Where it all began: Darren Ambrose on Palace's quest for European glory

With just one strike of a ball, he wrote himself into the Eagles’ history. In a few months’ time it will be 16 years since Survival Sunday. The story of that day, of course, is well told.

For Ambrose it was a defining moment, not just in his career, but Palace history. That day, the survival of the club was at stake.

Then fast forward to this month, where the Eagles can make history – in facing off against Cypriot Cup holders AEK Larnaca – by reaching the last eight of a European competition.

The first leg is set to take place at Selhurst Park this Thursday, 12th March (20:00 GMT) – with tickets available here, and Ambrose set to chat with guests in our newly-refurbish Legends Restaurant ahead of kick-off (Packages start at £234pp including VAT).

“It gives me incredible pride, seeing where the team is now," Ambrose recently told the Palace matchday programme. “I think that’s why it now feels a long time ago.

“If you’d have said to me after that day at Hillsborough that in 2026 Palace would be going abroad and trying to get into the latter stages of a European tournament – I’d have laughed at you!

"Because back then, although it was always a fantastic football club, winning trophies and playing in Europe… even playing in the Premier League seemed miles away. If you’re a young fan now, a whole generation might grow up with Palace only as a Premier League club, which is crazy.

“I’ve done the majority of European games [at Selhurst Park] this season and the atmosphere is always tremendous for these nights.

“I think they’ve still got a fantastic opportunity to win another trophy this season.”

Ambrose will later in the evening be attending to punditry duties, and speaking to him, you can hear his raw enthusiasm for the game hasn’t wavered.

Part of him would love to be out there against AEK, covering every blade of grass and trying to score the goal that takes the Eagles into the next round.

Ambrose did have an early taste of European football in his career both with Ipswich Town – his boyhood club – and then at Newcastle United. At just 19-years-old he scored his first goal for the latter in the UEFA Cup, a flying header against Dutch side NAC Breda in the First Round.

It was the first step of a run to the semi-finals that season, meaning Ambrose knows all about the trials and tribulations of a European campaign.

"Sadly, I didn’t get to show the best of me at Newcastle,” Ambrose said. “It was probably a year too soon for me to go to a club like that. But to go on a European tour and play in every round was an incredible experience.

"We went to Marseille in the semi-finals, and it was 0-0 after the first leg. I remember we did the line-up for penalties and I was going to take the third kick. In the end we lost 2-0 and it never came to it.

“It was a big regret for that team, but our season was all on Europe. It’s never easy knowing you’ve got to go again in the league a few days later, I’m sure the Palace players are feeling that this season.”

From Newcastle, Ambrose’s next stop was across South London at Charlton, after falling out of favour under Manager Graeme Souness.

“James Milner and I were both struggling. But he stuck it out that year, and now look at us today, I’m on talkSPORT and he’s still playing in the Premier League,” laughs Ambrose. “But at Charlton I was top scorer for a while and doing well. Then the last year was really difficult.

“At that point I needed someone to reignite my career.”

Enter Palace. Ambrose headed to Selhurst Park in July 2009, and despite a challenging first season, it became the best move of his career.

“I was confident in my own ability,” he reflects. “I knew obviously coming from Charlton I wouldn’t be the most favoured signing.

"But I had the perfect gaffer for me at that time in Neil Warnock. I remember on the day I decided to sign, he had said ‘look, if you come to this football club, you’re playing every game. If you play poorly one game, you’ll still play the next game – you’re taking everything for me, every set-play.’

“It’s what I needed to hear. We did well that season, and obviously as the famous story goes, we took off for the Newcastle game thinking if we won, we would have a real chance of a play-off push.

“Our flight landed and we were in administration. It became about survival.”

Yet that perilous situation brought the best out of Ambrose. He ended up, not only with that precious strike on Survival Sunday against Sheffield Wednesday, but with 20 goals in total over an extraordinary season.

He continued to excel over the next few seasons – a certain Old Trafford thunderbolt was perhaps the highlight. But in 2012, with a year to go on his contract in South London, Palace reluctantly accepted a bid from Birmingham City for his services.

It was a move that wouldn’t work out as first hoped for Ambrose. Transfers are always potential gambles and as the man himself is first to point out, hindsight is a wonderful thing.

“In the end Palace got promoted that season and I was watching on. Obviously Kevin Phillips scored the famous penalty at Wembley and I was thinking that could have been me – I was the penalty taker when I was there!

“It’s the one regret in my career, that I never got to play in the Premier League with Crystal Palace.

“That side of it is frustrating, but also I’m proud of what we were as a team back then. We were a team full of warriors.

“It was a group of real leaders who stood up and were counted during a difficult period in the club’s history.”

Not only a great scorer of goals, Ambrose was also a scorer of great goals as that magical strike against Manchester United is testament to.

In the current of era of football it’s often suggested that wingers and deeper midfielders are fearful of shooting from distance. It’s not always the smart decision if you want good stats at the end of the season. So are players like Ambrose, who would take chances on a regular basis, missed in 2026?

“I always wanted to score, it was in my nature to be forward thinking,” he says. “I think the supporters would back me up on that, probably because I wasn’t the most gifted defensively!

“People who remember me playing would know I shot from everywhere, so it was no coincidence that I scored a few goals from long range.

“But I certainly missed a few from distance as well, don’t get me wrong!”

Ambrose would retire after a second spell at Ipswich and a season at Colchester United.

His post-playing career has been wide and varied, with podcasts and a YouTube channel dedicated to Lego building with the family.

But punditry has become a big focus in recent years as well, which you might not have predicted when he still played.

“I absolutely love it,” Ambrose says. “Some players who played with me wouldn’t have envisaged me going into the media. But then I don’t think certain players will become managers and then they do.

“I did a little bit for Radio Suffolk on the Ipswich games, then did a bit around Palace games working in Legends Restaurant [where Ambrose will once again be this Thursday] which got me used to being on the microphone. It just kicked on from there and for the last six years I’ve really enjoyed it and managed to do different outlets.

“I always say it’s as close to being in the changing room as anything I’ve had since playing football. With the producers, the tech guys, you’re sitting around talking football with your mates.

“It’s a privilege and I know I’m in a privileged position, so I just want to ride the wave and enjoy it.”

With Palace playing for a place in the last eight of the UEFA Conference League, it’s a high-pressure situation. The hope is that someone steps up and delivers the big moment.

Just like Ambrose did on so many occasions.