contents
Crystal Palace √ tottenham hotspur sun 28 dec 2025 | 4:30pm k.o. Directors Chairman Steve Parish, David Blitzer, Joshua Harris, Woody Johnson Chief Executive Officer Sharon Lacey Chief Financial Officer Mitesh Velani Club Secretary Christine Dowdeswell Head of Sports Medicine Dr. Imtiaz Ahmad Academy Director Gary Issott Director of U21 Development Mark Bright Chief Operating Officer Jonty Castle Chief Commercial Officer Barry Webber General Counsel David Nichol Head of Ticketing Paul McGowan Head of Retail Foz Bowers Head of Marketing Matt Franks Head of Safeguarding Laura Baptiste Head Groundsman Bruce Elliott
06 08 12
25 10 chairman 34 Talking tactics
58
Editor Jack Lacey-Hatton Design Billy Cooke, Stu Ellmer Contributors Robin Johnson,
43 Kevin Phillips 48 academy 52 palace women 54 palace for life
Ed Dowling, Joe Turner, Kevin Phillips, Ian King, Tommy
62 ian king
Macarthur, Patrick Rosanio, Sebastian Frej Photography Neil Everitt, Peter Hurn, Sebastian Frej, Pinnacle Photo Agency, Kontent Haus, Getty Printer Bishops Printers
67 Behind the Lens
64
72 Eagle Arcade 74 from the terraces
03
04
briefing
weekly briefing
Scan this QR code to quickly, safely and easily report worries, concerns or abuse. You can even do so anonymously.
On this day 28 december 2005
Welcome back to Selhurst Park for today’s match, the first of three home matches in ten days. This is the Eagles’ final game of 2025, a year which has seen a first major trophy, European football arrive in South London and much more. Palace have a busy start to the New Year, hosting Fulham in our next Premier League game on New Year’s Day (17:30 GMT). At the time of writing, limited tickets remain on sale to Members –
jan
01
Fulham (H) Premier League
head to www.cpfc.co.uk/tickets for more information. Palace are then on road just four days later with a trip to the north-east to face Newcastle United at St James’ Park (Sunday, 4th January 15:00 GMT). Limited tickets are still available, for Season Ticket Holders and Members. You can also purchase tickets for our supporters’ coaches, with three leaving Selhurst Park at 06:30 GMT.
jan
jan
11
Palace women √ Sheffield United (A)
16
UEFA Conference League play-off draw
05
Palace defeat Derby County 2-0 at Selhurst Park with goals from Clinton Morrison and Darren Ward.
Manager
oliver glasner Welcome back to Selhurst Park for our final home game of 2025 − and welcome to Thomas Frank, and his Tottenham players and staff, for this afternoon’s game.
I
am writing these notes ahead of our Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal. Regardless of the outcome of that game, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support throughout 2025. Overall looking back it’s been an amazing calendar year for all of us. For every player, every staff member, every employee at the club – and of course, every supporter of Crystal Palace – I hope you’ve all enjoyed the journey. This time last year we hadn’t yet even started our FA Cup run, so we’ve come a long way in that time. Winning that trophy, winning the Community Shield and playing European football are moments we can all look back on with huge pride for years to come. I’m also really pleased with the consistency we’ve shown in the Premier League. At the time of writing, we have taken the sixth-most points in the Premier League in 2025. To be in that topthird of the league is another sign of the progress we’ve made. Not any one person could achieve all this alone, it required every one of us working together.
06
it’s been an amazing calendar year for all of us. For every player, every staff member, every employee at the club – and of course, every supporter of Crystal Palace – I hope you’ve all enjoyed the journey
Manager
It will go down as a memorable year in Crystal Palace history. But for me the challenge now is not to relax and be satisfied. We want this to be the starting point of doing even greater things in 2026. We always are pushing for more success. We also don’t let one difficult result impact us. For example, in our last home game against Manchester City,
It will go down as a memorable year in Crystal Palace history. But for me the challenge now is not to relax and be satisfied. We want this to be the starting point of doing even greater things in 2026. We always are pushing for more success
we competed against a top side but didn’t get the win. Yet, we still have the confidence and belief for our next league game at Selhurst Park against Tottenham. For me, this is one of the biggest achievements – that we all have real belief and conviction that we can win against any team who come here.
It was a disappointing result away at Leeds in our last Premier League fixture. But as I said after the game, we will be honest in our reflections of what went wrong and show we can correct it over the next few matches. A special mention to those of you have followed us away from home this year. I know the expenditure and effort required to get to these games. It’s not only the cost, but the time off work and time away from your family. That support means a lot to all of us, so thank you. Tottenham will present a good challenge for us this afternoon. But I think the year of 2025 deserves to end on a winning note. I hope you’ve all enjoyed the Christmas season, and I look forward to seeing you all again this afternoon, enjoy the game
.
07
A special mention to those of you have followed us away from home this year. I know the expenditure and effort required to get to these games. It’s not only the cost, but the time off work and time away from your family. That support means a lot to all of us, so thank you
Captain
marc Guéhi Welcome back to Selhurst Park for our last home game of 2025 against Tottenham Hotspur. I hope we can close out the year with a win in front of you all today.
I
’d like to start these notes by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year too. As Premier League footballers, we recognise that this will always be one of the busiest times of the year for us, in terms of fixtures – and that is certainly the case this year. However, we’re also aware that this is an important time to celebrate friendship, celebrate family, and celebrate all that we love in life. I hope each and every one of you have had that opportunity over the last few days. These notes go to print ahead of our Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal, but I want to thank in advance those who supported us at the Emirates, and those who made the trip up to Leeds. Obviously, the result at Elland Road was not the one we wanted. As I said after the game, Leeds were the better side and that is tough to accept. They won every duel, they wanted it, and they were more physical. But, as the manager also said, we will reflect and learn from our mistakes. In the Premier League you will, more often than not, get punished when you’re not at your best. Generally, we’ve been competitive in
08
this is an important time to celebrate friendship, celebrate family, and celebrate all that we love in life. I hope each and every one of you have had that opportunity over the last few days
Captain
To win a major trophy for this club was an incredible day and we’ve had so many great moments since as well, whether it was our first win in the Conference League, the Community Shield or going on a lengthy unbeaten run in the Premier League
every game this season and we want that to continue into over the next few weeks. The games are going to keep coming thick and fast, so we will regroup and look to go again.
what an incredible year it’s been. This time 12 months ago, I’m not sure many outside the club would have predicted what was to come. But this group, led by the manager, has a determination and a strong inner-belief that we can compete in every game
This is our final fixture of 2025 and what an incredible year it’s been. This time 12 months ago, I’m not sure many outside the club would have predicted what was to come. But this group, led by the manager, has a determination and a strong inner-belief that we can compete in every game and in every competition. To win a major trophy for this club was an incredible day and we’ve had so many great moments since as well, whether it was our first win in the Conference League, the Community
Shield or going on a lengthy unbeaten run in the Premier League. However, we won’t be resting on our laurels as we head into January. The New Year will bring us more opportunities to write another chapter in this club’s history. Hopefully this club can have another memorable year. Today, against Tottenham, I hope we produce a performance you are proud of, so that we can head into 2026 on a high
.
09
WILL
As he closes in on 150 senior appearances for the Eagles, Will Hughes sits down to talk about the journey he has been on in his four years in South London so far, the FA Cup celebrations and more… Interview: Jack Lacey-Hatton 12
13
25 YEARS CHAMPIONING GRASSROOTS Shout it from the terraces, it’s our anniversary! Since 2000, we’ve been transforming lives, giving every community great places to play sport. We're not finished yet, so here's to more game-changing investment. Search Football Foundation to find out more
46
47
premier league
leaguetable pos
P
W
D
L
F
A
GD
Pts
1
Club arsenal
17
12
3
2
31
10
21
39
2
manchester city
17
12
1
4
41
16
25
37
3
aston villa
17
11
3
3
27
18
9
36
4
chelsea
17
8
5
4
29
17
12
29
5
liverpool
17
9
2
6
28
25
3
29
6
sunderland
17
7
6
4
19
17
2
27
7
manchester united
17
7
5
5
31
28
3
26
8
crystal palace
17
7
5
5
21
19
2
26
9
brighton & hove albion
17
6
6
5
25
23
2
24
10
everton
17
7
3
7
18
20
-2
24
11
newcastle united
17
6
5
6
23
22
1
23
12
brentford
17
7
2
8
24
25
-1
23
13
fulham
17
7
2
8
24
26
-2
23
14
tottenham hotspur
17
6
4
7
26
23
3
22
15
bournemouth
17
5
7
5
26
29
-3
22
16
leeds united
17
5
4
8
24
31
-7
19
17
nottingham forest
17
5
3
9
17
26
-9
18
18
west ham united
17
3
4
10
19
35
-16
13
19
burnley
17
3
2
12
19
34
-15
11
20
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS
17
0
2
15
9
37
-28
2
All statistics correct as of 17:00 Tuesday, 23rd December.
MATCHWeek18 fri 26 dec 20:00
sat 27 dec 15:00
old trafford
anfield
sat 27 dec 12:30
sat 27 dec 15:00
the city ground
london stadium
sat 27 dec 15:00
sat 27 dec 17:30
emirates stadium
london stadium
sat 27 dec 15:00
sun 28 dec 14:00
gtech community stadium
stadium of light
sat 27 dec 15:00
sun 28 dec 16:30
turf moor
selhurst park
78
You support us. Let us support you. Speak to someone in confidence today – call Samaritans for free on 116-123 or visit premierleague.com/togetheragainstsuicide
Together Against Suicide
Crystal palace f.c. 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 14 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 26 28 29 31 34 38 42 44 55 59 60 72 73 86
Dean HENDERSON (GK) Daniel MUÑOZ Tyrick MITCHELL Maxence LACROIX Marc GUÉHI Ismaïla SARR Jefferson LERMA Eddie NKETIAH Yéremy PINO Christantus UCHE Jean-Philippe MATETA Nathaniel CLYNE Daichi KAMADA Will HUGHES Adam WHARTON Romain ESSE Jaydee CANVOT Borna SOSA Chris RICHARDS Cheick DOUCOURÉ Naouirou AHAMADA Remi MATTHEWS (GK) Chadi RIAD Caleb KPORHA Kaden RODNEY Walter BENÍTEZ (GK) Justin DEVENNY Rio CARDINES George KING Dean BENAMAR Benji CASEY Joél DRAKES-THOMAS
For Ticketing, reaction and highlights download the Official Palace App
tottenham hotspur f.c.
J. Gillett S. Ledger M. Scholes D. England J. Bell M. Perry
1 3 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 28 29 30 31 33 37 39 40 44
Guglielmo VICARIO (GK) Radu DRӐGUȘIN Kevin DANSO João PALHINHA Xavi SIMONS Yves BISSOUMA RICHARLISON James MADDISON Mathys TEL Destiny UDOGIE Archie GRAY Lucas BERGVALL Cristian ROMERO Dominic SOLANKE Mohammed KUDUS Dejan KULUSEVSKI Brennan JOHNSON Pedro PORRO Djed SPENCE Kota TAKAI Wilson ODOBERT Pape Matar SARR Rodrigo BENTANCUR Antonín KINSKÝ (GK) Ben DAVIES Micky VAN DE VEN Randal KOLO MUANI Brandon AUSTIN (GK) Dane SCARLETT