Crystal Palace FA Cup Winners: Dates to add to your diary

Announcement

19 May 2025

Crystal Palace have won the 2024/25 FA Cup – collecting the trophy for the first time in our 164-year history after Ebere Eze scored the only goal against Manchester City.

But what does it mean for the future, specifically Palace in 2025/26?

Here’s a few things our victory means, including a few key dates to look out for over the coming weeks and months...

Europa League

Palace’s first full venture into European football is now assured off the back of Saturday’s triumph.

By lifting the trophy, the Eagles have guaranteed entry to the 2025/26 Europa League. This is new territory for the club, with our only previous experience of continental competition one home and away tie in the Intertoto Cup back in 1998.

That tournament was an accompanying competition to offer a route into the UEFA Cup (now Europa League).

But by winning the FA Cup, Palace won’t need to face the prospect of qualifying rounds to get to the main event. Instead, we go straight into a 36-team league phase.

This will mean the Eagles will have a minimum of eight guaranteed Europa League games, from matchday one to eight in the league phase.

Games all take place on Thursday nights from September to January, with the exception of matchday one which takes place across Wednesday, 24th September and Thursday, 25th September.

The full list of matchday dates are:

Matchday 1: 24th & 25th September 2025
Matchday 2: 2th October 2025
Matchday 3: 23th October 2025
Matchday 4: 6th November 2025
Matchday 5: 27th November 2025
Matchday 6: 11th December 2025
Matchday 7: 22nd January 2026
Matchday 8: 29th January 2026

And if that's not enough to get you dreaming... take a look at the below. The draw for the league phase will take place on Friday, 29th August, 2025!

Should we advance, the knockout rounds would take place on:

Knockout phase play-offs: 19th & 26th February 2026
Round of 16: 12th & 19th March 2026
Quarter-finals: 9th & 16th April 2026
Semi-finals: 30th April & 7th May 2026
Final: 20th May 2026 (Istanbul)

The top eight from the final league table go straight into the Round of 16, with those placing 9th through to 24th entering the play-off round. The bottom 12 placing teams are then eliminated.

The play-off round winners later join the teams in the Round of 16 and from there on it’s a knockout format, with each tie, bar the final, played over two legs home and away.

If you’re particularly confident off the back of Saturday, you might want to save Wednesday, 20th May in your diary.

That’s the date for the final, which will be held in the Beşiktaş Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. Remember it's a trophy our manager has already won once before in 2022 with Eintracht Frankfurt. Make sure you dust off those passports!

Community Shield

If you miss Wembley already, don’t worry. Palace are already booked in to return.

By winning the FA Cup, the Eagles have ensured qualification for the 2025 Community Shield.

The traditional curtain-raiser to the new domestic season sees the FA Cup holders face the newly crowned league champions, normally at Wembley, before the new Premier League season gets underway.

This means a clash with Liverpool to kick-off our competitive 2025/26 season – and a chance to add another trophy to the cabinet.

The date for your diary for this one is Saturday, 9th August 2025. Kick-off time, ticketing and broadcast details are expected in due course.

It will be Palace’s maiden appearance in the match. The FA Cup holders last triumphed in this game back in 2022, when Liverpool defeated Premier League champions Manchester City 3-1.

First ever trophy

Palace now have a major trophy against our record. We loved winning the Full Members Cup in ’91 just as much as you, but nothing compares to this.

Naturally this team have written themselves firmly into the Palace history books for years to come.

We’ve now joined the illustrious group of English club sides to have lifted a major cup. Hopefully it doesn’t take quite as long to lift the next one!

Save the date: Monday, 26th May – we have something very special coming up...

The best day in Palace history

Before Saturday the question of the greatest game in the club’s long history was always open to debate.

Wins down the years that have secured promotion, the aforementioned Full Members Cup final against Everton, for sheer importance, perhaps Survival Sunday?

But now surely there is only one answer to the question. In one brilliant performance, every Palace player wrote themselves into history on Saturday, picking up our ever first major trophy.

Here’s how the best moment in club history unfolded.

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