Crystal Palace won the UEFA Conference League with a 1-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig on Wednesday, completing one of the most unlikely runs in English football in recent memory. The win was also Oliver Glasner's last match in charge of the club.
The Austrian manager's departure caps a 375-day stretch in which Palace won the FA Cup, the Community Shield, and the Conference League, according to BBC Sport. The club had no major trophy in its history before last season.
Glasner's path to Selhurst Park began in late 2023, when Palace chairman Steve Parish met with the manager after then-sporting director Dougie Freedman set up the meeting. Freedman had tracked Glasner's career in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt. Parish typically preferred managers with Premier League history, but something about Glasner impressed him. By February 2024, when Roy Hodgson departed, the appointment was already in motion.
The road since has not been smooth. Shortly after Palace beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley, UEFA ruled that the club had breached its multi-club ownership rules. American businessman John Textor held stakes in both Palace and French club Lyon, which had also qualified for the Europa League. UEFA demoted Palace to the Conference League. Parish called the ruling "probably one of the greatest injustices that has ever happened in European football." The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Palace's appeal.
Palace's talisman Eberechi Eze also departed during the same period, leaving for a record fee. The disruptions did not stop the team. Palace opened the new season by defeating Premier League champions Liverpool in the Community Shield at Wembley, a sign of where the club's ambitions now stood.
Palace midfielder Adam Wharton credited Glasner with changing how the club thinks about competition. "He has got to be one of the best managers Crystal Palace have ever had," Wharton said. "He has made a massive difference for how the club looks at competitions. We are not just looking to stay in the Premier League and be in Europe, we are looking to win and be as high as possible."
The Conference League win gives Palace its third trophy of the Glasner era, closing a chapter that Parish could not have fully anticipated when he sat down with the Austrian in south London roughly two and a half years ago.
