Crystal Palace’s greatest victory came 67 years ago today, when Barrow were beaten 9-0 at Selhurst Park in a one-sided encounter watched by around 10,000 supporters.
The match arrived during a difficult period for Palace. Following the merger of Division Three North and South, the club found itself in the fourth tier of English football and spent the 1958/59 and 1959/60 campaigns trying unsuccessfully to secure promotion.
Palace were sitting 10th in the division when Barrow made the long journey south, but Ray Colfar opened the scoring after around 20 minutes. Johnny Gavin then scored directly from a corner before Roy Summersby struck twice to give the hosts a commanding half-time advantage.
Colfar added his second shortly after the interval, with Summersby completing his hat-trick before finding the net again from the penalty spot. Johnny Byrne rounded off the scoring in the closing seconds to complete a remarkable 9-0 result.
Summersby finished the afternoon with four goals, taking his Palace total to 60. The victory ultimately did not deliver promotion, with Palace having to wait until the following season to return to the Third Division after Byrne scored 31 goals. As the club climbed through the divisions from 1961 onwards, its biggest wins in the third, second and top tiers were 8-0, 6-0 and 5-0 respectively.
