The 2012–13 season was Crystal Palace's eighth consecutive season in the Championship. That season saw Dougie Freedman take charge for a third season, before departing to manage Bolton Wanderers on 23 October. Lennie Lawrence and Curtis Fleming acted in caretaker roles, with Lawrence managing for the away games against Barnsley and Leicester City which saw Palace take four points. Although Ian Holloway was appointed manager on 3 November, Fleming took charge for that day's home win against Blackburn Rovers. Holloway's first game in charge was the 5–0 home win against Ipswich Town which saw the club climb to the top of the table.
The 2–1 away victory against Peterborough United on 10 November saw the club make its best start to a league season in 37 years. With the following home win against Derby County on 17 November, Palace extended its unbeaten run to 14 games, a run ended by the away defeat to Leeds United on 24 November. Palace managed to score in every single one of its first 18 matches of the 2012–13 Championship season, a feat unmatched in the division during the season. Despite a poor run towards the end of the season with only 1 win in their final 10 league games, Crystal Palace gained promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 8 years after beating Watford 1–0 in the 2013 Football League Championship play-off final at Wembley. The club's 2012–13 season was subject of an Amazon Prime Video five-part series, ‘When Eagles Dare’, documenting their promotion to the top flight via the Championship playoffs.
In the League Cup, Palace beat Exeter City away, coming from behind to win 2–1, before losing to Preston North End, again away from home, in the second round. The third round of the FA Cup saw Palace entertain Stoke City, with a 0–0 home draw forcing a replay, though they ended up losing that game 4–1.
Squad statistics
Statistics
No.Pos.NameChampionship*FA CupLeague CupTotalDisciplineHistoryAppsGoalsAssistsAppsGoalsAssistsAppsGoalsAssistsAppsGoalsAssistsSinceAppsGoals1GK Julián Speroni4900000000490000200430902DF Joel Ward290100020031013020123103MF David Wright1000002003000020105703DF Ashley Richards110200000011020020131104DF Jonathan Parr380310000039033020118425DF Paddy McCarthy00000000000000200814766DF Aaron Martin400000200600102012606MF Jacob Butterfield900000000900002013907MF Yannick BolasieBolasie was born in Lyon, France, but also qualifies to represent England and DR Congo internationally and made his international debut for DR Congo in March 2013.453820010048386020124838MF Kagisho Dikgacoi424400011043549020108789FW David Goodwillie100000000100002012109FW Kevin Phillips1670000000167000201316710MF Owen Garvan31470002003347002010841011FW Stephen Dobbie1532000000153200201315312MF Alex Marrow40000000040010201031014DF Darcy Blake1000000100110020201211015MF Mile Jedinak44332000004633120201181416MF Wilfried ZahaZaha was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, but was raised in England from the age of 4, and represented them at U-19 and U-21 level before making his international debut for England in November 2012. He would switch his international allegiance back to the Ivory Coast in November 2016 and made his international debut for the Ivory Coast in January 2017.4688200201508811020101421817FW Glenn Murray4330611010045316902011883818FW Aaron Wilbraham2403100210271310201227119FW Jermaine Easter8112001101121102011611020MF Jonny WilliamsWilliams was born in Pembury, England, but also qualifies to represent Wales internationally through his father and represented them at U-17, U-19, and U-21 level before making his international debut for Wales in March 2013.3002200101330310201151121DF Dean Moxey3304100200360471201182122MF Stuart O'Keefe700100200100030201033023FW Alex NimelyNimely was born in Monrovia, Liberia, but also qualifies to represent England internationally through his father and has represented them at U-20 level. He has since switched his international allegiance back to Liberia.2000000002000020102024FW Kwesi AppiahAppiah was born in Thamesmead, England, but also qualifies to represent Ghana internationally and would make his international debut for Ghana in January 2015.20010020050000201211025MF Kyle De Silva1000001002000020129026DF Matthew Parsons00010000010000201010027DF Damien Delaney4232200000443281201244328DF Peter Ramage4041200100434100201266429FW Ibra SekajjaSekajja was born in Mulago, Uganda, but was raised in England and has represented them at U-16 level.0000000000000020113130MF André Moritz2952200100325210201232533DF Danny Gabbidon1410100000151000201215034GK Lewis PricePrice was born in Bournemouth, England, but also qualified to represent Wales internationally and made his international debut for Wales in November 2005.00020020040000201014035FW Bayan Fenwick0000000000000020110036DF Alex Wynter0000000000000020101037MF Hiram Boateng0001000001000020121038FW Jason Banton0001000001001020121040GK Ross Fitzsimmons0000000000000020110041DF Quade Taylor00000000000000201100 * including play-off appearances Green means the player is on loan, red means that a loan was terminated.
Goalscorers RankingNo.PlayerChampionshipFA CupLeague CupTotal1 17 Glenn Murray 30 1 0 312 16 Wilfried Zaha 8 0 0 839 Kevin Phillips 7 0 0 7430 André Moritz 5 0 0 55 8 Kagisho Dikgacoi 4 0 1 56 10 Owen Garvan 4 0 0 428 Peter Ramage 4 0 0 48 27 Damien Delaney 3 0 0 37 Yannick Bolasie 3 0 0 3 15 Mile Jedinak 3 0 0 3 11 Stephen Dobbie 3 0 0 312 19 Jermaine Easter 1 0 1 213 33 Danny Gabbidon 1 0 0 114 18 Aaron Wilbraham 0 0 1 1Total 76 1 3 80
Transfers Players transferred inDatePos.AgeNameClubFeeRef.28 May 2012DF22 Joel Ward Portsmouth£400,0007 July 2012FW32 Aaron Wilbraham Norwich CityFree7 August 2012DF28 Peter Ramage Queens Park RangersFree24 August 2012DF23 Darcy Blake Cardiff CityUndisclosed24 August 2012MF23 Yannick Bolasie Bristol CityUndisclosed24 August 2012MF26 André Moritz Mersin İdmanyurduFree31 August 2012DF31 Damien Delaney Ipswich TownFree18 September 2012DF33 Danny Gabbidon Queens Park RangersFreePlayers loaned inStart datePos.AgeNameClubEnd dateRef.1 July 2012DF22 Aaron Martin SouthamptonEnd of season31 August 2012FW23 David Goodwillie Blackburn Rovers1 January 201310 January 2013FW21 Alex Nimely Manchester CityEnd of season16 January 2013MF22 Jacob Butterfield Norwich City19 February 201325 January 2013DF21 Jazz Richards Swansea CityEnd of season25 January 2013FW20 Wilfried Zaha Manchester UnitedEnd of season31 January 2013FW39 Kevin Phillips BlackpoolEnd of season31 January 2013FW30 Stephen Dobbie Brighton & Hove AlbionEnd of seasonPlayers transferred outDatePos.AgeNameClubFeeRef.22 June 2012FW21 Sean Scannell Huddersfield TownUndisclosed13 July 2012MF28 Darren Ambrose Birmingham CityUndisclosed19 July 2012DF21 Nathaniel Clyne SouthamptonUndisclosedUnknownFW21 Antonio Pedroza Morelia£150,00025 January 2013FW20 Wilfried Zaha Manchester United£15,000,000Players loaned outStart datePos.AgeNameClubEnd dateRef.17 August 2012MF22 Alex Marrow Fleetwood Town1 January 201330 August 2012DF20 Matthew Parsons Wycombe Wanderers30 September 201214 September 2012DF32 David Wright Gillingham14 October 201214 September 2012FW22 Kwesi Appiah Aldershot Town14 October 20127 November 2012FW20 Ibra Sekajja MK Dons1 January 201311 January 2013FW20 Ibra Sekajja Barnet11 February 201311 January 2013GK18 Ross Fitzsimons Harrow Borough11 February 201328 January 2013FW22 Kwesi Appiah Yeovil Town2 March 201331 January 2013FW20 Jason Banton Plymouth Argyle2 March 2013Players releasedDatePos.AgeNameSubsequent clubJoin dateRef.21 May 2012DF31 Anthony Gardner Sheffield Wednesday21 June 201221 May 2012DF20 Jake Caprice Blackpool9 July 201221 May 2012DF22 Lee Hills Stevenage18 July 201221 May 2012FW21 Nathaniel Pinney CroydonUnknown21 May 2012DF20 Charlie Holness LeatherheadUnknown10 August 2012MF22 Kieron Cadogan Aldershot Town29 September 201231 August 2012MF30 Andy Dorman New England Revolution15 November 201221 May 2012FW25 Calvin Andrew Port Vale26 November 201225 January 2013DF32 David Wright· Colchester United25 January 2013
League table
Matches
Round by Round results
Pre-season results
Championship results
Championship Play-offs results
FA Cup results
Football League Cup results
References
Notes