page_title: Crystal Palace F.C.
section_title: The Exhibition Palace and original amateur club (1854–1905)
hierarchical_section_title: Crystal Palace F.C. / History / The Exhibition Palace and original amateur club (1854–1905)
caption_attribution_description: English: Panoramic shot of the Crystal Palace stadium during the 1905 FA Cup final.
context_page_description: Crystal Palace Football Club is a professional football club based in Selhurst, South London, England, who currently compete in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. Although their official founding date is 1905, the club claim to be a continuation of the original amateur Crystal Palace football club first established in 1861, after historians discovered a direct lineage through their ownership under the same Crystal Palace Company. This would make Crystal Palace the oldest professional football club in the world. The amateur and professional clubs were both founded at the Crystal Palace Exhibition building and played inside its grounds, with the professional club playing at the FA Cup Final stadium until 1915, when they were forced to leave due to the outbreak of the First World War. In 1924, they moved to their current home at Selhurst Park.
  The amateur club became one of the original founder members of the Football Association in 1863 and competed in the first ever FA Cup competition in 1871–72, reaching the semi-finals, but disappeared from historical records after the 1875–76 FA Cup.
context_section_description: In 1854, the Crystal Palace Exhibition building had been relocated from Hyde Park, London and rebuilt in an area of South London next to Sydenham Hill. This area was renamed Crystal Palace which included the Crystal Palace Park that surrounded 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.
  The amateur club became one of the original founder members of the Football Association in 1863 and competed in the first ever FA Cup competition in 1871–72, reaching the semi-finals where they lost to the Royal Engineers. They disappeared from historical records after a 0–3 defeat to Wanderers in the second round of the 1875–76 FA Cup. In 1895, the Football Association found a new permanent venue for the FA Cup Final at the sports stadium situated inside the Palace grounds. Some years later the Crystal Palace Company, who were reliant on tourist activity for their income, sought fresh attractions for the venue, and decided to form a new professional football club to play at the stadium. The owners wanted a club to play there and tap into the vast crowd potential of the area.
caption: The 1905 FA Cup Final at the Crystal Palace Stadium
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