The 2025–26 season was the 120th season in the history of Crystal Palace Football Club, and their thirteenth consecutive season in the Premier League. In addition to the domestic league, the club also participated in the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, the FA Community Shield, and the UEFA Conference League, with the latter two being the club's debut appearance in the respective tournaments. They won both the FA Community Shield and the UEFA Conference League and finished 15th in the Premier League. Manager Oliver Glasner left the club at the end of the season.
This was the first season since 2011–12 not to feature former club captain Joel Ward, who departed Palace after thirteen years following the expiration of his contract. He was the last remaining player from the side of 2012–13 that achieved promotion to the Premier League from the EFL Championship, and left Nathaniel Clyne as the last remaining player to have represented the club in the second division.
Season summary Palace began their season on 10 August 2025 against Liverpool at Wembley in the FA Community Shield. After a 2–2 draw, Palace won in a penalty shoot-out with goalkeeper Dean Henderson making two saves. Palace would beat Liverpool again the following month, with a 2–1 win in the league.
On 21 August, Jean-Philippe Mateta netted Palace's first goal in European competitions, securing a 1–0 win over Fredrikstad in the UEFA Conference League play-off round. Summer trading in the transfer market saw England international Eberechi Eze leave for Arsenal for a fee of £60 million (possibly rising to £67 million), a record amount received by Crystal Palace. Incomings included Spanish international Yéremy Pino and French under-21 defender Jaydee Canvot. A late transfer move by Liverpool F.C. for club captain Marc Guéhi was cancelled after a deal had been agreed.
The team made a good start to the Premier League, sitting in 4th place in the table after 15 games of the season in early December. They then embarked on a winless run of 9 games, slipping to 15th place at the end of January 2026. The poor form extended to the cup competitions, with the club losing an EFL Cup quarter-final to Arsenal in December, and a shock defeat to non-league Macclesfield in the FA Cup.
The January transfer window saw Guéhi leave for Manchester City and forwards Brennan Johnson, Jørgen Strand Larsen (for a club record fee of £43 million) and Evann Guessand (on loan) arrive.
Palace finished 15th at the end of the Premier League season, earning a spot in the competition for the 14th consecutive season. Following a defeat to Arsenal on the final matchday, Palace played in the final of the UEFA Conference League. After winning 1–0 against Rayo Vallecano thanks to a Jean-Philippe Mateta goal, Palace secured qualification to the UEFA Europa League league phase. They also secured their first ever trophy double in club history.
Squad
Transfers In Date Pos. Player From Fee Ref. 1 July 2025 GK Walter Benítez PSV Eindhoven Free transfer 11 July 2025 LB Borna Sosa Ajax £3,000,000 23 July 2025 LB Khyan Frazer-Williams AFC Dunstable Free transfer 15 August 2025 GK Harry Lee Exeter City Free transfer 29 August 2025 RW Yéremy Pino Villarreal £26,000,000 1 September 2025 CB Jaydee Canvot Toulouse £17,500,000 2 January 2026 RW Brennan Johnson Tottenham Hotspur £35,000,000 1 February 2026 FW Jørgen Strand Larsen Wolverhampton Wanderers £43,000,000 Expenditure: ~ £124,500,000
Out Date Pos. Player To Fee Ref. 24 June 2025 CB Seán Grehan Doncaster Rovers £150,000 23 July 2025 CF Ademola Ola-Adebomi WSG Tirol Free transfer 5 August 2025 RW Malcolm Ebiowei Blackpool £1,000,000 23 August 2025 LW Eberechi Eze Arsenal £60,000,000 1 September 2025 CF Odsonne Édouard Lens £4,000,000 7 January 2026 CM Naouirou Ahamada Auxerre Free transfer 19 January 2026 CB Marc Guéhi Manchester City £20,000,000
Income: ~ £85,150,000
Loans in Date Pos. Player From Date until Ref. 1 September 2025 CF Christantus Uche Getafe 31 May 2026 30 January 2026 RW Evann Guessand Aston Villa 31 May 2026
Loans out Date Pos. Player To Date until Ref. 2 July 2025 GK Owen Goodman Huddersfield Town 15 January 2026 10 July 2025 GK Joe Whitworth Exeter City 31 May 2026 15 July 2025 RB Danny Imray Blackpool 16 January 2026 26 July 2025 LB Tayo Adaramola Leyton Orient 1 February 2026 22 August 2025 CF Jemiah Umolu Bromley 31 May 2026 26 August 2025 CAM Matheus França Vasco da Gama 30 June 2026 CAM Hindolo Mustapha 1. FC Nürnberg 1 January 2026 12 September 2025 RW Jesurun Rak-Sakyi Çaykur Rizespor 2 February 2026 7 January 2026 RW Romain Esse Coventry City 31 May 2026 15 January 2026 GK Owen Goodman Barnsley 30 January 2026 RB Danny Imray West Bromwich Albion 1 February 2026 LB Tayo Adaramola Sheffield Wednesday 2 February 2026 RW Jesurun Rak-Sakyi Stoke City
Released / out of contract Date Pos. Player Subsequent club Ref.30 June 2025 GK Louie Moulden Norwich City CM Killian Phillips St Mirren RB Joel Ward Swansea City LM Jeffrey Schlupp Norwich City CF Luke Plange Grasshopper CM Jack Wells-Morrison Ross County CB Joe Sheridan RW Roshaun Mathurin DM Cormac Austin RB Finley Marjoram LB Freddie Cowin CF Chimaechi Eze CB Chris Francis GK Joseph Khoshaba RW Enrique Lameiras LB Kurai Musanhi Colchester United AM Jadan Raymond Dulwich Hamlet CF Caleb Redhead Millwall 31 July 2025 CB Rob Holding Colorado Rapids
Pre-season and friendlies On 4 July, a behind closed doors match against Millwall was confirmed, followed by a trip to face Crawley Town was confirmed. A training camp in Austria was added with friendlies against Mainz 05 and FC Augsburg.
Competitions Overall record
Premier League
League table
Results summary
Results by round
1 Matchday 31 (vs Manchester City) was postponed due to Manchester City's participation in the EFL Cup final.
Matches The league fixtures were released on 18 June 2025.
FA Cup
As a Premier League side, Palace entered the FA Cup in the third round, and were drawn away to Macclesfield. The team lost 2–1, in an upset considered the biggest in FA Cup history.
EFL Cup
As one of the Premier League clubs participating in European competitions, Palace entered the EFL Cup in the third round, and were drawn at home to Millwall. They were then drawn away to Liverpool in the fourth round, and away to Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
FA Community Shield
As the defending FA Cup champions, Palace faced the reigning Premier League winners Liverpool in the FA Community Shield.
Crystal Palace won 3–2 on penalties after the match finished 2–2, thus winning their first FA Community Shield title in their debut appearance.
UEFA Conference League
Crystal Palace, as winners of the 2024–25 FA Cup, were initially meant to qualify for the league phase of the 2025–26 UEFA Europa League, however they were rejected the right to play in the competition due to multi-club ownership with fellow league phase qualifiers Lyon. Lyon's status in the competition was maintained due to having a higher league position than Palace at the end of the season. Despite an unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Palace were ultimately demoted to play in the play-off round of the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League instead.
Play-off round
Palace were drawn against the loser of the Europa League third qualifying round tie between Fredrikstad and Midtjylland, which was won by Midtjylland.
League phase
In the league phase, Palace were drawn against AEK Larnaca, AZ and KuPS at home, and Dynamo Kyiv, Strasbourg and Shelbourne away.
Knockout phase
Knockout phase play-offs Crystal Palace were drawn against Zrinjski Mostar in the knockout phase play-offs, with the second leg at home.
Round of 16 Crystal Palace were drawn against AEK Larnaca in the round of 16, with the first leg at home.
Quarter-finals Crystal Palace faced Fiorentina in the quarter-finals, with the first leg at home.
Semi-finals Crystal Palace faced Shakhtar Donetsk in the semi-finals, with the second leg at home.
Final Crystal Palace faced Spanish team Rayo Vallecano in the final at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany.
Statistics Appearances Players with no appearances are not included on the list.
|colspan="16"|Player who featured but departed the club on loan during the season:
|colspan="16"|Player(s) who featured but departed the club permanently during the season:
Goals
Rank Pos. No. Player Premier League FA Cup EFL Cup Community Shield Conference League Total 1 FW 7 Ismaïla Sarr 9 0 2 1 9 21 2 FW 14 Jean-Philippe Mateta 12 0 0 1 3 16 3 DF 2 Daniel Muñoz 4 0 0 0 1 5 MF 10 Yéremy Pino 2 1 1 0 1 5 5 FW 9 Eddie Nketiah 2 0 0 0 2 4 FW 22 Jørgen Strand Larsen 3 0 0 0 1 4 7 DF 3 Tyrick Mitchell 1 0 0 0 2 3 DF 5 Maxence Lacroix 1 0 0 0 2 3 DF 6 Marc Guéhi 2 0 1 0 0 3 10 FW 12 Christantus Uche 0 0 0 0 2 2 DF 26 Chris Richards 1 0 1 0 0 2 FW 29 Evann Guessand 1 0 0 0 1 2 MF 55 Justin Devenny 1 0 0 0 1 2 14 MF 18 Daichi Kamada 0 0 0 0 1 1 MF 20 Adam Wharton 1 0 0 0 0 1 Own goals 1 0 0 0 1 2 Total 41 1 5 2 27 76
Clean sheets Rank No. Player Premier League FA Cup EFL Cup Community Shield Conference League Total 1 1 Dean Henderson 11 0 0 0 7 182 44 Walter Benítez 1 0 1 0 1 3 Total 12 0 1 0 8 21
Disciplinary record Rank No. Pos. Player Premier League FA Cup EFL Cup Community Shield Conference League Total 1 5 DF Maxence Lacroix 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6 0 1 2 20 MF Adam Wharton 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 7 1 0 3 10 MF Yéremy Pino 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 8 0 0 19 MF Will Hughes 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0 5 2 DF Daniel Muñoz 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 6 DF Marc Guéhi 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 7 0 0 8 MF Jefferson Lerma 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 08 24 DF Borna Sosa 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 5 1 0 9 3 DF Tyrick Mitchell 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 23 DF Jaydee Canvot 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 6 0 0 11 26 DF Chris Richards 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 6 0 0 13 1 GK Dean Henderson 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 22 FW Jørgen Strand Larsen 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 5 0 0 15 7 FW Ismaïla Sarr 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 11 FW Brennan Johnson 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 14 FW Jean-Philippe Mateta 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 18 FW Daichi Kamada 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 34 DF Chadi Riad 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 20 9 FW Eddie Nketiah 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 21 17 DF Nathaniel Clyne 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 21 FW Romain Esse 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Total 74 1 1 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 32 1 0 112 2 1
Notes
References