Crystal Palace F.C. (1861)

Crystal Palace Football Club was a short-lived amateur association football club, who were formed in 1861 by groundkeepers who worked at the Crystal Palace Exhibition building. Later, notable players joined such as Cuthbert Ottaway.

Contents

• Records
• Famous players
• References

The groundkeepers were one of the 12 founder members of the Football Association and competed in the first FA Cup in 1871–72 reaching the semi-finals where they were eliminated by the Royal Engineers in a replay after the first game ended goalless. They also played in the FA Cup in the following four seasons. The club then disbanded and disappeared from historical records around 1876. It was not until 1905 that the current Crystal Palace F.C. was re-formed as a professional club by the owners of the FA Cup Final venue which was situated inside the grounds of the exhibition building.