Crystal Palace have only appeared in UEFA competition twice so far, via the Intertoto Cup in 1998–99 and the Europa Conference League in 2025–26, despite coming agonisingly close to Europe several times before.
1991: Europe Missed Despite Third Place
In 1990–91, Palace finished third in the old First Division, the club’s best-ever league position, behind Arsenal and Liverpool. Normally that would have brought UEFA Cup qualification, but because English clubs had only just returned from the post‑Heysel ban and had a very low coefficient, England received only one UEFA Cup place, which went to runners-up Liverpool, leaving Palace excluded. Many fans still see this as the “lost” first European qualification in club history.
1998–99: First Taste of Europe – Intertoto Cup
Crystal Palace’s first actual European campaign came via the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1998–99.
- How they qualified: By application rather than league position, as the Intertoto was designed as an optional summer route into the UEFA Cup.
- Competition: Palace entered the 1998 Intertoto and progressed to the Third Round before being knocked out by Turkish side Samsunspor.
Although not a major UEFA tournament like the Champions League or Europa League, it was the club’s first competitive foray into continental football.
2025-26: First Major UEFA Qualification – Conference League
A genuine breakthrough came in May 2025, when Palace won their first major trophy, the FA Cup, beating Manchester City 1–0 at Wembley. That victory earned them a spot in the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League, the first time Palace had qualified on sporting merit for a major UEFA competition.
However, UEFA’s multi‑club ownership rules meant they were demoted from the Europa League into the UEFA Conference League after regulators found that shared ownership links with Lyon via John Textor’s Eagle Football group breached Article 5.
- Palace lost their appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and instead entered the Europa Conference League league phase.
- In 2025–26 they are listed as competing in the Conference League while finishing 5th domestically and reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals.
This season therefore counts as Crystal Palace’s first participation in a major UEFA club competition proper, even if it came in the third‑tier tournament rather than the Europa League originally earned.
Crystal Palace’s European Qualifications – Summary Table
Across more than a century of history, those few European adventures – and the near‑miss in 1991 – have taken on outsized importance for Palace supporters, which is why the current Conference League run feels like the long‑awaited fulfilment of a story that began with that third‑place finish under Steve Coppell.
Post Comment