Crystal Palace is a football club whose home ground is in Selhurst, South London. It plays in the English Premier League (EPL) with other top clubs such as Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City. Many punters who wager at Betway call Crystal Palace the “Eagles.” The club has had tens of managers since it was founded in 1905. In this article, we discuss five Crystal Palace all-time top managers.
-
Dick Graham (1963-1966)
Graham started managing football clubs in the early 1960s after retiring from professional football. Crystal Palace hired him as an assistant manager in 1962. The club later named him as the permanent manager in November after Arthur Rowe left. Dick took Crystal Palace to the Second Division in his second season as the manager and left in January 1966.
-
Roy Hodgson (2017-2020)
Roy joined Palace in 2017 after it had conceded four consecutive defeats. The club was facing relegation at that time. Things didn’t improve immediately after Roy succeeded Frank De Boer. Crystal Palace had three more goalless defeats. But, Steven Reid and Ray Lewington helped Roy to organize the team and improve its defense. Crystal Palace started winning games and finished eleventh that season.
Yohan Cabaye, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Wilfried Zaha were part of the team Roy managed in his first season. The manager guided Crystal Palace to the twelfth position the next season, with 49 points. Croydon Council awarded Roy the Freedom of the Borough of Croydon this year and Palace gave him a new contract.
-
Steve Coppell (1984-1993)
Steve is among the longest-serving EPL managers in the history of Crystal Palace. The club appointed Steve in June 1984 as its manager, at the age of 28 years. He was amongst the youngest club managers in the Football League.
Steve signed Ian Wright from non-league football and other footballers from First Division. He greatly improved the club’s performance and helped it get promoted to the top flight in 1989 play-offs. The manager took Palace to the 1990 FA Cup final. Unfortunately, it lost to Manchester United.
-
Alan Pardew (2015-2016)
Alan left Newcastle and succeeded Neil Warnock at Crystal Palace in 2015. He was part of the Eagles’ squad that reached the 1990 FA Cup final under the leadership of Steve Coppell. Alan guided Crystal Palace to winning ten of its 18 EPL games and finished tenth in his first season. The manager signed Connor Wickham, Bakary Sako, and Yohan Cabaye in the summer break and guided the club to five wins at the beginning of the next season.
-
Tony Pulis (2013-2014)
Crystal Palace appointed Tony in November 2013 while it was among the last teams in the league table. The manager saved the club from relegation that season. He made five signings in January 2014 including Tom Ince, Jason Puncheon, Joe Ledley, Scott Dann, and Wayne Hennessey. Crystal Palace shocked its supporters when it won five consecutive matches in the second half of the season. It defeated Aston Villa, Cardiff City, Chelsea, West Ham, and Everton.
The 2019/2020 Premier League season was the longest campaign for Crystal Palace to compete in the top football division in England. When the league started, Betway gave Crystal Palace high odds of being among the top four clubs at the end of the campaign. Dick Graham, Roy Hodgson, Steve Coppell, Alan Pardew, and Tony Pulis are the best managers the club has ever had.
