The great teams Crystal Palace can follow in their first season in Europe

Hibernian, Birmingham, Newcastle and Fulham all enjoyed successful debut seasons in continental footballBy The Football MineAfter all the shenanigans with Uefa, Crystal Palace are now ready to make their debut in a major European competition, albeit the lesser Conference League. Palace have been inv

Hibernian, Birmingham, Newcastle and Fulham all enjoyed successful debut seasons in continental football

By The Football Mine

After all the shenanigans with Uefa, Crystal Palace are now ready to make their debut in a major European competition, albeit the lesser Conference League. Palace have been involved in Europe before but only in minor competitions – three entries into the Anglo-Italian Cup and the long-forgotten 1998 Intertoto Cup campaign in which they lost 4-0 on aggregate to the Turkish club Samsunspor, who are back in Europe this season after a 27-year hiatus. Palace will be aiming to follow a long line of British clubs who have made impressive European debuts over the last 70 years.

When the European Cup was founded in 1955, the English league champions, Chelsea, were invited to take part but there was a major obstacle in the shape of Alan Hardaker. The xenophobic secretary of the Football League put pressure on Chelsea to decline the offer and the club capitulated.