Crystal Palace have entered the final days of the Oliver Glasner era.
The Austrian manager has brought a level of success to the club that for so long could not have been fathomed by even the most optimistic of supporters, and he now has one final hurdle left. After a season that has had its ups and downs, including a period of toxicity where the fans refused to sing the manager's name after Glasner announced his summer exit in the New Year, it is now all eyes on Leipzig.
In the first European campaign in the club's history, Palace have navigated trips to the far corners of the continent while dealing with the losses of star man Eberechi Eze in the summer, and captain Marc Guéhi in midseason to reach Wednesday's final. The road to Leipzig has been arduous, but Palace's European tour has brought more than its fair share of attention to a fanbase more accustomed to seeing their London rivals standing in the spotlight.
There was a time in their modern history when the very existence of Palace as a club hung precariously in the balance. On the final day of the 2009-10 season, Palace travelled to Sheffield Wednesday on 'Survival Sunday', knowing that they had to avoid defeat to not only save their Championship status but to essentially ensure they didn't fall into liquidation. They came out of it with a 2-2 draw and after entering administration in January of that season (as a result of being unable to pay off their debt) when outside practitioners came in to take control of their affairs, it was a result that may just have been the most important in the club's history. They were then saved by a consortium including Steve Parish a month after the end of the campaign. South London local Nathaniel Clyne was an unused substitute that day, now he could have a part to play in a European triumph.
From there, it was a few seasons of Championship uncertainty and then from 2013, consecutive years of being a Premier League club. Since that promotion in 2013-14, Palace still haven't graced the top-half of the top-flight, finishing well and truly midtable every year since. But for those at Hillsborough on that day in 2010 and the hundreds that staged an emotional, Palace-coloured protest outside a Lloyd's Bank a month later for the deal to save the club to go through, they will have no complaints about that and now with the potential of another European tour next season, they can't believe their luck.
After years with no actual silverware to show for their rugged consistency, Palace lifted two trophies in consecutive matches as Glasner masterminded a dreamlike FA Cup triumph in May and then success in the Community Shield under the Wembley sun again in August. He had delivered for a fanbase in two games what they had craved for generations.
"I think the best way to put it is that we've had a lifetime's worth of memories in the space of the year," Ollie Thomas of TalkCPFC, one of Palace's most prominent fan voices, tells ESPN.
"Obviously the Cup last year was just, we'll never ever be beaten. We could win the Premier League, we could win the Champions League, we could win the Conference League. And the FA Cup will always be the best one we've ever had.
"And I think the way we've done it is also so much sweeter. In a world of modern football where a lot of clubs have money being injected in, juicing their way to the top. We've done it in a really sustainable way with the players and the core that represent Palace. I mean, the FA Cup, it was just a total dream and it's something which I think we all relive most weeks."
- Conference League final: PL deny Palace plea to move Arsenal clash
- Palace sweep aside Shakhtar and look to make European history in Leipzig
- Why Rayo Vallecano's European run is the miracle of the season
There has been further investment since the dark days of 2010, notably with New York Jets owner Woody Johnson completing the purchase of John Textor's 43% stake in the club last summer, a move that was made after Palace were punished and demoted to the Conference League by UEFA for breaching multi-club ownership rules with Textor owning French side Lyon.
Despite the demotion, Palace fans have been treated to a European extravaganza. Trips to Poland, Bosnia, Italy and even a little closer to home in Ireland have made up the backbone of a campaign in the Conference League. It didn't start in the most harmonious of ways, though, with Nottingham Forest taking their place in the Europa League. It was a punishment for a side that "felt innocent", Glasner said at the time.
"It felt typical Palace that things went wrong. We got demoted and we definitely had a chip on our shoulder, I think, early in the season about it," Thomas said.
"And that maybe wasn't channeled in the most positive way at the start of the Conference League campaign. I think because we had these big dreams of European nights and we were playing teams who we'd never heard of at home in a way.
"And whilst it was obviously really special to be in Europe, there was kind of a sense of injustice there. I think we've now really channeled that in the knockouts of the Conference League. And to go to watch Palace play a European final is something which we never thought we would do."
After a dejected initial reaction to the ruling, Palace eventually took it in their stride. A mixed league phase perhaps reflected the disappointment but throughout the knockout stages, Glasner's side have looked a level above their competition, coming past teams with bona fide European pedigree in Fiorentina and Shakhtar Donetsk with aplomb. And it is testament to Glasner's impact on this Palace side that they went into those big European nights with expectation. In just three years in south London, he has completely transformed the mentality at Selhurst Park.
Their Premier League form has at times left a lot to be desired with just four home wins all season, but for a team not used to balancing a European campaign and one that will reach 60 games played with the Leipzig final, another campaign of mid-table consistency is a success.
And should they be successful in Wednesday's final, the club will enter the Europa League next season with the same level of belief that they can go deep in the tournament. It is that feeling around the club that Glasner has been so instrumental in cultivating that will surely be missed the most when he leaves the club this summer.
"For me when I'm thinking about what I'm going to miss it's always the people because people make something special, not the building or the wall, the light, but it's the people," Glasner told reporters ahead of his final game at Selhurst Park, and the prelude to Wednesday night.
"It's the people, the players, the staff, it's the security that is always waiting for me and it's a lovely conversation. It will be the fans when I arrive, always asking for selfies and always having a positive message, that I'm really appreciating. We have usually a pre-match meal, it's the chefs there and the stewards. All these little things I will miss because they are all good people."
Standing in the way of a dream Glasner send-off are the even bigger European overachievers Rayo Vallecano. The LaLiga side are the definition of a working-class, socially-driven club and remain the only team in Spain's top divisions to be named after a specific neighbourhood, Vallecas. It is fitting that in Palace's first European final they have managed to come up against a team that all season have been bigger underdogs than them, and a team that, like Palace, represent their local community above all else.
But one person who won't be underestimating them is Glasner. Vallecano are coached by the talented Iñigo Pérez, the man who was set to become Andoni Iraola's assistant at Bournemouth three years ago before work permit issues scuppered the move. They overachieved once again in LaLiga this year, but were just pipped to European football by Getafe on the final day, despite beating Alaves, their ninth game unbeaten on the bounce. The final day LaLiga outlook also means Wednesday is now a straight shootout for a European campaign next year. With a playing style centered on a high, fast press that at times makes for some magnificent football, Vallecano sit second to Palace in almost every attacking metric this Conference League campaign, numbers that could make for a tantalising final.
Overcoming BlueCo-owned Strasbourg, who were heavy favourites in the tie, across two legs in the semifinal is another notch on Pérez's cap and Glasner is under no illusions as to the level of opposition Palace will be faced with.
"I expect a very tight game against such a good team ... For me we will play the tactically best team in the Conference League that we have played so far," Glasner said.
"[They] play so intense, always pressing, always running in behind, always sprinting, you never have time, threat on transition, very experienced and have many players [who are] 30 and older, fantastic team of players and a really, really well managed team."
Glasner and his coaching staff will prepare to stifle those Vallecano strengths as one final parting gift. After announcing his exit way back in January, those in and around the club have had the chance to reflect on his time at the helm, and since, the initial shock has turned into a feeling of gratitude.
"At the end of the day, he's our best ever manager. And even if it ended in tears in January, that still would be the case," Thomas added.
"So the fact we've got an opportunity to have a historic end of the season, it could be the perfect send-off."
West Ham's relegation on Sunday, just three years after winning the very trophy that Palace so desire, shows that European success is no magic elixir. Palace will have to make the right recruitment choices and more importantly, as West Ham's decline illustrated, the right call when picking Glasner's successor this summer.
But all of that is for later, for now Glasner's side have the opportunity to tread where no Palace team has been before.
Leipzig awaits a Palace takeover.
