A Premier League decade: 2017/18

Club

26 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 – another rollercoaster awaits…

Part One: 2013/14
Part Two: 2014/15
Part Three: 2015/16
Part Four: 2016/17

Summer sun

A historic trip to Hong Kong saw Palace face Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion in front of tens of thousands of fans, with a final Selhurst Park friendly against German giants Schalke capping off pre-season preparations.

It was a time for new faces, with Jairo Riedewald joining from Ajax and Mamadou Sakho following from Liverpool; Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Timothy Fosu-Mensah arrived on loan from Chelsea and Manchester United respectively.

A difficult start to the season proved dangerous for Palace, with seven defeats on the spin heralding the arrival of Roy Hodgson to return to his boyhood club as manager for the very first time.

With Chelsea arriving at Selhurst Park – on the back of chastening losses to Manchester United and Manchester City – the Eagles were given very little hope, but Wilfried Zaha netted a memorable winner to spark wild celebrations in south London and kick-start a revival.

Christmas joy

From mid-November to mid-January, Palace embarked a remarkable run of form, losing just once in 12 matches and moving out of the relegation zone for the first time all season.

A habit of late winners began to develop, with Bakary Sako and James McArthur striking twice in as many stoppage-time minutes to beat Watford at Selhurst Park.

Despite missing a late penalty against Manchester City, the Eagles held on for a point and ended the future champions 18-game winning run.

Added drama

Of course, Palace never do it the easy way.

A run of five defeats in six in March saw the Eagles drop perilously close to the relegation zone, with late defeats to Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United – who came back from two goals down – proving damaging.

A crucial away win at Huddersfield moved Palace closer to safety, and from there they never looked back.

Four wins in the final five games brought Palace up to 11th – a remarkable finish given their early struggles.

The victories themselves were memorable too: a 3-2 win against Brighton & Hove Albion and a Premier League record five-goal thrashing of Leicester City capping the season off in style.

The stats

Position: 11th
Top scorer: Luka Milivojevic (10)
Most appearances: Luka Milivojevic / Andros Townsend (36)
Clean sheets: Wayne Hennessey (7)

Club
First-team

Related News

More News