European demotion could galvanise Palace – Sutton

Crystal Palace’s demotion to the Uefa Conference League could “galvanise” the club and bring them closer together, says Chris Sutton.

The Eagles beat Liverpool on penalties in the Community Shield on Sunday but less than 24 hours later were told they had lost their appeal against being dropped from the Europa League.

They had qualified for the competition after winning the FA Cup last season but were punished by Uefa for breaching multi-club ownership rules.

“I don’t necessarily see it as having an effect on the players – this is the best period in the club’s history,” former Premier League striker Sutton said on 5 Live’s Monday Night Club.

“On the footballing side of it, Palace just have to move on and get on with the season. And in many ways, it may actually galvanise the club.

“It might bring them closer together, if that’s possible.”

American businessman John Textor owned a 43% stake in Palace until he sold it in June and is the majority owner of Lyon, who also qualified for the Europa League.

Palace had until 1 March 2025 to show Uefa proof of multi-club ownership restructuring, but the club missed that deadline.

The ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) also means Nottingham Forest’s spot in the Europa League is confirmed, having been promoted into the competition in Palace’s place.

“They’ve won an FA Cup, they’ve won a Community Shield. So I think there’s still a lot of excitement,” Sutton added. “You still can’t take away them winning the FA Cup; you still can’t take away the great performance in the Community Shield. If you’re a Palace fan, you love that.

“You’ve got to focus on the positives, as much as anything. But it’s certainly not ideal.”

Palace will face either Norwegian side Fredrikstad or Midtjylland of Denmark in the Conference League play-off round later this month.

Rory Smith, football correspondent at the Observer, also thinks the ruling from Cas could work in Palace’s favour.

“I think there is a very good chance this ends with Palace winning the Conference League – and they should not be in the Conference League, they should be in the Europa League,” Smith said.

“It’s ridiculous that they’re not and it’s ridiculous Uefa couldn’t say look, this is clearly just an administrative oversight.”

In July, Palace submitted an appeal to Cas against Uefa – which issued the punishment – as well as Lyon and Nottingham Forest.

Uefa rules state clubs owned, to a certain threshold of influence, by the same person or entity cannot compete in the same European tournament.

Palace argued Textor did not hold any decisive influence at the club, but Uefa did not accept the Premier League side’s defence.

“It may well be that – I don’t know if it makes it bittersweet or just sweet or just bitter – Palace will be one of the three strongest teams in the Conference League,” Smith continued.

“There is a very good chance, especially if they keep Eberechi Eze and maybe Marc Guehi, that they end up with another trophy next season.

“And it might be that the fans come to think of it as an unfortunate, [but] happy incident, I guess.”