From Palace players past and tantalising titbits from eras gone by, to memorable meetings, tense transfers and shared stories: club historian Ian King takes a look at our wacky, weird and wonderful history with other clubs, one new tale at a time.
You can catch up on our crossover with Arsenal here.
Next up: it's Aston Villa, against whom six goals were shared to kick-start Palace's journey to the very top...
A Thriller with the Villa
There could not have been a starker difference between the fortunes of Crystal Palace and Aston Villa when the latter arrived at Selhurst Park on 14th December 1968, for just their second visit to SE25.
The Glaziers were riding high in Division Two, while the visitors – having only just been relegated from the First Division in 1967 – were languishing at the bottom of the table, with their manager having recently resigned.
Mark Lazarus was missing from the Palace line-up, allowing Colin Taylor, the man with the cannonball shot, to return on the left. Having lost the previous home game to would-be champions Derby County, the home fans were hoping for a return to winning ways, but there was disappointment with the turnout of just 11,071 inside the ground.
At half-time, the game was goalless despite John Dunn in the Villa goal and the woodwork being denying Steve Kember, Cliff Jackson and Bobby Woodruff as Palace pushed forwards.
Just three minutes after the break, Woodruff was at the centre of the action again, as one of his famous long throws found Colin Taylor, who blazed the ball home for the opener.
Soon after, Palace were two goals up as Tony Taylor netted his first ever goal for the club, converting a tap-in after Dunn had beaten away a Jackson effort.
Aston Villa reduced the arrears, only for the Glaziers to restore the two-goal advantage via Roger Hoy – also his first for the club.
With three minutes remaining, Colin Taylor smashed home his second and Palace’s fourth, before a rocket from the edge of the penalty area made the score 4-2.
The result allowed Palace to leapfrog Millwall into third place in the table. Villa’s season would improve as they finished in mid-table, but Palace, following fixture disruption during a harsh spell of wintry weather, went on a 16 match unbeaten run leading to unforgettable scenes at home to Fulham as they gained promotion to the First Division for the first time.
Palace: J. Jackson, Sewell, Loughlan, Hoy, McCormick, Blyth, A. Taylor, Kember, C. Jackson, Woodruff, C. Taylor.
Villa: Dunn, Wright, Aitken, Edwards, Turnbull, Chambers, Ferguson, Broadbent, Godfrey, Martin, Anderson.
