Crystal Palace success: How Oliver Glasner led the club to Conference League triumph

When Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish met Oliver Glasner in late 2023, he had no idea that the meeting would change the course of the club's history. It was the then sporting director, Dougie Freedman, who arranged the meeting in south London. Freedman followed Glasner's Bundesliga career with Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt and was impressed by his achievements. Roy Hodgson was the coach at Selhurst Park at the time, but the pressure on the club to make a change was enormous. Parish would normally prefer to hire a manager with Premier League experience, but something about Glasner impressed him. When Hodgson left in February the following year, preparations for the Austrian's appointment were already at an advanced stage. Two and a half years later, Glasner had just led Crystal Palace to Conference League triumph, beating Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in Leipzig. It was his last match as coach, but it comes to an end after a remarkable 12-month period full of success. “He is one of the best managers Crystal Palace have ever had,” said Palace midfielder Adam Wharton. "He changed our approach to competition. Not only do we want to stay in the Premier League and play in Europe, but we want to win and be as high as possible."  So how did Glasner lead Palace - without any major trophies at the start of last season - to winning the FA Cup, Community Shield and Conference League in just 375 days? Palace had barely finished celebrating their victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley when they were blindsided by UEFA's decision. It was July and south London was eagerly awaiting the opportunity to play in the Europa League at Selhurst Park for the first time. However, UEFA found Palace had breached multi-club ownership rules because American businessman John Textor owned shares in both the Eagles and French side Lyon, who also qualified for the Europa League. Glasner's team was relegated to the Conference League, which caused a huge shock. Even though UEFA's decision could have destroyed the team's morale before the start of the new season, the Eagles did not give up. They started the season with victory over Premier League champions Liverpool in the Community Shield at Wembley. However, problems returned with the departure of Eberechi Eze to Arsenal for a record fee and the imminent departure of captain Marc Guehi to Liverpool, which Glasner ultimately averted. Despite mounting tensions behind the scenes and difficulties on the pitch, Glasner's Crystal Palace endured a difficult period, ending the season with a Conference League triumph. This achievement guarantees them a place in next year's Europa League and is the final chapter of Glasner's career with the Eagles. "I can't believe this is my last game," Glasner said after the final whistle. "This is a good chapter in the Crystal Palace book, but there are other good chapters to come." --- ## Related Articles 1. [Ferguson's Persistent Pursuit of Rooney for Manchester United](https://pitchpulsemedia.com/en/news/fergusons-persistent-pursuit-of-rooney-for-manchester-united) 2. [Arsenal se prepara para fichar a Marcus Rashford del Manchester United](https://golazopro.com/es/news/arsenal-se-prepara-para-fichar-a-marcus-rashford-del-manchester-united)