Crystal Palace's 600: our landmark Premier League goals

Club

27 Nov 2023

Although the result did not go our way, Crystal Palace’s 600th Premier League goal was a special one.

Michael Olise’s outstanding solo effort against Luton Town – skilful, imaginative and superbly executed – was a landmark one for the Eagles in the modern top-flight.

And while the game will be buried in many memories, the goal certainly will not – a true Premier League Goal of the Season contender, worthy of the status of our 600th Premier League strike.

To celebrate the milestone moment, let’s recap Palace’s other Premier League landmark goals…

Goal #1: Mark Bright v Blackburn

15th August 1992 (home)

Opening the Eagles’ Premier League account on the first day of its inaugural season – 1992/93 – Bright takes the distinction of scoring Crystal Palace’s first-ever Premier League goal.

But not only did the goal mark the shifting of English football’s landscape, it also marked the end of an era for Bright: his 113th and final goal for the club.

After a cagey start to the game from both sides, Bright struck after 37 minutes – Palace's first-ever Premier League goal. “It was a header at the far post,” he would later recall. “I think [Richard] Shaw came inside and crossed, and I just headed it down. Hand in the air, back to the halfway line and start again.”

The match ended in a 3-3 thriller as a young Alan Shearer struck a brace for the visitors, Simon Osborn answering for Palace at Selhurst in injury-time: a sign of the top-flight rollercoaster to come in SE25.

Goal #50: Gareth Southgate v Aston Villa

27th August 1994 (away)

Now revered across the country, Southgate started out as one of south London’s own; growing up in Crawley, he joined Palace’s youth setup after being released by Southampton as a schoolboy, and made his first-team breakthrough in the early 1990s under Steve Coppell.

Handed the captaincy in 1993/94 as Palace won promotion back to the Premier League, it is fitting, therefore, that Southgate struck the Eagles’ landmark 50th Premier League goal.

Playing every minute of the Eagles’ 57 games in all competitions that season – 42 Premier League games, and runs to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and League Cup – the strike arrived against his future club Aston Villa, no less.

It was a typically important goal as well, if not a classic, as Southgate squeezed in a half-volley from an 86th-minute flick-on, snatching Palace’s second point of the season in their opening three games.

Goal #100: Neil Shipperley v Southampton

26th December 1997 (home)

Unfortunately, Palace’s landmark centenary in the Premier League arrived under disappointing circumstances as the Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Southampton.

Despite boasting one of the better away records in the league that season – wins at Everton, Leeds, Wimbledon, Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham already in the bank – Palace had yet to win at home when relegation-threatened Southampton arrived in SE25 on Boxing Day.

A stunning volley from Matt Oakley had given the Saints the lead, but Palace drew level after 61 minutes when Shipperley stole in at the back post to poke home from a corner.

Steve Coppell’s side pressed heavly for a winner and almost found it late on, only for Itzik Zohar to see his penalty kick saved by Southampton ‘keeper Paul Jones as the two sides settled for a 1-1 draw.

Goal #200: Frazier Campbell v Everton

21st September 2014 (away)

Just short of 17 years later – via the culmination of a number of promotion pushes, testing times and dramatic moments in the club’s history – Palace hit their next landmark goal in the end-to-end 3-2 win over Everton at Goodison Park.

The Eagles and Toffees traded first-half goals before Campbell’s header – following a mistake by Tim Howard – put Palace in front for the first time, added to by Yannick Bolasie’s low shoot not long after.

Despite Leighton Baines dispatching a penalty in the closing minutes, Palace held on for their first win of the 2014/15 season – a campaign in which we beat the likes of Liverpool (twice) and Manchester City on the way to finishing 10th, our highest Premier League finish to date.

Goal #250: Yannick Bolasie v West Brom

3rd October 2015 (home)

Seeking to build on that achievement, Palace had began the 2015/16 season under Alan Pardew in somewhat unpredictable form, with wins away at Norwich and Chelsea countered by losses to Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham.

But they were set on their way to a fifth win in the opening eight games by Yannick Bolasie midway through the second-half against West Bromwich Albion, an excellent header from a cross from Yohan Cabaye – who later added further gloss from the spot in a 2-0 victory.

The result took Palace third at the time, just a point behind then-leaders Manchester United.

Goal #300: Christian Benteke v Swansea

26th November 2016 (away)

Perhaps a game best left spoken little about, but putting emotion aside, an extraordinary one, as the Liberty Stadium witnessed an astonishing seven goals scored after the break between Swansea City and Crystal Palace – and four in 11 second-half minutes.

Benteke’s strike, which put Palace ahead on 84 minutes after the Eagles had battled back from 3-1 down as late as 10 minutes beforehand, was his team’s 300th in the Premier League: an instinctive snapshot which hit the post on its way in.

Then, in injury time, Fernando Llorente intervened for Swansea.

Thankfully, Palace hit back to beat Southampton 3-0 the following week – but nevertheless, we move swiftly onwards…

Goal #400: Jeffrey Schlupp v Fulham

2nd February 2019 (home)

The first of these landmarks under current Palace boss Roy Hodgson, Schlupp’s late strike sealed the Eagles’ first win in four games, pushing his side up to 14th in the table and sparking an impressive late-season run of form.

The game had been a nervy one at Selhurst Park between two relegation-threatened sides, with a Luka Milivojevic penalty the difference entering the closing stages.

But on 87 minutes, in stole Schlupp to convert after debutant Michy Batshuayi had been denied by goalkeeper Sergio Rico.

Palace would go on to win eight – and draw two – of their last 14 matches of the season, with victories away at Newcastle and Arsenal catching the eye, and finished 12th in the table.

Goal #500: Wilfried Zaha v Tottenham

11th September 2021 (home)

No Palace Premier League list would be complete without an entry for Wilfried Zaha, and this one sparked one of the most enjoyable days in Palace’s top-flight history: a resounding 3-0 victory over their north London rivals at a Selhurst Park full of fervour.

When Ben Davies blocked Conor Gallagher’s cross with an outstretched arm, up stepped Palace’s talisman to convert coolly, driving home to Hugo Lloris’ left, before wheeling off to celebrate in front of the Holmesdale.

Odsonne Edouard then announced his arrival to the Holmesdale, scoring within 28 seconds of coming off the bench for his debut – the fastest debutant substitute goal in the competition’s history – and adding a second shortly after.

Pandemonium in SE25.

Goal #600: Michael Olise v Luton

25th November 2023 (away)

Michael Olise: this is some strike.

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