Crystal Palace F.C. (1861)

Crystal Palace F.C. were an amateur football club, founded circa 1861, formed from the groundkeepers of the Great Exhibition. Later notable players joined such as Cuthbert Ottaway.

The "Groundkeepers" were one of the 12 founder members of the Football Association. The club was moderately successful in the pre-Football League era and competed in the first FA Cup reaching the semi-finals where they were eliminated by the Royal Engineers 3-0, in a replay after the first game ended goalless. The team also played in the FA Cup in the next 4 seasons, without any significant impact.

There is no direct link between this club and the modern day Crystal Palace which was founded in 1905, although the "new" club "inherited" the Crystal Palace stadium and could be considered spiritual successors to the former club.

Famous players

Four players from the club appeared for England:

• Charles Chenery (Forward) (3 appearances)
• Alexander Morten (Goalkeeper)
• Arthur Savage (Goalkeeper)
• Charles Eastlake Smith (Forward)

External links

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