Crystal Palace marked this date in 1912 by beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at White Hart Lane and lifting the London Challenge Cup for a second successive year. The Glaziers were managed by Edmund Goodman, who had a long association with the club.
Palace were among the dominant forces in the competition’s early years, reaching six of its first 12 finals. Their run included four consecutive final appearances between 1920 and 1923, underlining the club’s strong record in the London FA tournament.
Goalkeeper Joe Johnson was the standout performer against Spurs. The former Plymouth Argyle player, who had joined Palace six years earlier, produced a series of important saves as Tottenham applied sustained pressure. Palace took an early lead through Edwin ‘Ted’ Smith after a defensive mistake, before Spurs equalised through Middlemiss before half-time.
Charlie Hewitt restored Palace’s advantage 15 minutes into the second half, and that goal proved decisive. Tottenham created further opportunities, but their finishing let them down as Palace held on in front of around 5,000 spectators. Smith, who had arrived from Hull City in 1911, later became Palace’s second-highest all-time goalscorer with 124 goals.
27 October has since delivered several other notable Palace moments. In 1990, the Eagles beat Wimbledon 4-3 at Selhurst Park to extend their unbeaten top-flight run to a then-club-record 10 matches, with Geoff Thomas, John Humphrey, Andy Gray and Mark Bright on the scoresheet. In 2004, Dougie Freedman and Sandor Torghelle overturned an early Charlton Athletic lead in the League Cup, while in 2012 a managerless Palace defeated Leicester City 2-1 at the King Power Stadium after scoring twice from first-half corners.
