U-turns, tension and trophies - 12 glorious months for Crystal Palace boss Glasner

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. U-turns, tension & trophies - inside 12 glorious months of GlasnerPublished6 hours agoByKeifer MacDonaldBBC Sport journalistBySami Mokbel Senior football correspondentWhen Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish first met Oliver Glasner in late 2023, he had no idea it would be a meeting that would change the course of the club's history. It was then sporting director, Dougie Freedman, who had set up the get-together in south London. Freedman had tracked Glasner's career trajectory in the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt and was impressed with what he saw.

Roy Hodgson was in charge at Selhurst Park at the time but there was pressure on the club to make a change. Parish would have usually preferred to appoint a manager with some Premier League history, but there was something about Glasner that impressed the businessman. By the time Hodgson departed the following February, the wheels were already in motion towards the Austrian's appointment.

The Details

Wind forward two and a half years, and Glasner has just led Crystal Palace to Conference League glory with a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig. It will be his final game in charge - but it comes at the end of a scarcely-believable 12-month period of unprecedented success. "He has got to be one of the best managers Crystal Palace have ever had," said Palace midfielder Adam Wharton.

"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. "So how did Glasner lead Palace - without a major trophy in their history at the start of last season - to the FA Cup, Community Shield and Conference League all within the space of 375 unforgettable days?

Crystal Palace win Conference League with superb victory over Rayo European heartbreak and threatening to quitPalace had barely stopped celebrating beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley when they were hit with a devastating sucker-punch. It was early July and south London was eagerly anticipating the prospect of Selhurst Park hosting Europa League football for the first time. But after Uefa deemed Palace to have breached its multi-club ownership rules - with American businessman John Textor holding stakes in both the Eagles and French side Lyon, who had also qualified for the Europa League - Glasner's team were demoted to the Conference League.

The shock verdict threatened to suck the life out of Palace's success before the new season had even began, with Parish describing it as "probably one of the greatest injustices that has ever happened in European football" before an ultimately unsuccessful appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. After a 120-year wait for a first major trophy, however, it was going to take more than that to dampen Palace's spirits.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.