Crystal Palace 1990: Eagles' FA Cup Heroics and the Final that Saved Sir Alex
It Was What It Was : The Football History Podcast
The Overlap
4.9 • 667 Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome back to It Was What It Was, the football history podcast.
It’s FA Cup final week, with Manchester City set to take on Crystal Palace at Wembley. In this episode, co-hosts Jonathan Wilson and Rob Draper revisit the dramatic story of Palace’s remarkable run to the 1990 FA Cup Final.
Just months after a crushing 9-0 defeat to Liverpool, Crystal Palace stunned the same side in a sensational 4-3 semi-final — a match still regarded as one of the greatest in FA Cup history. That victory set up a final against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, who, at the time, were still chasing their first trophy under his management.
Today, we delve into where Crystal Palace stood as a club in 1990, explore their tactical shifts, highlight standout performances — especially the impact of Ian Wright — and examine Manchester United’s situation under Ferguson, including the pivotal moments that led to his first silverware with the club. We also examine whether Palace could shock Manchester City and finally win the FA Cup for the first time in their history.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:23 Crystal Palace's Journey to the Semis
03:37 Televised Semifinals and Hillsborough's Impact
11:55 Crystal Palace's Tactical Shift
15:17 The Dramatic Semifinal Match
20:39 Crystal Palace's Historic FA Cup Final
21:06 Manchester United's Journey to the 1990 FA Cup Final
25:55 Ian Wright's Miraculous Comeback
28:35 The Replay and Ferguson's First Trophy
31:56 Comparing Crystal Palace Eras
36:05 Can Crystal Palace Upset Manchester City?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I had to discard poor old Jim, for the sake of Manchester United. |
| 0:11.0 | I've never done anything like it before and I don't think I want to do anything like it again ever. |
| 0:16.0 | He was absolutely sick, sick to the soles of his boots. But the reality of missing out was bound to be |
| 0:22.7 | like a knife thrust, but Jim hasn't got the rhino hide. Well, welcome to it was what it was. |
| 0:28.7 | It's F.A. Cut Final week, and that was Sir Alex Ferguson. I'm sure you could tell from the |
| 0:33.1 | impression that I'm Jonathan talking about dropping Jim Leading for the 1990 final. |
| 0:39.0 | And it's a very, very famous FAA Cup final. |
| 0:41.1 | But we are talking about it this week, not because it's the one that saves Alex Ferguson's job, |
| 0:46.1 | but because Crystal Palace were in it. |
| 0:48.4 | Not the last time in the FAA Cut Final, of course, |
| 0:51.0 | but one of the famous and perhaps the best ever palace teams to make the f a cut final. |
| 0:55.2 | We had the FA Cup final of Manchester City, the Crystal Palace looming, and Palace being the underdogs, |
| 1:00.1 | and probably most people's fans' favourite to win the tie. |
| 1:04.6 | We thought we'd have a little look back at one of their great moments. |
| 1:07.9 | Yeah, this was obviously a very, very significant cut final, not at least for |
| 1:11.5 | Jim Leighton, but that's more so for Sir Alex Ferguson, but it was a, it was a thrilling game as well, |
| 1:17.4 | and just one that lives in a memory and won a course for Crystal Palace fans. It's that sense |
| 1:22.6 | of they never quite get it over the line, do they? I mean, they so nearly do as well. This is their |
| 1:27.0 | first ever |
| 1:27.5 | Cup final in 1990, so this season will be their third, all of them against Manchester sides. |
| 1:34.1 | But yeah, I think it's worth remembering that palace side and their performance, not just in the |
| 1:41.4 | final, but the semi-final, which is an amazing semi when they beat Liverpool. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Overlap, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Overlap and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.