Crystal Palace have won the first major trophy of their 120-year history, defeating Manchester City in Saturday’s FA Cup final 1-0 before a Wembley crowd of 84,000.

For a club with roots dating back to 1861 but recognised as professional since 1905, it means a major reframing of what they’ve achieved, a reassessment of fans’ identities as Palace supporters. FA Cup final losses in 1990 and 2016 stand as near-misses; only second and third division titles, and the short-lived Full Members Cup, gave previous purpose to their trophy cabinet.

Martin Tyler has spent his working life calling FA Cup finals and was unequivocal that this result places itself right at the sharp end of memorable ones. The goal – a full ground move set up by John-Phillipe Mateta Phillipe and Daniel Muñoz, finished by Eberiche Eze – and the goalkeeping heroics and controversy surrounding Dean Henderson, will not be forgotten any time soon.

‘I lived for quite a long time in South London and Crystal Palace was the nearest ground to my home. It’s seen as not quite the best area to live in. It’s just urban myth, but there is the feeling amongst fans of ‘well, we come from the other side of the tracks.’

‘They’ve had some good periods – Terry Venables had the ‘team of the Eighties’, as they were called, but didn’t pan out that way.

‘Their ground is so small, really, relative to the big ones at just 25,000. They maybe have 20,000 of their own fans at each home game. So to see almost double that in the semi-final – not quite in the final because of allocations – [did show] how many people really care.

‘That last ten minutes of added time, you could use those shots of fans in the most desperate situations of a film, couldn’t you?’

As foreign investment has turbo-charged Premier League finances over the past quarter-century a little of the FA Cup’s magic dust has been eroded, with managers more often forced to consider it less of a priority through the early stages than previously, as squads fatigue and matches come thick and fast.

There’s also been a lack of variety on the podium; in the decade of results prior to Saturday, only Leicester (2021) won outside of ‘Big Six’ clubs Manchesters City and United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. Palace’s win most certainly provided an injection of that magic.

‘When the final whistle went it meant another very special FA Cup final. We had Wigan beating Leicester City in 2013, the Wimbledon ‘Crazy Gang beating the Culture Club’ (1987/88) as John Motson put it so eloquently’, said Tyler.

‘Palace comes into that category, but they [definitely] earned it. In the semi-final they were superb, they only conceded one goal in the whole competition, so that tells you they’ve got a bit about them.’

Their success also means a ticket into next season’s Europa League, and a long-awaited chance to add to their virtually non-existent European history, save for a pair of 2-0 losses to Turkish side Samsunspor in the 1998/99 Intertoto Cup.

Manager Oliver Glasner won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021/22, so the club are not totally without European knowhow. But to balance relentless Premier League assignments with exotic mid-week affairs stands as the challenge, as it has so often when clubs outside the Big Six venture onto the continent.

‘I think Palace fans think of it as a bit of a bonus, really. The song they were singing, ‘we’re all going on a European tour’ sounds a bit like they’re off on their holidays for a midweek adventure.’

‘But the club will, of course, take it seriously. They’re now into their thirteenth consecutive season in the Premier League, which is a great run for them. Remember, they started this season with three draws and five defeats from their first eight games.

‘So this has happened on the back of possibly their worst ever start, and they’ve had their best ever ending. Glasner can take a lot of credit for that. There’s a lot of work to do, it’s been done before – although sometimes unsuccessfully – but what an opportunity!’