BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk
Steve Parish is just like any other Crystal Palace supporter – excited about European football and drinking in their FA Cup success. The difference is that the Eagles chairman will play a crucial role in plotting how they attack next season on four fronts.
Eberechi Eze’s seismic goal at Wembley on Saturday secured a 1-0 win over Manchester City as the South London club won major silverware for the first time in their history.
Parish spearheaded the consortium which took Palace out of administration in 2010 – also striking a deal for Selhurst Park.
Fifteen years later and they have reached three FA Cup finals and are firmly established in the Premier League after promotion via the play-offs in 2013.
‘Wembley will shake…and it will be beautiful’ was the message on the Eagles tifo at the national stadium. Now the 2025 FA Cup winners will take their support overseas in the Europa League.
“It will be a real journey,” said Parish, 59. “Fans going to far-flung places – Palace on tour. It is the stuff of dreams. We’re looking forward to it. We’ll have to get to work pretty quickly and think about what that means. But we’ve got a manager who has done it, which is hugely helpful.
“It’s a bit of an unknown for the rest of us. But Oliver and Daichi (Kamada) – along with players we’ve got like Jefferson (Lerma), Marc (Guehi) and Daniel (Munoz), they have played in big games and they aren’t going to frightened or overawed going to these places.
“As Joel (Ward) just said in the dressing room, hopefully this isn’t the ceiling – we can go above that.”
Glasner has 12 months to run on his contract.
The Austrian, who won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, is in a super strong negotiating position.
Asked about discussions over his future, Parish said: “We’ve been talking about it.
“Oliver wants to be part of something going in a direction. It is the same for all of us. I think that’s what we will talk about.
“Before the final is probably not the time for that and after the final is probably not the time for that. Somewhere down the tracks we’ll have a conversation and see how we all feel. He will stay here for some period of time.
Crystal Palace v Manchester City, Emirates FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, 17 May 2025
Picture: Keith Gillard
“I’m trying to live in the moment. What happens in the future – the summer transfer window and players – is for tomorrow.
“He’ll be here next year and we’ll take it from there. Of course we want him to stay but things happen in football.
“Clubs evolve and move on. I’d love him to stay but also the club has got to develop behind him and show the ambition in terms of things we want to do to move it forward, for people to feel part of something.”
Tottenham and Manchester United are Europa League finalists but their struggles in the Premier League have underlined the challenge of those extra fixtures and travels.
Recruitment will be key, especially with long-serving director of football Dougie Freedman leaving.
Asked if European football is a handy sales pitch for transfer targets, Parish responded: “It doesn’t hurt, does it? When you’re going for players you get told ‘he wants to play in Europe’. Of course we have got that in our locker.
“We had a player that maybe wasn’t that interested and then they watched our semi-final. The agent rang me and said: ‘He’s just watched and is quite interested in being part of it’. And also don’t forget our fans – they are so important – you don’t get many like this that are so supportive all the time.
“Players want a stable environment and when you add in Europe it’s a big plus.
“Once you win one (a trophy) you want that feeling back. But it is so difficult to win these things.
3BBYW3K London, UK. 17th May, 2025. Steve Parish, Chairman of Crystal Place with the trophy after the Crystal Palace vs Manchester City FA Cup Final match at Wembley Stadium, London. Picture credit should read: Paul Terry/Sportimage Credit: Sportimage Ltd/Alamy Live News
“It is so hard for us to beat an unbelievable Manchester City team. I don’t think one of their players made a mistake on the ball. We didn’t steal our way here, did we? Fulham away and then Aston Villa and Manchester City. That’s two Champions League-challenging teams and one that has been Europa League-challenging that we have beaten.
“It feels it is harder to get in there than to be in there. We won’t get carried away – we know it is going to be difficult. But we’ve got the right team of people and the right manager – we’ll give it a good go and who knows?”
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