History


Palace Detectives have been an amazing success story. Formed in 1990, primarily as a small luncheon club for Police Detectives who support Crystal Palace FC, we have since gone from strength to strength.

We received a tremendous boost initially by having Steve Coppell at our inaugural lunch held at Strikers’ Restaurant, Selhurst Park on 11th January 1990, with about 20 officers in attendance. Steve has attended subsequent functions and as someone who is not over-enamoured with public speaking, has often stated that he feels most comfortable in the company of ‘Detectives’

There is no doubt that the FA Cup Final in 1990 was a massive coup for Palace Detectives as we suddenly discovered that there were considerably more than 20 of us. Having advertised for members throughout the country, we were delighted to take around 200 supporters to Wembley. After this the Club was officially constituted, and membership quickly grew to a fairly consistent 75.

Whilst we can afford to congratulate ourselves on 35 successful years, there is no doubt that we would not have achieved so much without the wonderful assistance of our two good friends and associate members, Barry Williams, and Steve Kember.  Barry the well-known after dinner speaker, avid Palace supporter and a man with family police connections, hosted a number of our early lunches and helped to increase our popularity. With our original plan to have 3 – 4 lunches a year and to invite various Palace connected guests, a number of our early functions were held at the Croydon wine bar owned by Palace Legend Steve Kember, who also had Met Police Detectives in his family. Thanks to Steve, we have had the privilege of entertaining and being entertained by nearly every Manager since our inception, not to mention a number of Chairmen as well as a long succession of players and ex-players.

It was Barry, with his considerable sporting and show business connections, who suggested an annual ‘Sports Evening’ which has been a popular and highly successful concept. All of our lunches throughout the years have guested numerous stars and speakers from various walks of life, including Roger de Courcey, Malcolm Allison, Jimmy Greaves and John Conteh, to name but a few. Our final lunch of the season always honours the ‘Palace Detectives Player of the Year’ and we have been delighted to welcome them all from Geoff Thomas through to our current trophy holder, Jefferson Lerma. Unfortunately, when Barry sadly passed away on 24th December 2021, we lost a true friend.

Our original aim, in our own small way was to assist CPFC, and especially the Youth Teams by supplying much needed equipment during the early days of administration. Then, as the Club once again grew stronger, we turned our attention to other local charities and in 1980 began our association with ‘Crystal Palace Supporters Children's Charity’ (CPSCC), for which we are now one of their main benefactors. In total we have had the pleasure to donate in excess of £120,000.

We always welcome new members who must be CPFC supporters as well as serving, or retired, police officers who have had Detective experience.

As a small club we are proud to be associated with the CPFC and look forward to continuing our close relationship for the next 15 years and into our next half century.

You can read more about how the Palace Detectives formed & evolved over the years in the fantastic Crystal Palace Centenary Book.

 

Press Clippings & Letters

Letter to Steve Coppell 2005

Letter to Steve Coppell 2005

Reply from Steve Coppell 2006

Reply from Steve Coppell 2006

June 1991

June 1991

October 1990

October 1990

A Tribute to the Detectives


A Tribute to the Palace Detectives by After Dinner Entertainer and lifelong Crystal Palace fan - Barry Williams.

Barry Williams

With a father who had served in the police for 28 years and me being, not only an entertainer, but a lifelong Palace fan, it was only a matter of time before there was a coming together. Once the founder of Palace Detectives, Iain Gordon, who knew me from my entertaining at Selhurst Park, discovered that my father had been in 'the job,' as it is known within the police, he invited me to join the Palace Detectives at one of their get-together lunches. That was in 1990 and since then my association with the Palace Detectives has gone from strength to strength. Steve Kember's little wine bar in Croydon would never cope these days, as the lunches are generally packed with members and their guests on special occasions. Sports Dinners are a much larger event to put on and are a huge success, providing a quantum leap for the Detectives' fund raising.

With Crystals now unavailable, an amusing moment in my history with the Detectives is when their Chairman, Kevin Tooher, said to me, "Barry, our next Sports Dinner is at The Warren, (the police sports club), do you know where that is?" I replied, "Kevin, my Dad was on 'Z' Division (covering Croydon and surrounding areas) and I used to be up there twice a week. It'll be a bit different doing the Sports Dinners from the last time I was there, just wanting to play on the swings!"

 

£250 donated in memory of our dear friend with love and thanks for all you did for us. Rest in peace Barry - we will miss you

 ❤️💙🦅"

Player Sponsorship


Our current sponsored player/member of managerment

Conor Gallagher

2021-2022

Conor Gallagher

2021-2022

View previous Sponsored players/management

Palace Detectives Player of the year


Current Palace Detectives Player of the year

Conor Gallagher

2021-2022

Conor Gallagher

2021-2022

View previous Player of the year

Since 2008 The Palace Detectives have supported Crystal Palace Supporters Children's Charity with donations in excess of £40,000. A truly amazing sum of money. This money has been raised through the hard work, dedication and generosity of their members and friends. The friendship between our two groups of Crystal Palace supporters has grown as we share the same goal of helping those less fortunate than most.

The Palace Detectives has helped Crystal Palace Supporters Children's Charity to continue to make the annual Christmas Party at Selhurst Park special for around 120 deserving children from the local area. Also, the Executive Box, funded by the Children’s Charity gives these children a chance to watch a Palace game in a safe environment. Often, they would be unable to be seated in other parts of the stadium.

The trustees and volunteer members of Crystal Palace Supporters Children's Charity are hugely appreciative of the wonderful generosity of The Palace Detectives.

The Palace Detectives epitomises what makes CPFC such a great Club. Football Supporters who are not only passionate about their Club but equally passionate about helping others.

If you feel you would like to donate to our charity events, please get in touch

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