OTD: Palace beat Spurs to claim London Challenge Cup
A match-up against Premier League leaders – at whatever stage of the season – is never likely to make for an easy assignment, but Crystal Palace fans can look to the history books for positive omens ahead of Friday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur.
For it was on this day 110 years ago that the Glaziers, under the management of the long-serving Edmund Goodman, claimed their second consecutive London Challenge Cup trophy with a 2-1 victory over Spurs at White Hart Lane.
Organised by the London FA, the Challenge Cup was a competition first contested in 1908 and, other than during the World Wars, the tournament was contested every season until 1974, when it was disbanded for 16 years.
The Cup resumed in 1990/91 and lasting for a further 10 years – during which time it was mostly won by non-league clubs – before it concluded permanently.
But in its early stages, the London Challenge Cup was dominated by Palace, who reached 6 of the first 12 final, including four in a row between 1920 and 1923.
Among them was a 2-1 triumph against Spurs, on this day 110 years ago, during which the star of the show was undoubtedly goalkeeper Joe Johnson, a recruit six years earlier from Plymouth Argyle.
The winning goalscorer, meanwhile, was Edwin ‘Ted’ Smith, a 1911 recruit from Hull City who went on to become the club’s all-time second top goalscorer with 124 strikes.
“Thanks to a splendid display of goalkeeping by Johnson, Crystal Palace defeated Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane yesterday in a London Professional Charity Fund match by two goals to one,” the Daily Mirror’s match report read.
“The 'Spurs were much below full strength, Collins, Webster, Weir, Walden and Bliss all being absentees. Crystal Palace scored in the first five minutes owing to a blunder by Cartwright. The ex-Chelsea back, although he had plenty of time in which to clear, preferred to pass back to King, but the ball struck the crossbar and from the rebound [Edwin] Smith netted.
“The ‘Spurs after this were incessantly attacking, and Johnson, in the Palace goal, brought off many fine saves. He was, however, beaten before the interval by Middlemiss, who took a long pass from the right wing and found the net with a hard drive.
“The Palace had more of the game in the second-half, and [Charlie] Hewitt scored what proved to be the winning goal after fifteen minutes' play. The 'Spurs, however, should have scored on several occasions, but their shooting was very weak, and the Palace won rather luckily. About 5,000 people were present.”
And if you’re seeking more recent inspiration, Palace’s record on the 27th October has, historically, proven prosperous.
On this day in 1990, the Eagles made it a club-record ten games unbeaten in the top-flight with a 4-3 win over Wimbledon at Selhurst Park; Geoff Thomas, John Humphrey, Andy Gray and Mark Bright were the goalscorers in a seven-goal thriller.
On this day in 2004, Iain Dowie’s Palace came back from an early Herman Hreidarsson goal for Charlton Athletic at The Valley, as strikes from Dougie Freedman and Sandor Torghelle – who was later sent off for diving – saw them advance League Cup fourth round.
And to top that record off, on this day in 2012, managerless Palace scored from first-half corners in quick succession to win 2-1 against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium, in a season in which the Eagles would eventually reclaim their Premier League status.
More of the same tonight? In football, you never know.
