, and a heroic effort from Dean Henderson — plus some good, old-fashioned VAR controversy, because of course — made it stand up to bring the trophy back to south London.
It's tough to overstate just how big a moment this is for Palace. This wasn't just a win over a giant of English soccer; it was a landmark day in the history of a club with more than 150 years of it, one that fans will pass down for generations to come.
Crystal Palace FA Cup history: Palace finally breaks through
Saturday's win marked Palace's first-ever FA Cup championship, despite competing in the event since its inaugural edition way back in 1871-72. (They reached the semifinals before losing to Royal Engineers.) Heck, this is their first-ever major trophy, period — as well as their first trip to major European competition, as winning the FA Cup guarantees the club a spot in the Europa League next season.
Palace had come close before. They reached the semifinal in 2022 before falling to Chelsea, and they lost in the final in both 2016 and 1990 (both of which were heartbreakers at the hands of Manchester United). The club also notched semifinal appearances in 1976 and 1995.
Other than that, though, it's been a struggle, as you'd expect for a club that hasn't seen much major success either in England or on the continent. Palace fans haven't been given a ton to puff their chests out about over the years, but now they stand atop the entirety of English football for the first time in their history. It took a bit of controversy to do it — Henderson was lucky not to be given a red card for handling the ball outside the penalty box in the first half — but Palace won't much care how they got their hands on the trophy.