A Premier League Decade: 2013/14

Club

19 Jun 2023

To mark Palace’s decade in the Premier League – a record for the club in the top-flight – we’re looking back on each of our campaigns in detail before the beginning of the next chapter…

The Eagles will begin the 23/24 campaign with an away match against newly-promoted Sheffield United on Saturday, 12th August, before welcoming Arsenal to Selhurst Park on Saturday, 19th August.

Ahead of domestic football’s return, let’s look back at some of Palace’s finest hours – beginning with our first season back in the top-flight a decade ago…

Wembley heroes

Palace came into the league season still on a Wembley high from the previous May, as the unlikely heroes of the Play-Off winning side embarked on what, for many, was a first campaign in the top-flight.

Dwight Gayle and Marouane Chamakh were the most high profile signings of the summer, while Algerian Africa Cup of Nations hero Adlene Guedioura signed on transfer deadline day as the Eagles looked to fill the void left by Manchester United-bound Wilfried Zaha.

After taking on Italian giants Lazio in pre-season, the Eagles kicked-off the new campaign by welcoming Tottenham Hotspur south of the river, where Roberto Soldado’s second-half penalty condemned Ian Holloway’s side to an opening day defeat.

Early struggles

Adapting to life in the top-flight is never easy, and Palace won just one of their first 10 games: a 3-1 victory over Sunderland at Selhurst Park.

In November, however, form improved. A goalless draw against high-flying Everton felt like baby steps, and a dramatic victory away at Hull lifted Palace off the bottom of the table – despite being down to 10 men after Yannick Bolasie’s red card.

Then, as they do so often, the Selhurst Park atmosphere came to Palace’s aid. Back-to-back victories against West Ham United and Cardiff City – without conceding a goal – were crucial, but the Eagles remained in the danger zone.

Then, a Christmas miracle. On Boxing Day, with Palace having survived an Aston Villa barrage in the Midlands, Dwight Gayle stepped up in stoppage time to curl home a wonderful winner and lift Palace out of the bottom three for the first time since August.

New Year’s momentum

Buoyed by the possibility of survival, Palace did what Palace do best: the dug in and believed in their ability to get results. January saw two one-goal wins ground out at Selhurst Park, while West Bromwich Albion were put to the sword three weeks later – the Eagles would not fall back into the relegation zone for the remainder of the campaign.

A busy January transfer window saw the additions of four players who would go on to make telling contributions at the club: Scott Dann from Blackburn Rovers, Wayne Hennessey from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Joe Ledley from Celtic and Jason Puncheon from Southampton – the latter making his loan move permanent.

Masters of the run-in

Just as the relegation battle began to heat up, Palace made it clear they were determined to be spectators rather than participants.

A 1-0 win against Chelsea at Selhurst Park sparked a remarkable run of five straight wins, the most dramatic a 3-2 victory at Goodison Park to damage Everton’s hopes of a Champions League finish.

With safety all-but secured, one might assume that Palace’s levels dropped. Not a bit of it.

On 5th May, Selhurst Park paid witness to one of the Premier League’s greatest games of all-time when the Eagles hosted a title-chasing Liverpool.

The south Londoners were 3-0 down inside 55 minutes and the crowd consigned itself to defeat as the Reds closed-in on a return to victorious ways after a rampant winning run of 11 ended the game before against Chelsea.

Victory was crucial for Brendan Rodgers' men, and their three-goal advantage kept them in the race for their first league title since 1990.

Palace fought-back from near-certain defeat after a deflected long-range effort from Damien Delaney and a Dwight Gayle brace sent Selhurst into raptures, bringing their final home game of their Premier League return to a close.

It was a fitting end to a season that saw Palace consolidate their Premier League status for the first time with an 11th-place finish, defying the odds as relegation favourites after nine losses from their opening 10.

The stats

Position: 11th
Top scorer: Jason Puncheon / Dwight Gayle (7)
Most appearances: Mile Jedinak (38)
Clean sheets: Julian Speroni (12)

Club
First-team

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