Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson celebrates FA Cup win (Image: PA)
Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson celebrates FA Cup win (Image: PA)
Crystal Palace hero Dean Henderson hailed 'different class' Oliver Glasner for transforming the culture at the football club and leading them to FA Cup glory against Manchester City.
Henderson joined the Eagles from Manchester United in August 2023 for an initial £14m and nailed down his position as number one this season after competing for the spot with Sam Johnstone in his first campaign at Palace.
The 28-year-old’s clean sheet at Wembley was pivotal to Palace ending their 120-year wait for major silverware, with Henderson denying Omar Marmoush from the penalty spot, making six saves and preventing 1.78 expected goals.
It was Eberechi Eze's first half strike that separated the two sides at Wembley, but Henderson won the club's Man of the Match award and revealed his teammate, Remi Matthews, predicted his 36th minute penalty save.
“We did our homework and he hadn’t taken a penalty for City, but we knew that he beats keepers for pace at that side every time,” said Henderson.
“We knew if we got a step in early, we might have a chance of saving it, which we did. He hit it well, but thankfully, we kept it out.
“Remi Matthews actually said to me in my room before the game, you're gonna have a worldy and you're going to save a penalty.
“I just sort of went, ‘yeah alright’, and then obviously, when Marmoush got the ball, I thought, yeah, he’s right, this is happening. So it just shows you talk into existence and it came true.”
Winning the FA Cup for the first time in the club’s history comes with the reward of Europa League football for the first time.
Henderson is excited by Thursday night football, but admitted he has been eyeing European football all season.
“The gaffer has been on about it [the FA Cup] since Marbella when we went on a mid-season camp, and he sort of said we got the opportunity to achieve big things this season, and now we've done that.
“We're delighted. You put so much and invest so much into it. It's like a weight lifted off your shoulders.
“It’s incredible. In fairness, European football was the aim at the start of the season. We've done it the hard way, really.
“We left it down to one game, and thankfully, we've managed to do the job, because we were disappointed with the start of the season.
“The ability we've got in the squad, we should have been higher in the league. The run we've been on for the last two, three months has been phenomenal.
“We left ourselves too much to do in the league, but doing it this way is probably the best way to do it.”
Henderson, who kept a clean sheet in all three FA Cup games he featured in, attributed the club’s success to the high standards of boss Oliver Glasner after the Austrian took over from Roy Hodgson in February 2024.
“He’s phenomenal. I've had managers, but this guy is different class. When we were struggling at the start of the season, he was quite easy on us.
“But the better we actually do, the harder he is on us. He was hard on us this week. Demanding of us because we've been in good form. He’s so proud of us.
“He knows how to treat his lads. And you know what? He's phenomenal.
“He's changed the whole narrative of Crystal Palace. It's interesting because we're trying to get a few days off now, and he's bothered about Tuesday’s game, so the lads are probably taken aback a bit by it.
“We want to enjoy the celebrations, and he wants to win on Tuesday. He's offered us two more days off in summer if we get one more point in the league to make it the highest points total ever.”
Palace’s FA Cup journey has been tainted with personal tragedy for Henderson, who lost his 57-year-old father Dougie to cancer last July.
Since the passing of his late father, Henderson has won the FA Cup and made his first England start.
The shot-stopper believes his Dad was at Wembley in spirit and admitted he was searching for him in the crowd at full time.
“I was looking for him at the end, and I'm a bit flat because he can't be here and he can't see this. But I genuinely believe that he was there with me today, kicking every ball.
“My neighbour sent me a video of the grave and said that she'll be listening to it on the radio with him today. It means the world to me.”