Crystal Palace will make another piece of club history on Thursday evening when they face Lech Poznań at 20:00 BST in their first-ever UEFA Europa League match. The fixture follows the Eagles’ historic Conference League triumph in May and adds another chapter to a story that began with the amateur Crystal Palace Club in the 19th century.
The earliest recorded Palace match came on 15 March 1862, when the club faced The Forest Club in Leytonstone. The 15-a-side contest lasted two and a half hours and was reportedly settled by a 1-0 victory for The Forest Club. Both sides would later become founder members of the Football Association, making the encounter an important moment in the development of the modern game.
Palace’s first match after entering professional football came in the United League during the 1905/06 season, ending in a 3-0 win over New Brompton, now known as Gillingham. Their first Southern League fixture followed a day later, although Southampton Reserves claimed a 4-3 victory. Palace recovered impressively, going unbeaten for the remainder of the campaign and earning promotion to the First Division.
That top-flight arrival brought a memorable opening-day meeting with Manchester United on 9 August 1969. Mel Blyth gave Palace the lead and became the club’s first top-flight goalscorer, while Gerry Queen restored the advantage after Bobby Charlton had equalised. Willie Morgan’s second-half goal secured a 2-2 draw for United, but the result still represented an impressive introduction to the division.
Palace were also among the 22 founding members of the Premier League in 1992/93. Their first fixture in the competition produced a thrilling 3-3 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Selhurst Park, with Mark Bright scoring the club’s first Premier League goal. Gareth Southgate and Simon Osborn also scored, while Blackburn’s goals came from Stuart Ripley and a brace by Alan Shearer.
The League Cup proved less welcoming initially, with Palace losing in the first round in each of their first four seasons in the competition. The first of those exits came in a 2-0 defeat away to Darlington in October 1960. Palace finally progressed in 1964/65, beating Tranmere Rovers and Southampton before Leicester City ended their run in the fourth round. Their first European involvement came in the 1998 Intertoto Cup, where they faced Samsunspor over two legs and lost both matches 2-0.
Palace’s first FA Cup tie was played in 1871 against Hitchin Town and finished 0-0, in what was also the competition’s first recorded draw. Both teams advanced under the rules of the time, with Palace eventually reaching the semi-finals. More recently, the club’s first Community Shield appearance followed the 2025 FA Cup triumph. At Wembley, Palace twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Liverpool before Dean Henderson’s saves and Justin Devenny’s decisive penalty delivered victory.
The Eagles’ route into the Conference League began with a 1-0 win over Fredrikstad in the qualifying round, Jean-Philippe Mateta scoring the decisive goal. In the tournament proper, Palace defeated Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 in Lublin, with Daniel Muñoz and Eddie Nketiah on target. Now Lech Poznań awaits in the Europa League, giving Palace supporters another opportunity to witness a first in the club’s long and increasingly decorated history.
