Will Crystal Palace play in the Europa League next season? | OneFootball

Eagles out to make a big impact in competition after controversial demotion last summer

The Eagles lifted their first-ever European trophy on Wednesday night after beating LaLiga outfit Rayo Vallecano 1-0 in a cagey final at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s early second-half goal.

Palace - who were competing on the continent for the first time - have now gone from never lifting any major silverware in their entire history to collecting three titles in the space of just 12 months, following last year’s FA Cup and Community Shield glory at Wembley.

Palace are the third English club to win the Conference League in the five seasons since its inception, joining Chelsea and West Ham.

Will Crystal Palace play in the Europa League next season?

Per current UEFA rules, winners of the Conference League are guaranteed an automatic spot in the league phase of the following season’s Europa League.

That is the case for Palace, who will be keen to make an impact in Europe’s secondary club competition next term after the huge controversy from last summer.

Winning the FA Cup also secures a place in the league phase of the Europa League, though Palace were unable to take up their spot this season despite upsetting Manchester City in club football’s oldest fixture last May.

That is after they were controversially demoted to the tertiary Conference League in July, having to go through a play-off round, having been found by UEFA to have breached their rules on multi-club ownership.

American businessman John Textor, through his Eagle Football Holdings company, then owned a 43 per cent stake in Palace and was also the majority owner of French club Lyon, who also qualified for the 2025/26 Europa League.

Per Article 5 of their regulations, UEFA do not allow clubs that operate within the same ownership structure to compete in the same European competition, with Palace missing the March deadline to make the necessary changes.

Palace’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the demotion - which centred on them arguing that Textor did not have a decisive influence on the club - was unsuccessful in August and their place went to Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League the previous season and subsequently reached the semi-finals, where they lost to eventual winners Aston Villa.

Before that hearing, Textor sold his shares in Crystal Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, in a deal believed to be worth almost £190million.

There are no issues with Palace competing in the Europa League next season.