Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish believes it was “very important” for English football that a club like his could win the FA Cup, and that they can be an example for lesser-resourced sides.
The Selhurst Park chief believes it can also be crucial for the futures of some players, the purchase of transfer targets and even star manager Oliver Glasner. Parish revealed that one prospective signing wasn’t initially that interested in Palace, but then his agent got back in touch with the club once they’d beaten Aston Villa in the semi-final. Glasner, whose current contract runs until summer 2026, meanwhile wants the club to properly build on a victory like this. Parish said the manager will stay next season and that his future conditions are “not about the things that maybe people think it’s about”.
“I think it’s very, very, very important,” Parish said of Palace’s 1-0 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final. “Of course I do.
“I enjoyed when Leicester [City] won [in 2021], when I was a kid, going back, Southampton [in 1976], Sunderland [in 1973], I think it’s really, really important. Otherwise, we may as well not play the games. If we never win it, if teams like us can never get there, we might as well not bother turning up… so very important.
“The teams that we’ve knocked out will be thinking ‘that could have been us’. I totally think that. It’s great for the FA Cup. Even the Man City people, in the cold reflection, will probably say it’s great for football, it’s great for the FA Cup. I do think clubs will think ‘Crystal Palace did it. We can do it.'”
Parish insisted he felt confident before the game – and that was down to the manager.
“I honestly thought we were going to win. I’ve been saying it all week. At the beginning, when we were penned in, I thought we’ll get our chances. Oliver said, if they play the same way, we’ll score. We’ll score maybe two goals. And I trust him.”
Parish elaborated on Glasner’s future, while joking about taking umbrage at the timing.
“Look, he will stay here. For some period of time. I am trying to live in the moment! What happens down the track, summer transfer window, players… it’s for tomorrow. But he’ll be here next year and then we’ll take it from there. Of course I want him to stay but things happen in football and clubs evolve and move on. I’d love him to stay but the club’s got to develop behind him, and the club has to show the ambition in terms of what we want to do to move it forward, for people to feel part of something. And if that all aligns, I think maybe he will.
“We’ve been talking about it. For Oliver, it’s not about the things that maybe people think it’s about. Oliver wants to be part of something that’s going in a direction, same with all of us. I think that’s what we’ll talk about. I think obviously before finals it’s not a time for all of that. After finals is probably not a time for that. But somewhere down the track we’ll have a conversation and see what we all feel.
“Oliver will be here next year. Everybody knows the length of his contract. Beyond that we’ll have to talk. We want to try and extend his contract. But it needs to be right for everybody and today is not a time to think about it.”
Parish took a similar stance on the futures of talents like Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi, but did reveal the cup run had also made a difference for prospective signings.
“It doesn’t hurt, does it? Because when you go for players, it’s ‘Ah, he wants to play in Europe so he’s going to go wherever.’ So of course you’ve got that in your locker. We had a player that was maybe not really that interested and they watched the semi-final and then the agent rang us and said he’s quite interested in being part of it.”
