It has been a mixed few days for Crystal Palace fans, with the highs of another Wembley win offset by the lows of confirmation that they will not be able to play in this season’s Europa League. Let’s start with the good news first!
Palace Beat Liverpool to Claim Community Shield
CRYSTAL PALACE ARE THE 2025 COMMUNITY SHIELD WINNERS ❤️💙 pic.twitter.com/dXhwOVGbSZ
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) August 10, 2025
As The Beatles didn’t quite sing, money can’t buy you cups. Despite their huge outlay on transfers already this summer, Liverpool were beaten by Palace in the 2025 Community Shield on Sunday, 10th August 2025. Arne Slot has overseen almost €300m of spending during this transfer window and may yet splash another £130m or so on Aleander Isak if they can persuade Newcastle to sell him.
In contrast, Crystal Palace have bought left-back Borna Sosa from Ajax for around £2m. That is the only money they have spent thus far, and yet they were deserving winners against Slot’s men in the traditional Wembley curtain raiser ahead of the new season.
New signing Huge Ekitike gave the Reds the perfect start, scoring after just four minutes with Florian Wirtz credited with an assist. Another new addition, Jeremie Frimpong, also scored, his goal coming after 20 minutes and 20 seconds. That was an incredible coincidence in Liverpool’s first “competitive” clash since the death of their number 20, Diogo Jota.
In between those goals, Jean-Philippe Mateta had equalised from the spot but despite the goals, the first half was short on real chances. The second period was more open and Palace held their own, to say the least. They got a deserved equaliser after 77 minutes through Ismaila Sarr, who provided a tidy finish after a nice pass from Adam Wharton.
Neither side could break the deadlock and so the game headed straight to penalties. Anyone who questioned the quality of the penalties taken at the women’s Euros in the summer would do well to note just how bad this shootout was. Mo Salah, of all people, missed the first spotkick, blasting well over the bar.
Mateta then gave Palace the lead before Alexis Mac Allister saw his attempt saved. Eberechi Eze then saw Alisson save his penalty to give the Reds hope before Cody Gakpo then drew his side level. Sarr scored next but a poor penalty from Harvey Elliott was again saved. Palace new-boy Sosa had caught the bug though and his effort hit the bar.
If you have kept up that left things at 2-1. Dominik Szoboszlai held his nerve to keep Liverpool – big pre-match favourites- in the game. However, youngster Justin Devenny, just 21, impressively did likewise, smashing the decisive penalty past the Reds stopper to land more silverware for his club.
Palace Make a Habit of Wembley Wins
Just a few months ago, Crystal Palace had never won anything of note. The only time they had tasted cup glory at Wembley came way back in 1991 when they beat Everton 4-1 in extra time in the defunct Full Members’ Cup. Now, all of a sudden, Wembley wins are like buses, and Palace fans will desperately hope there is a third to come along soon.
They upset the odds to beat Man City 1-0 in the final on the 17th of May and have once again shown that they are not scared of mixing it with anyone in a one-off clash. This game against Liverpool was the club’s first appearance ever in the Community Shield (including when it was known as the Charity Shield), and their fans very obviously enjoyed another trip to the national stadium.
Palace finished 12th last season, which, alongside their FA Cup triumph, was an astonishing accomplishment given how badly they started the season. They got their first win of the historic campaign at the ninth attempt, having lost five of their first eight.
They then won just one of the following six and were in 17th place after 15 games. In any normal season, or certainly what we used to call normal, they would probably have been even lower, but were saved that ignominy simply because the three newly promoted clubs were all so bad.
Given how they finished the campaign and these statement wins over Man City and Liverpool, fans will be cautiously optimistic about the season ahead. Oliver Glasner is doing an incredible job at Selhurst Park and if he can persuade all of the club’s stars to stay, and admittedly that’s a huge “if”, they could certainly hope to target a top-eight finish next term. And maybe some European success too.
Monday Brings Bad News … Or Does It?
🚨 Crystal Palace will play in the UEFA Conference League.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that UEFA’s original decision to demote them from the Europa League will stand.
🗞️ @TimesSport pic.twitter.com/dwI1WQP8zo
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) August 11, 2025
Whilst players and those involved with the Eagles were still jubilant after their Wembley win, and some fans were no doubt still hungover, the club received some ostensibly bad news. On Monday, less than 24 hours after beating Liverpool, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed that Palace had lost their appeal.
The appeal was against the club being demoted from the Europa League to the less prestigious and less lucrative Europa Conference League. The competition demotion was due to a breach of UEFA rules concerning multi-club ownership. The consensus seemed to be that Palace had breached the regulations but not in a meaningful way, given US investor John Textor, sold his stake in the club in June.
However, CAS seem to have taken the not entirely unjust view that “rules are rules”. This has meant Palace will play in the lesser UEFA competition in 2025/26, with Nottingham Forest “promoted” into the Europa League. The owners of Palace are very aggrieved by the decision but those with a “cup half full” attitude may prefer to see the positives.
In reality, whilst the competition they will now play in does deliver less financial rewards, neither is anything like the Champions League. The Europa League does offer a place in the Champions League to the winner but despite the progress they have made under Glasner, it is hard to see Palace managing to win UEFA’s secondary competition.
The Conference League, on the other hand, might just be there for the taking. Chelsea won it last term, fielding a second XI for much of the competition, whilst West Ham triumphed back in 2022/23. Could this be a third bus we see Palace fans?