There are few games more nerve-wracking; few victories sweeter tasting. A play-off final for a place in the Premier League: not just the whole season on the line, but the season after too – and many more to come.
That was the scenario on this day (29th May) 20 years ago in 2004, when Palace lined up against West Ham United for a place back in the top-flight.
In a similar vein to the later success in 2013, the Eagles weren’t expected to make the play-offs, let alone the final. Then they appointed former player Iain Dowie as manager.
Palace ironically secured their play-off place thanks to West Ham, as the east Londoners earned a draw against Wigan Athletic on the final day of the season.
The Eagles faced Sunderland in the play-off semi-finals, and won the first-leg 3-2 at Selhurst Park. The second-leg came three days later at the Stadium of Light and the Black Cats levelled the scores on aggregate.
The game went to penalties and Palace skipper Michael Hughes scored the decisive winning effort to send the Eagles to the Millennium stadium.
The final was a cagey affair, though Neil Shipperley found the breakthrough just after the hour-mark after pouncing on an Andrew Johnson shot that was spilled by Stephen Bywater in the West Ham goal.
In typical Palace fashion, the team didn’t make it easy for themselves and West Ham pushed on to see goals from Bobby Zamora and David Connolly disallowed for offside.
Palace held on to secure an unlikely promotion, however, and return to the Premier League to resume their role as underdogs once more.
Rewatch the highlights from Cardiff in the video player above, or the full 90 memorable minutes below!
