The Crystal Palace
Between 1852 and 1854, the glass exhibition building known as The Crystal Palace was relocated from Hyde Park and rebuilt in an area of South London next to Sydenham Hill. This area was renamed Crystal Palace – including the Crystal Palace Park surrounding the site where various sports facilities were built. The Crystal Palace Company who owned the exhibition building founded the Crystal Palace Club in 1857 to play cricket before turning their attention to football. It had been lobbied by existing members of the cricket club to provide a continuation of sporting activities during the winter months. The company formed an amateur Crystal Palace football club in 1861. All of the football club’s management-committee and most of its original players were previously members of the cricket club, and they shared the same pitch within the Crystal Palace Park.