Crystal Palace supporters had waited a lifetime for this moment. When the two buses carrying Oliver Glasner and his FA Cup winners rounded the corner of Holmesdale Road, red and blue smoke from flares filled the air as thousands of south Londoners showed their appreciation, with several shedding tears again.
In the days since Eberechi Eze’swinner against Manchester Cityclinched Palace’s first trophy, a sense of disbelief has been the overwhelming feeling for fans who are excitedly contemplating a foray into Europe next season.
“This has been the best week of my life to share this with all these guys,” said an emotional Steve Parish, Palace’s chair. “Our fans are our superpower – that is what we’ve got that drives us forward.”
Ambitious plans to host the parade in Crystal Palace Park – the club’s former home and where the Cup final was played between 1895 and 1914 – had failed to come to fruition. Croydon council’s chief executive denied rumours it had demanded £200,000 to host the celebrations in the borough, while neighbouring Bromley council revealed it had suggested a parade from the training ground in Beckenham via the park and then the stadium, but Palace “did not feel able to proceed in the time available with their ideas, given concerns raised by a range of organisations”.
The result was a slimmed down route you could usually walk in about five minutes but it took Joel Ward, Marc Guéhi and co the best part of an hour to complete.
Even a downpour of rain as the buses made their way along Whitehorse Lane could not dampen the spirits, with 7,000 supporters then piling on to the pitch at Selhurst Park to continue the celebrations that included a DJ set by Sister Bliss from Faithless, whose singer Maxi Jazz was a vice-president at Palace before his death in 2022.
“I’ve been dancing all day,” said the French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta when he was called up onstage to collect his goal of the season award for his lob against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
With planning permission having been granted last summer for a new stand that would take the stadium’s capacity to 34,000, work was expected to finally begin in the coming weeks but spiralling costs have caused further delays. It is estimated they could reach up to £240m.
Uncertainty over the club’s ownership is another hurdle Parish must resolve, but holding on to Glasner, whose contract expires at the end of next season, will be his main priority, not to mention a number of players who are coveted by bigger clubs including Guéhi, Mateta and the Wembley hero Eze.
“We couldn’t hope for a better group,” Parish said when he addressed the exultant crowd on the pitch. “To smash through the glass ceiling for this club and finally win something – their names will go down in history. They will always be loved here.”
Asked what Glasner has done for Palace since taking over from Roy Hodgson as manager last February, he said: “Oliver doesn’t like coming second. Winning is a drug and I don’t see any reason at all why we can’t go and do it again. We need to deliver for the manager in the close season and the fans.”
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The Austrian has made a habit of winning trophies wherever he has been and has seemed to take Palace’s victory in his stride despite allowing himself to relax on a staff trip to Ibiza aftertheir midweek win against Wolves.
Glasner showed his ruthless side during the final match of the seasonagainst Liverpool on Sundaywhen he took off Romain Esse after the £12m January signing from Millwall had been brought on as a substitute and later criticised his attitude. He was in far more relaxed mood on Monday and stressed the importance of maintaining their progress next season.
“Today is a good moment to talk about [our achievements]. Yesterday, after the game, maybe not,” he said. “I couldn’t be more pleased to work with a group of players. Not just because of their talent, they are great talents, but especially what great characters they are.
“It’s very exciting and we all will enjoy this journey, playing the Premier League, playing the Carabao Cup, playing theFA Cupand playing the Europa League. Four competitions, four titles to win, let’s go for every single one.”