Richards reflects on ‘beautiful journey’ of 100 Palace appearances
Chris Richards might not have tasted victory on the occasion of his 100th Crystal Palace appearance – although he did mark it with a late goal against Chelsea – but he did acknowledge it as part of his and the club’s remarkable journey of late.
The United States international arrived in South London from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022 and, despite initially struggling to break into the team, has been a cornerstone of Palace’s successful side of the last three seasons.
Richards was the only Palace player to play every minute of every match in the Eagles’ victorious FA Cup run last season, and – adopting a variety of positions in both defence and, occasionally, midfield – has become a leader on the pitch, as well as a first-choice centre-back, for both club and country.
“Yeah, it's been a blessing, you know, it's been a journey!” Richards said of his first 100 Palace appearances. “It’s felt like a lot more than 100 games!
“But, you know, it's a proud moment for myself. I think it's the longest I've ever been at a club, and I think it's for a reason: I’ve felt at home here.
“I’ve felt like I have a family that supports me every day when I step into the building, not just at Coper’s Cope [Palace’s training ground], but also here at Selhurst. And through the ups and downs, everybody's been by my side – through injuries, through bad results, through good results, through an FA Cup and Community Shield, it’s been beautiful.
“The whole journey of being here has been beautiful, and hopefully I have 100 more games!”
Richards was measured in his assessment of Sunday’s defeat: “I think when you play against a side like Chelsea, with so much depth and so much talent overall, you try to take the positives from a day like today.
“We did have a few chances that we missed, but we did create chances. And at the end, you know, once we went down to 10 men, we stopped feeling sorry for ourselves and we just had a go, got a goal back, and I think you can see that we continued to play.
“I think around the stadium there was a bit of growing confidence that we had. Again, we wanted the fight to the end. We wanted to be proud of something. That's why I think we pushed a lot harder towards the end.
“I think it's kind of a line in the sand that we drew today. Saying that, this is the kind of mentality, kind of aggression that we need to play with going forward. But also, we have to be realistic and understand that you can't do that for 90 plus.
“It's finding that fine line between having to go all game long, and also making sure that you can play for 90 minutes. But regardless, you know, I think it was an afternoon of learning.”
It’s a huge feeling, especially going into a World Cup year
—Chris Richards
Richards was recently voted the U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year for 2025 by supporters in his home country, becoming the first centre-back to win the award since Oguchi Onyewu 19 years ago – a promising start to 2026, a FIFA World Cup year in his home country.
“It’s a huge feeling, especially going into a World Cup year,” he smiled. “It gives me a lot of confidence knowing that, you know, I guess what I've been doing hasn't been going unseen, and I guess also that I mean a lot to not just my club team, but also to my country.
“Going into the World Cup, I think people laugh when I say I want to win it – but, you know, we're on home soil. You go into every tournament wanting to win it, so that's my goal. If we fall short, so be it, but that's what I want to do.
“I also want to be a leader for that team. I want to be an inspiration for the team. I want to show everybody on the field around me that I want to win. Hopefully we all have the same mentality – and I know we will when it comes to summertime.”