It was one of the – if not the – greatest days in Crystal Palace history as Oliver Glasner and his men rocked up to Wembley and beat Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final, thus securing passage into next season’s Europa League. But there are doubts over whether they’ll be able to play.
Eberechi Eze opened and closed the scoring in the 16th minute and with Pep Guardiola’s men unable to respond in front of a roaring, 84,163-strong crowd, Salzburg-born Glasner achieved the unthinkable and won the Eagles their first-ever major trophy.
Whether Palace – who finished 12th in the Premier League table – will actually be travelling round the continent for mid-week fixtures, however, remains to be seen and, according to reports, their immediate replacement has been lined up in case.
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Why Glasner, who joined from Eintracht Frankfurt in February 2024, may not be taking his team across Europe is because John Textor, the club’s largest shareholder, is also the majority owner of Lyon, who have also qualified for the Europa League after finishing sixth in the 2024/25 Ligue 1 table.
David Blitzer, who is also a shareholder of the London club, is the owner of Danish club Brondby. They’ve qualified for the Europa Conference League (ECL) – and so, the idea that the FA Cup winners could just drop a tier is also a very complicated matter.
As reported exclusively by The Guardian, UEFA have rejected offers by John Textor and David Blitzer, Crystal Palace’s chief shareholders, who have offered to put their shares in a blind trust so that 50-year-old Glasner and his team can feature in Europe next term. UEFA state that no individual can have “control or influence” over more than one club competing in a European competition.
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Their position in Europe’s second-tier competition is now under serious threat as Lyon’s sixth-place in the French top flight finish takes precedence over Palace, who finished 12th and behind the likes of Bournemouth, Brentford and Fulham in England’s primary division in 2024/25.
Should UEFA and Palace be unable to find a resolution (and sooner rather than later), it has been reported that Nuno Espirito Santo's Nottingham Forest could be the beneficiaries of the mishap. Having already qualified for the ECL; the Garibaldi could be promoted up a tier.
Palace’s rivals Brighton & Hove Albion, who finished eighth, would take their spot in Europe's third tier competition. The powers that be at Selhurst Park – including Textor and chairman Steve Parish – met UEFA officials in Switzerland on Tuesday as a means of rokering a solution without reaching an agreement.
As reported by The Guardian, Textor offered to place his shares of the club in the hands of trustees next season – also known as a ‘blind trust’ – but his proposal, by virtue of missing the deadline to register the trust, was reportedly rejected by UEFA.
Clubs from the Premier League have used this method before. Manchester City and Manchester United utilised a blind trust to ensure they adhered to UEFA’s multi-club rules last season after their partner clubs, Girona and Nice, qualified for the Champions League and Europa League, respectively.