Selhurst Park isn’t just a Premier League football ground, but the heart of a vibrant and diverse community, stretching back a century since Palace’s arrival in 1924. Find out more about the incredible history of Selhurst Park.

100 Years of Selhurst Park

### El hincha en la cancha

> Full-back Daniel Muñoz signed for Palace from Belgian side K.R.C. Genk having built a reputation across the continent for combining his defensive duties with an attacking prowess going forwards.

Born in Amalfi, a modest town with a population of just over 22,000 in the Antioquia Department in north-east Colombia, Daniel Muñoz’s journey to the Premier League encapsulates the versatility, commitment, and passion he has become renowned for as a player.

Growing up near to Medellín – the second-largest city in Colombia – Muñoz’s boyhood team were Atlético Nacional, his local club and the nation’s most successful side. Pictures would later emerge on social of a teenage Muñoz in the stands, shirtless and roaring his Atlético heroes.

Starting out as a player at the nearby Cosmos Soccer School as a six-year-old, Muñoz moved to Envigado at 12 years of age – the youth department which has produced the likes of James Rodriguez, Freddy Guarín and Jhon Cordoba – before moving to Arco Zaragoza Medellin, one of the most famous amateur teams in Colombia.

But despite a handful of trials elsewhere, including reports of interest abroad, Muñoz reached the age of 20 without having made his professional breakthrough, and was reputedly forced to consider retirement.

Yet Muñoz persisted briefly turned out for regional club, FC Total Soccer, where his displays alerted him to Jose Fernando Salazar – a scout from top-flight club Águilas Doradas – who would later recruit the defender in early 2017.

Muñoz rose quickly to the challenges of the professional game, quickly becoming one of Águilas Doradas’ most important players and making 37 appearances in his first season.

Catching the eye during three years in Rionegro, he played 94 times and scored three goals from full-back – and would fulfil his lifelong dream when coach Juan Carlos Osorio signed him up for Atlético Nacional in 2019.

Once more, his impact was immediate, and before Muñoz had even reached double figures for appearances for Nacional, he had been called up by Colombia coach Carlos Quieroz for friendly matches against Brazil and Venezuela in September 2019, only denied his international debut by injury.

Scoring a remarkable seven goals in 20 league games in his maiden year, Muñoz was named Nacional captain at the age of 23, just six months after joining the club.

He opted to pursue his dream of playing in Europe at four-time Belgian champions K.R.C. Genk – rebuilding after a challenging campaign – ahead of the 2020/21 season, and Muñoz was once again quick to find his feet, starting out in midfield before coming to dominate the right-back position in the team.

The defender played in every one of Genk’s Jupiler Pro League fixtures in his debut year, picking up five assists as his new club bounced back from a seventh-place finish the previous season to mount a title challenge and finish second. The following season, he would help Genk win the Belgian Cup.

After two previous call-ups, Muñoz’s Colombia debut finally arrived in June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Peru.

Muñoz remained with the squad ahead of the 2021 Copa América finals in Brazil that month, playing the full 90 minutes in five of his country’s seven games – keeping three clean sheets – as Colombia missed out on a spot in the final after losing to Lionel Messi's Argentina on penalties, but then defeated Peru to finish third.

Last season, 2022/23, was his best in front of goal, as he scored seven times and registered seven assists in just 30 games. He departed Genk having made 148 appearances in all competitions (including 18 in European competition), scoring 19 goals and 20 assists in total.

In his first half-season in red and blue, Muñoz made 14 appearances and recorded four assists. He also scored his first goal for Colombia in a friendly against Spain in March 2023.

Muñoz carried his strong form in red and blue into the 2024 Copa America, where he and fellow Palace teammate Jefferson Lerma finished as runners-up. He opened the scoring for Los Cafeteros in the tournament in a 2-1 win against Paraguay and went on to net a the equaliser in a draw against Brazil and also register an assist in the quarter-final victory over Panama.

In November 2024, Muñoz scored his first ever goal for Palace in some style. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, he headed home a cross from captain Marc Guéhi at the far post to equalise Newcastle United at Selhurst Park, prompting wild celebrations which manager Oliver Glasner also got involved in.

February 2025

Crystal Palace Player of the Month

November 2024, February 2025

Crystal Palace Goal of the Month

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All The Angles | Muñoz v Fulham

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It's set to be a thrilling end to the season as Palace Women host [West Ham](https://www.eticketing.co.uk/cpfc/EDP/Event/Index/542?position) and [Leicester](https://www.eticketing.co.uk/cpfc/EDP/Event/Index/543?position) for their final two home games.

Tickets for these final two home matches are now available, and [you can get them here!](https://www.eticketing.co.uk/cpfc/Events?preFilter=6&preFilterName=2.%20Women%27s%20Matches)

***Please note that the kick-off time and date for the Leicester game are subject to change, due to potential broadcast picks.***

Buy tickets here!

### What can I expect from matchday?

Arrive early and enjoy our **Fanzone**, **opening from 11:00 for our game against West Ham, and 12:30 for our game against Leicester (90 minutes before kick-off)** and packed with entertainment for all ages.

Situated just beyond the Collingwood Road Stand, the Fanzone is the ideal place for pre-match fun, games, entertainment and refreshments.

Planning your visit? [Find everything you need to know about a Palace Women’s matchday here.](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/information/palace-women-matchday-tickets-info/)

### Crystal Palace v West Ham: Matchday Schedule

- **11:00 BST**: Turnstiles and Fanzone Open

- **11:30**: Line-ups announced

- **12:30**: Kick-off!

### Crystal Palace v Leicester: Matchday Schedule

- **12:30 BST**: Turnstiles and Fanzone Open

- **13:00**: Line-ups announced

- **14:00**: Kick-off!

### **Crystal Palace v West Ham**

### Prices

**Seated**

- Adults: £12
- Under-16s: £5

**Standing**

- Adults: £10
- Under-16s: £5

### Match Details

**Crystal Palace v West Ham**

- Sunday, 27th April
- VBS Community Stadium
- 12:30 BST

Buy tickets for Palace v West Ham here!

### **Crystal Palace v Leicester City**

### Prices

**Seated**

- Adults: £12
- Under-16s: £5

**Standing**

- Adults: £10
- Under-16s: £5

### Match Details

**Crystal Palace v Leicester City**

- Sunday, 4th May
- VBS Community Stadium
- 14:00 BST

Buy tickets for Palace v Leicester here!

It is set to be an exciting end to the season in the Barclays Women's Super League for Crystal Palace, and tickets are now on-sale for our final two home games of the campaign.

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Crystal Palace Women v Leicester City Women (2025-05-04)

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But on occasion, it’s the journey that is the struggle. “The traffic is quite heavy!” suggests **Jefferson Lerma**, prompted for any aspects of moving to London he has not enjoyed. 

“In most cases, I prefer not to go into Central London – it’s easier not to!”

*This interview originally appeared in the Crystal Palace v Aston Villa matchday programme. [**You can shop for programmes by clicking HERE**](https://shop.cpfc.co.uk/giftssouvenirs/souvenirs/programmes/?_ga=2.224591194.1377836495.1742753238-137447861.1689949595).*

Good thing, then, that 18 months after completing his move to Crystal Palace from Bournemouth, Lerma has all the characteristics of one of South London’s own: passionate, but disciplined; diligent, but driven to succeed. 

We are being glib, of course, to begin on that footing. Lerma’s journey to the top of the game is one to admire, starting in the modest surroundings of El Cerrito, a town of 25,000 residents, from where he was scouted playing a match in his local village. 

Offered a trial at nearby Huila, with few spots available and 120 others competing for them, Lerma earned his stripes.

The challenges continued, but Lerma’s footballing quality, and determination to change his life, shone through. Those same credentials have carried him to the verge of 300 top-flight appearances across spells in Colombia, Spain and England. 

There is no better judge of such matters than the fans – and Lerma’s, wherever he has played, have appreciated him. 

“The truth is that when you do your work with passion, with love, it is very easy to connect with the fans,” the midfielder explains. 

“During this year-and-a-half I have been at Crystal Palace, the fans have respected me, they have treated me well, and they have shown me extraordinary love. 

"I believe that nothing comes for free – everything is for the performance that you show on the field – and I always have gratitude for the people here, because they are always supporting me. 

“Regardless of the position of the team here, you see the stadium full and people applauding you. Even if you have lost, they applaud you. 

"That it is impossible to find in other countries of the world – but I think that, when you give everything, those people will give you that love in return.”

Ahead of Palace’s match against Manchester City, Lerma stands on 153 Premier League appearances – 100 with Bournemouth, and 53 over his season-and-a-half in the Eagles’ red and blue. 

In that time, he has made over 1,000 recoveries in England’s top-flight; won 770 of his 1,428 duels for possession; won 306 of 542 aerial battles; and, to move his team forwards, completed some 297 long balls.

These are the numbers of a competitor. “I think that the Premier League has shown that no matter how your last game goes, before facing the next one, no matter how hard it is, you have to be ready and prepared to compete,” the 30-year-old explains. 

“It has been quite difficult with all the things we have seen during this season, but it is changing, little by little. We are working to be back in the top positions and to finish the season in the best way possible, and to be able to enjoy the beautiful moments that football has in store for us.

“Our goal is to be in the top positions of the table. This season, we have faced many setbacks, but we still believe that we have the capacity and the quality to be there. We have to spell out that this is the Premier League; things change quickly. The table is moving all the time.

It is a day-to-day struggle, every game, so we are always preparing to fight head-to-head with any team. 

“We have had many injuries, but in the last few weeks I think we have been able to find much of the team in good condition. It is a day-to-day struggle, every game, so we are always preparing to fight head-to-head with any team. 

“We are going to give it our all. I think we have the quality and character to continue to improve each game. We have to concentrate – and believe in ourselves.” 

Lerma finds it easy to draw that belief from his manager, Oliver Glasner, who recently celebrated one year since taking charge of Crystal Palace. “The manager is ambitious,” the midfielder explains. 

“We have not been able to express all that he wants due to certain circumstances this season, but it is impossible to doubt his ability. 

“I have the opportunity to enjoy his knowledge every day, and we hope that one day we can show 100 percent what his vision is. He has a strong style of play in which you always have to press, and always move forward with intensity. 

“I trust each of my teammates. It is a growing team here. The coach is always injecting us with that motivation, that intensity, and he will always go to the next step with us. We hope that God rewards us with three points – but we always have to work.”

Palace have now enjoyed four consecutive home victories in all competitions, and for Lerma, Selhurst Park remains symbolic of why he has come to love English football so much. 

“It is a beautiful environment, an incredible energy,” Lerma says of Palace’s 100-year-old ground. “I have had the opportunity to invite friends to live this experience and after living it it, they tell me how incredible it is they feel. 

“In English clubs, in the Premier League, the second division, wherever you play football, the passion, that harmony that exists in the stadium, despite the rivalries… there is always that respect.”

There could be no better advocate for Palace, then, than Lerma, when contact was first made a year ago regarding the potential signing of compatriot Daniel Muñoz – another fans’ favourite recently celebrating a year in South London, having embodied the same battling qualities as his Colombia international teammate.

“It is a great joy,” Lerma smiles. “I have been in a European football club almost 10 years, and this is just the second time I’ve had the opportunity to share the experience with a compatriot” – the midfielder previously played alongside Mauricio Cuero at Levante – “and I have enjoyed it a lot this last year in London. 

“Before he arrived, I told him what the club was like: it’s very good here, very pleasant, and everyone is always available and wanting to help. 

"At that moment we also needed a player like Dani on that side, and the club also asked me about him and how he was as a person. I already knew him through the national team, so I told both sides what each other was like. 

“Dani is a person who trains well, who works well, who always wants more. His story has been even more challenging than mine. For example, I made my professional debut at 18 – he made his at 21. 

"To see his growth is wonderful, and it is motivation for our children – and for all children who believe in footballers – that everything is about persistence, to work, to always want more.

Dani is a person who trains well, who works well, who always wants more.

“Thanks to God, we were able to complete that signing, and now that we have, we have been enjoying the experience with our families. We know what free days we have, so we plan and go out together with our families. 

“We organise meals and share great moments and holidays, and that makes settling easier.”

Muñoz, Lerma and Liverpool’s Luis Díaz came together over the winter to celebrate Christmas, with their families cooking a traditional Colombian *lechona* dish – pork stuffed with rice, peas, onions and spices – “a brilliant time with good people.” 

It is little wonder that Palace’s Colombian contingent are so close, having also been on a remarkable journey with their national team. 

Under Nestor Lorenzo, *Los Cafeteros* recorded their best-ever run of 28 games unbeaten between February 2022 and July 2024, Lerma and Muñoz capped 19 and 22 times respectively in that time.

That sequence came to an end, agonisingly, in the Copa América Final in Miami Gardens last summer, where a 1-0 extra-time defeat to Argentina denied Colombia just their second ever major trophy. 

But both Palace men made their mark en route, scoring in the opening group-stage win over Paraguay; Muñoz later netted his second of the tournament against Brazil, and Lerma did so with a semifinal winner over Uruguay. 

“There were many games where the national team rose to the challenge,” Lerma recalls fondly. 

“We are all aiming for the moon. We want glory. We want glory for us and for our country. And I think we have shown that we have the conditions to achieve that.

“We had the opportunity to play in a final, where Colombia had the ability to show its football in the Copa América. Unfortunately, the final did not go as we hoped – but these are lessons that strengthen us for the future.

“I believe in the national team. Every player who gets called up has the opportunity to be part of this process. I think that we all have the same feeling that we are going to fight, and we are going to win.

“I think that everything that has happened during all this time brings lessons. They are lessons which strengthen us, and make us work harder for what is to come.” 

Perhaps we were not being so glib, then: the struggle really is the journey, and every moment – even those spent stuck in Central London traffic – an opportunity to reflect, learn lessons, and look forward. 

Lerma himself says it best, when asked for his advice for any aspiring young footballers: “Be disciplined, be hungry for your dreams, be 100 percent committed – and do not give up. 

"Everything is possible for those who believe and keep their feet on the ground."

In an age of affirmations and adages, it’s not uncommon to come across variations on “the journey is in the struggle.”

Lerma: Conducting the midfield, Selhurst Park, Colombian dreams & London traffic

The forward continued his excellent run of a form which has already - over the last month - seen him net his first senior international goal, and both score and assist in the FA Cup quarter-final win at Fulham.

Against Brighton, Eze's intelligent pass allowed Jean-Philippe Mateta to fire the Eagles in front, before he later set up Daniel Muñoz for the second following a mazy run.

After the game the Palace No. 10 expanded on why the two click so well in attack, Mateta's goal marking the 10th time in the Premier League this season that Eze has assisted the French forward.

"JP's a big player for us," said Eze. "Both in scoring goals and affecting games, we need him to do that. I enjoy playing with him, he's a top player and a top guy.

"You know where he's going to be, you know his strength. And we've built a good relationship over a few years now, so it's good to be playing with him."

The win over Brighton made it seven games unbeaten in all competitions for the Eagles, six of those wins, with Eze playing a crucial role over that time. 

And by his own admission he is reaching the peak of his powers. 

"I'm just gaining a bit of rhythm now", he added. "Gaining some more strength game by game. It's important for me to be playing and feeling good, so I'm happy to be doing that.

"I do set set myself goals for the season, but I won't tell you guys! I'm just always trying to improve, trying to be better than I was last season.

"I wouldn't say it's the best \[football of his career\], but I'm happy to be playing well and trying. For sure, there's still more to come.

"We've still got a lot to achieve this season. We believe that we can do it and the mentality is to keep going, keep pushing and to see where we can get to."

Ebere Eze was in the thick of the action in Crystal Palace's remarkable win over Brighton on Saturday, creating both of the Eagles goals. 

Eze on link up with Mateta and how he has found rhythm 

Crystal Palace v Brighton and Hove Albion (2025-04-05)

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Lerma: Conducting the midfield, Selhurst Park, Colombian dreams & London traffic

Eze on link up with Mateta and how he has found rhythm

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Be there for Palace Women's final two home games - tickets on sale now!

Lerma: Conducting the midfield, Selhurst Park, Colombian dreams & London traffic

Eze on link up with Mateta and how he has found rhythm

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Latest Videos

CCTV | Selhurst Park Open Training Session

Access All Over | Crystal Palace 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion

Caleb Kporha Signs New Deal

Extended Highlights: Crystal Palace 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion | Palace TV+

The Full 90: Crystal Palace v Brighton & Hove Albion | Palace TV+

2 minute highlights: Crystal Palace 2-1 Brighton & Hove Albion

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