Crystal Palace, Butka, 1990

The Eagles have a history of turning up to Wembley and winning. In the 1990-91 season they thumped Everton 4-1 in the Zenith Data Systems Cup.

The shirt they wore was an absolute classic, made by Butka who at one time dominated both sides of the Atlantic. (Above is the Palace diagonal striped away number that is on sale at Beyond Retro).

One of Butka‘s more famous creations was this Rochester Lancers number from the North American Soccer League.

The Palace shirt suited this connection, sponsored as it was by Virgin Airlines. The big, bold stripes defined a team that knew where it was going and was determined to get there.

It wasn’t just in the ZDS that Palace had success. They also finished third in the league, their highest ever placing. They were captained by Geoff Thomas who after his career finished, became afflicted with leukaemia, from which he has thankfully recovered. Back in those days, England used to beat France, even when players such as Thomas were up to things like this

As for the goals, they came from Mark Bright and Ian Wright. Palace were  a formidable force, until chairman Ron Noades made some daft comments about black players in a Channel 4 documentary and immediately alienated the entire dressing room. Things quickly fell apart for the Eagles.

But before that, there were glory days.

Here are some other shirts we thought you would like:  

Watford, Le Coq Sportif, 1999

Bayern Munich, Adidas, 2013 preview

My favourite football shirt - Craig Easton

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