The Crystal Palace Courier
Match21 Aug 2027
Brennan Johnson leads the rout of Middlesbrough
5‑1, and Brennan Johnson took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Crystal Palace tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A brace, and Jean-Philippe Mateta takes the afternoon — 8.99
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jean-Philippe Mateta provided it, and the 8.99 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Brennan Johnson takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Match21 Aug 2027
Whatever happens, Crystal Palace do not lose
8 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Real improvement from Justin Devenny at Crystal Palace
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Justin Devenny is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match21 Aug 2027
Brennan Johnson among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Brennan Johnson on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Daniel Muñoz falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Crystal Palace
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Crystal Palace
Danny Welbeck was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
- Market Richard Cook steps up from the Crystal Palace academy
- Market One of our own: Andrew Simmons joins the Crystal Palace first team
- Market Crystal Palace promote Jonathan Spencer from within