Crystal Palace were trophyless in their 120-year existence, and much like London buses, two came along at once in 2025. That felt like the pinnacle. Previously unknown emotions were unleashed — particularly the feeling of completion — which was tough for Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson to deal with, feeling empty after the ecstasy of winning the FA Cup.
“The high to the low,” Henderson confessed. “I remember three days after the FA Cup final, I didn’t want to get out of bed. I was like, ‘What has gone on here?’. I swear. I don’t know whether that was alcohol or… But I actually think it was like, I felt depressed. It was mad. But I don’t know why. I’ve never really spoken about it. It’s the emotions of it.”
Yet that was not to be the end. On Wednesday night, this already immortal group of players have another shot at history in the final of the Uefa Conference League against Rayo Vallecano.
Palace’s inner battles
“You’re engaged the week before,” Henderson continued as he set his sights on Leipzig. “Naturally, you’re thinking about it. For the last couple of weeks, you’re thinking, ‘let’s try to win the final’. It’s natural. No one speaks about it. No one speaks about it to each other. It’s just about your individual battles, isn’t it?”
This crusade across the continent has not just been about glory but justice too. Palace initially believed they would be playing Europa League football after lifting the FA Cup, but had to settle for the Conference League after breaching Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules.
That demotion that has them on the verge of unimaginable heights – 90 minutes away from a European trophy. It’s as though Palace have stepped into a carefully scripted film, with the sweetest slice of poetic justice on the cards at the Red Bull Arena: home to RB Leipzig, one of the most prevalent multi-club outfits in global football. Ironic indeed.
A European final may well be Palace’s peak. Defeat, and they return to normality after two seasons of unexpected, unbridled euphoria. Their worshipped manager, Oliver Glasner, will depart regardless of the result in Leipzig. Victory, however, would extend their golden era by another year — albeit with a new figurehead at the helm — at last claiming a place in the Europa League. Regardless, this is quite the parallel to 16 years ago, when Palace were staring down the barrel of extinction.
Despite some of the disbelief surrounding this remarkable voyage, Palace defender Maxence Lacroix was by no means shocked. In his mind, the Eagles are matching his expectations, having joined the club to aid his own pursuit of silverware.
‘I joined Palace to win trophies’
When Lacroix was asked if he could have envisaged Palace reaching a European final when he first joined the club, he was certain in his response: “I would have said yes because when I spoke with Crystal Palace, I said I want to win trophies. To be honest, some people didn’t trust that.
“I thought we would win the Carabao Cup at first, but we lost against Arsenal. Then, after we won against Millwall, it was at this moment that I said, OK, we will win the FA Cup.”
Europe has been an eye-opener for Palace. Although they have reached the final, the journey has been turbulent — particularly in the early stages. The favourites tag was a heavy burden, with Palace struggling to break teams down and take their chances.
Tensions boiled over on a toxic trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina to face Zrinjski Mostar, with supporters berating Glasner after a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the knockout play-off round. But now, those tribulations feel like a lifetime ago.
“The longer it went on, the more games we played, especially in the Conference League, the buzz came back, and then it felt like that was a distant memory,” said January arrival Brennan Johnson. “Now we’re a team that’s feeling as good as we ever have. We want to do everything we can to bring success.”
Palace have grown into the competition, with the level of the performances increasing in tandem with the increasing quality of their opponents. Performances against Fiorentina and Shakhtar Donetsk were breathtaking in the quarter and semi-finals, respectively.
Another Johnson tattoo
“When you’re a Premier League club and you get into the Conference League, it flips the expectation,” Johnson added. “You instantly become favourites. I feel like that’s something that we had to deal with. We’ve been to some countries where we’ve been massive favourites and found it difficult. But I feel like we still put big pressure on ourselves because we want to be a top team.”
Johnson, signed from Tottenham Hotspur for £35m, has struggled in a Palace shirt — failing to score in 26 appearances. But he has sublime memories of European finals, scoring the match-winner in last season’s Europa League final to end Spurs’ 17-year trophy drought. If he could emulate that success in the Conference League final, he would be visiting the tattoo parlour to get the trophy inked next to the Europa League trophy he already has on his leg.
“It would mean a lot to me,” Johnson said. “I know I’m in a fortunate position, the fact that I’m here again and being able to play in a European final. So just to hopefully be successful and to be part of this team. It’s a new club, it’s a new fan base, one that had an experience of winning last season. But I’m sure we’ll do everything to do it again.
“I think now we’ve got a massive chance to do something special and we had that last year. The focus is kind of similar within the groups. I think the togetherness here is really special.”
If Palace are to get over the line, it will be their unity that achieves it. The group has taken every hardship in their stride this season, and their spot in the Conference League final is testament to that.
“The togetherness in this group is phenomenal,” captain Henderson adds. “All the lads are pushing in the right direction for each other. All the staff at the training ground, everyone. It’s just like a family club. We’re all pushing towards the same end goal. To deliver something on the last day of the season would be incredible, and I think it will be fully deserved.”
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