# 2012–13 Crystal Palace F.C. season

The 2012–13 season was Crystal Palace's eighth consecutive season in the Championship. That season saw Dougie Freedman take charge for a third season, before departing to manage Bolton Wanderers on 23 October. Lennie Lawrence and Curtis Fleming acted in caretaker roles, with Lawrence managing for the away games against Barnsley and Leicester City which saw Palace take four points. Although Ian Holloway was appointed manager on 3 November, Fleming took charge for that day's home win against Blackburn Rovers. Holloway's first game in charge was the 5–0 home win against Ipswich Town which saw the club climb to the top of the table.
The 2–1 away victory against Peterborough United on 10 November saw the club make its best start to a league season in 37 years. With the following home win against Derby County on 17 November, Palace extended its unbeaten run to 14 games, a run ended by the away defeat to Leeds United on 24 November. Palace managed to score in every single one of its first 18 matches of the 2012–13 Championship season, a feat unmatched in the division during the season. Despite a poor run towards the end of the season with only 1 win in their final 10 league games, Crystal Palace gained promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 8 years after beating Watford 1–0 in the 2013 Football League Championship play-off final at Wembley. The club's 2012–13 season was subject of an Amazon Prime Video five-part series, ‘When Eagles Dare’, documenting their promotion to the top flight via the Championship playoffs.
In the League Cup, Palace beat Exeter City away, coming from behind to win 2–1, before losing to Preston North End, again away from home, in the second round. The third round of the FA Cup saw Palace entertain Stoke City, with a 0–0 home draw forcing a replay, though they ended up losing that game 4–1.

## Squad statistics
### Statistics

    As of 28 May 2013.
| No. | Pos. | Name | Championship* | Championship* | Championship* | FA Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline | History | History | History |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | | | Since | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | Julián Speroni | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2004 | 309 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Joel Ward | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2012 | 31 | 0 |
| 3 | MF | David Wright | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2010 | 57 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Ashley Richards | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2013 | 11 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Jonathan Parr | 38 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2011 | 84 | 2 |
| 5 | DF | Paddy McCarthy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2008 | 147 | 6 |
| 6 | DF | Aaron Martin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2012 | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | Jacob Butterfield | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2013 | 9 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Yannick Bolasie | 45 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2012 | 48 | 3 |
| 8 | MF | Kagisho Dikgacoi | 42 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 2010 | 87 | 8 |
| 9 | FW | David Goodwillie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Kevin Phillips | 16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2013 | 16 | 7 |
| 10 | MF | Owen Garvan | 31 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2010 | 84 | 10 |
| 11 | FW | Stephen Dobbie | 15 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2013 | 15 | 3 |
| 12 | MF | Alex Marrow | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2010 | 31 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | Darcy Blake | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2012 | 11 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | Mile Jedinak | 44 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 2011 | 81 | 4 |
| 16 | MF | Wilfried Zaha | 46 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 2010 | 142 | 18 |
| 17 | FW | Glenn Murray | 43 | 30 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 31 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 2011 | 88 | 38 |
| 18 | FW | Aaron Wilbraham | 24 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2012 | 27 | 1 |
| 19 | FW | Jermaine Easter | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2011 | 61 | 10 |
| 20 | MF | Jonny Williams | 30 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2011 | 51 | 1 |
| 21 | DF | Dean Moxey | 33 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2011 | 82 | 1 |
| 22 | MF | Stuart O'Keefe | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2010 | 33 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | Alex Nimely | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2010 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | Kwesi Appiah | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | 11 | 0 |
| 25 | MF | Kyle De Silva | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | 9 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | Matthew Parsons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2010 | 10 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | Damien Delaney | 42 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 2012 | 44 | 3 |
| 28 | DF | Peter Ramage | 40 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | 66 | 4 |
| 29 | FW | Ibra Sekajja | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2011 | 3 | 1 |
| 30 | MF | André Moritz | 29 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2012 | 32 | 5 |
| 33 | DF | Danny Gabbidon | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | 15 | 0 |
| 34 | GK | Lewis Price | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2010 | 14 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | Bayan Fenwick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2011 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | DF | Alex Wynter | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2010 | 1 | 0 |
| 37 | MF | Hiram Boateng | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2012 | 1 | 0 |
| 38 | FW | Jason Banton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2012 | 1 | 0 |
| 40 | GK | Ross Fitzsimmons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2011 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | DF | Quade Taylor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2011 | 0 | 0 |
* including play-off appearances Green means the player is on loan, red means that a loan was terminated.

### Goalscorers

| Ranking | No. | Player | Championship | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | 17 | Glenn Murray | 30 | 1 | 0 | 31 |
| 2 | 16 | Wilfried Zaha | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 3 | 9 | Kevin Phillips | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | 30 | André Moritz | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | 8 | Kagisho Dikgacoi | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 6 | 10 | Owen Garvan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | 28 | Peter Ramage | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | 27 | Damien Delaney | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | 7 | Yannick Bolasie | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | 15 | Mile Jedinak | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | 11 | Stephen Dobbie | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 12 | 19 | Jermaine Easter | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 13 | 33 | Danny Gabbidon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 18 | Aaron Wilbraham | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | 76 | 1 | 3 | 80 |

## Transfers

Players transferred in :
| Date | Pos. | Age | Name | Club | Fee | Ref. |
| 28 May 2012 | DF | 22 | Joel Ward | Portsmouth | £400,000 | |
| 7 July 2012 | FW | 32 | Aaron Wilbraham | Norwich City | Free | |
| 7 August 2012 | DF | 28 | Peter Ramage | Queens Park Rangers | Free | |
| 24 August 2012 | DF | 23 | Darcy Blake | Cardiff City | Undisclosed | |
| 24 August 2012 | MF | 23 | Yannick Bolasie | Bristol City | Undisclosed | |
| 24 August 2012 | MF | 26 | André Moritz | Mersin İdmanyurdu | Free | |
| 31 August 2012 | DF | 31 | Damien Delaney | Ipswich Town | Free | |
| 18 September 2012 | DF | 33 | Danny Gabbidon | Queens Park Rangers | Free | |
| Players loaned in |||||||
| Start date | Pos. | Age | Name | Club | End date | Ref. |
| 1 July 2012 | DF | 22 | Aaron Martin | Southampton | End of season | |
| 31 August 2012 | FW | 23 | David Goodwillie | Blackburn Rovers | 1 January 2013 | |
| 10 January 2013 | FW | 21 | Alex Nimely | Manchester City | End of season | |
| 16 January 2013 | MF | 22 | Jacob Butterfield | Norwich City | 19 February 2013 | |
| 25 January 2013 | DF | 21 | Jazz Richards | Swansea City | End of season | |
| 25 January 2013 | FW | 20 | Wilfried Zaha | Manchester United | End of season | |
| 31 January 2013 | FW | 39 | Kevin Phillips | Blackpool | End of season | |
| 31 January 2013 | FW | 30 | Stephen Dobbie | Brighton & Hove Albion | End of season | |
| Players transferred out |||||||
| Date | Pos. | Age | Name | Club | Fee | Ref. |
| 22 June 2012 | FW | 21 | Sean Scannell | Huddersfield Town | Undisclosed | |
| 13 July 2012 | MF | 28 | Darren Ambrose | Birmingham City | Undisclosed | |
| 19 July 2012 | DF | 21 | Nathaniel Clyne | Southampton | Undisclosed | |
| Unknown | FW | 21 | Antonio Pedroza | Morelia | £150,000 | |
| 25 January 2013 | FW | 20 | Wilfried Zaha | Manchester United | £15,000,000 | |
| Players loaned out |||||||
| Start date | Pos. | Age | Name | Club | End date | Ref. |
| 17 August 2012 | MF | 22 | Alex Marrow | Fleetwood Town | 1 January 2013 | |
| 30 August 2012 | DF | 20 | Matthew Parsons | Wycombe Wanderers | 30 September 2012 | |
| 14 September 2012 | DF | 32 | David Wright | Gillingham | 14 October 2012 | |
| 14 September 2012 | FW | 22 | Kwesi Appiah | Aldershot Town | 14 October 2012 | |
| 7 November 2012 | FW | 20 | Ibra Sekajja | MK Dons | 1 January 2013 | |
| 11 January 2013 | FW | 20 | Ibra Sekajja | Barnet | 11 February 2013 | |
| 11 January 2013 | GK | 18 | Ross Fitzsimons | Harrow Borough | 11 February 2013 | |
| 28 January 2013 | FW | 22 | Kwesi Appiah | Yeovil Town | 2 March 2013 | |
| 31 January 2013 | FW | 20 | Jason Banton | Plymouth Argyle | 2 March 2013 | |
| Players released |||||||
| Date | Pos. | Age | Name | Subsequent club | Join date | Ref. |
| 21 May 2012 | DF | 31 | Anthony Gardner | Sheffield Wednesday | 21 June 2012 | |
| 21 May 2012 | DF | 20 | Jake Caprice | Blackpool | 9 July 2012 | |
| 21 May 2012 | DF | 22 | Lee Hills | Stevenage | 18 July 2012 | |
| 21 May 2012 | FW | 21 | Nathaniel Pinney | Croydon | Unknown | |
| 21 May 2012 | DF | 20 | Charlie Holness | Leatherhead | Unknown | |
| 10 August 2012 | MF | 22 | Kieron Cadogan | Aldershot Town | 29 September 2012 | |
| 31 August 2012 | MF | 30 | Andy Dorman | New England Revolution | 15 November 2012 | |
| 21 May 2012 | FW | 25 | Calvin Andrew | Port Vale | 26 November 2012 | |
| 25 January 2013 | DF | 32 | David Wright· | Colchester United | 25 January 2013 | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 3 | Watford | 46 | 23 | 8 | 15 | 85 | 58 | +27 | 77 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 4 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 46 | 19 | 18 | 9 | 69 | 43 | +26 | 75 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Crystal Palace (O, P) | 46 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 73 | 62 | +11 | 72 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Leicester City | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 71 | 48 | +23 | 68 | Qualification for Championship play-offs |
| 7 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 69 | 61 | +8 | 68 | |

## Matches
### Round by Round results

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | L | L | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | D | D | D | L | D | W | L | D | L | W | D | W | W | L | W | W | D | L | L | L | D | L | D | D | D | W |
| Position | 16 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |