One of Palace’s biggest victories, it came in the League Cup, too. Southend United were the unfortunate victims, as the Eagles looked to kick-start their road to Wembley after reaching the FA Cup final just months earlier.
Palace lined up in familiar fashion, with Nigel Martyn having one of his easier nights in goal – the back-four of John Humphrey, Eric Young, Andy Thorn and Richard Shaw were hardly troubled.
In midfield, Alan Pardew, Geoff Thomas, Phil Barber and Eddie McGoldrick took charge, but the real action came in attack.
Ian Wright and Mark Bright were a handful for defences at the best of times, but on this particular evening they were both unplayable.
Bright opened the scoring after just two minutes, before Wright added a second to double the advantage before half-time. After substitute Glyn Hodges made it three shortly after the restart, the floodgates opened.
Palace scored four times in 11 minutes as Southend tired, adding an eighth in the final moments – with both Wright and Bright completing magnificent hat-tricks. The Eagles cruised into the third round.
Only the 9-0 victory over Barrow in 1959 can eclipse the margin of victory achieved that evening.
Last night's fourth-round draw paired Palace with stiffer opposition in Liverpool – with a hat-trick apiece for Ismaïla Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta probably asking for too much... but we shall see!