July 4 2025

Will Selhurst Park see European football for the first time next season?

Crystal Palace's potential participation in the Europa League is still in doubt, writes Peter Blake.

The Eagles fans enjoyed a stellar domestic 2024/25 campaign under manager Oliver Glasner as although we finished in the bottom half of the Premier League table and in 12th place, you do not need to be that Eagle eyed to know that we battled our way to Wembley Stadium in the FA Cup and having twice finished as runners up, we took a historic 1-0 victory over Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side to lift the trophy for the very first time.

That, of course, means that we have qualified through to the Europa League but as Palace historically do not do things the easy way, added to the fact that UEFA are a bunch of bureaucratic....owing to John Textor's involvement with us as part owner, as well as French side Lyon, it has long been known that our European dreams may be over.

For those fans looking at their betting options for next season, European involvement will impact the early finish position odds for Crystal Palace by bookies, so a resolution here is in the bests interests of everyone and the club have obviously been working hard on finding a solve here, and we already know that Textor has signed a legally binding contract with New York Jets owner Woody Johnson to buy a 43% stake of his ownership in Palace, and that would fix the issue if UEFA ratify it - even if we did miss the deadline, namely because nobody saw European football being on the cards.

It is now expected that Palace will receive a formal decision from UEFA next week, but even that is not straight forward. With a legally binding agreement in principle to transfer the problematic ownership stake, we still maintain that he has no significant control on daily operations at the club, but we also recently learnt that Lyon have now been relegated into the French Ligue 2 division because of their poor financial state, and despite also qualifying for the Europa League, the decision to relegate them could also now prevent them from playing in the competition next season - which should mean that there is instantly no conflict in the first place.

Mr Textor has unfortunately become an awful lot of work for the Selhurst Park faithful and I do not just mean his failed affair with Everton, as that dalliance ended with a permanent case of purchase interruptus, so few in the fanbase will be too sad to now see the back of him as whatever we may have gained from the initial deal, he has never demonstrated commitment in the way a real owner - even part owner - should.

The modern game of football means that fans accept some owners will come and go when it suits their profit projections, but when you want to play that game it is wiser to stay in the background and keep your mouth shut. The sooner his sale is rubber stamped the better for everyone involved.

Until then, Palace fans will hope we are not left with a bitter after taste from his association and that UEFA ratify our involvement in a well deserved and earned European adventure, and our plans for the coming 2025/26 campaign can continue as Glasner continues to subtly reshape his squad with the transfer window open, following on from the very recent capture of Argentine and PSV Eindhoven goalkeeper, Walter Benitez.

And if anyone wants a sneak preview of how this new-look squad might gel, perhaps give it a spin and use the Football Manager game to imagine Palace lifting silverware in Europe next season.