Crystal Palace fans staged a protest march to express their displeasure at UEFA’s decision to exclude the club from the Europa League. They claim this is part of a larger problem.
Crystal Palace fans are not willing to accept UEFA’s decision to relegate their club from the Europa League to the Conference League without a fight. On Tuesday evening, a group organized a fan march to the stadium to vent their anger. Hundreds of supporters took part.
Last Friday, UEFA excluded Palace from the Europa League for violating its “multi-club ownership” rules, which the London club had actually qualified for by winning the FA Cup for the first time in its history. However, because Olympique Lyon, where Palace co-owner John Textor was in charge until recently, had also qualified, UEFA did not allow both clubs to compete in the 2025/26 competition.
Palace club boss Steve Parish had condemned the decision as “one of the greatest injustices in football history” and described it as “ridiculous.” The club, led by coach Oliver Glasner, argues that Textor has no influence on sporting decisions and is in any case about to sell his shares. UEFA, on the other hand, accuses Palace and Lyon of missing the March 1 deadline by which clarification of the majority ownership structure could have been provided.
“An example of why so many fans have become alienated from modern football.”
The fan group that organized the protest march writes of a “terrible injustice—both for our club and for soccer as a whole.” Palace being stripped of the “prize” for winning the FA Cup for the first time is ‘unjustified’ and “symbolizes a European football body that is completely detached from the true values that make the sport so beloved by fans worldwide. It is an example of why so many fans have become alienated from modern football.”
That is why they are protesting “not only for Palace’s place in the Europa League, but on behalf of all football fans,” write the “Holmesdale Fanatics Ultras CPFC,” who repeatedly attract attention with choreographed displays and the use of pyrotechnics, which are unusual in England. “Many other clubs could be disadvantaged next because they lack historical glory or financial resources.”
Palace is still considering taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but has not yet made an official decision. As things stand, last year’s Premier League seventh-placed Nottingham Forest will replace the Eagles in the Europa League.