Community Shield Champions
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Fans of Crystal Palace are reveling in 2025, as Austrian manager Oliver Glasner adds a second trophy within five months, thanks to the club’s victory over Liverpool in the Community Shield on Sunday. Despite Arne Slot’s team taking the lead on two occasions, the South London squad managed to level the score before full time and won dramatically via penalties. Until this year, Palace had not won a trophy since 1994, but they’ve now captured two within this calendar year, having previously secured the FA Cup by defeating Manchester City at the end of last season.
“Before we went to Wembley, I showed the players a video depicting the joy of our fans after winning the FA Cup, which we refer to as the emotional reward,” Glasner stated after the match. “Standing here before the fans, experiencing these emotions—a feeling money cannot buy—reinforces that it must be earned. The players deserved it after both the FA Cup and today. Our fans have continuously supported us, even during tough times. This great connection has yielded rewards for all of us, which will last forever.”
Glasner has certainly earned the admiration of Selhurst Park supporters. Many are now questioning whether he has surpassed all predecessors to become Palace’s most successful manager in modern times. Alongside his two trophy victories, Glasner has led the team to finishes of tenth and twelfth in the league, with last season’s total of 53 points being their highest in the Premier League era. A deeper dive into the statistics provides a compelling case for his historic standing.
As demonstrated in the table above, which outlines the points-per-game averages of every Palace manager in the Premier League since 2013, Glasner stands out with a rate of 1.51, accumulating 77 points from 51 matches. This remarkable performance surpasses that of the six managers who preceded him, with only Tony Pulis nearing his record at 1.46 points per game. Glasner’s league success is hardly surprising, considering that he previously achieved a record points total last season.
Glasner’s accomplishments become even more notable when looking at his overall record across all competitions. When managerial stints of fewer than 30 games are excluded, the 50-year-old coach impressively ranks above all other managers in the club’s history. Over 62 matches across all competitions, Glasner has averaged an impressive 1.73 points per game. The next highest is Iain Dowie, who managed a commendable 1.44 points per game during his 120 matches between 2003 and 2006. However, as the table indicates, neither Dowie nor any of the top 10 managers can claim a single trophy for the club while Glasner now boasts two.
What else Glasner and Palace will accomplish this season remains to be seen, but there is no doubt that his performance has fans rallying behind him and celebrating his decision to transition from the Bundesliga to Selhurst Park in early 2024. While legacies are often fully assessed only after a manager departs, few in Palace’s history can rival what Glasner has achieved over the past 18 months.
