At Stamford Bridge, Palace eventually succumbed to future Cup final winners Southampton and the season ended with the Eagles just missing out on promotion.

In March, Peter Taylor becomes the second Palace player to represent England whilst in Division Three when he plays in the victory over Wales in Wrexham, the left winger also gets on the score sheet making him the first Palace player to score for England.

The Guards were formed as the clubs ever growing fan base supporters club with the glaziers club as their base at that time in the Sainsbury's car pk and training was held in the ball court behind the club, at the start the guards played in the Norwood and district league and the Shirley and district league with over 30 teams, with Crystal Palaces very own chairman Simon Jordan playing down the wing for the Guards, His brother Dominic chose Chipstead FC, so you can imagine the banter there, no surprise Simon is the most successful.

1978

In 1978 terry Venables took charge at the palace
The Guards were named as the official ball boys and came out a a small shed in the corner of Selhurst pk, wearing their admiral tracksuits to the , wearing the palace kit and being directly associated to a pro club the Guards Fast became a great club for all local kids to join, here is our chairman in action 1978 v eversley rangers which saw the guards run put 3-1 winners at the guards home ground at tennison rd, se25

1979-1985

here are some shots of the chairman’s team during the late seventies early eighties, spot which ones our chairman, or email if you were in that team, some of those whose names are know Paul Still, Tony Waite, Aaron Beadle, and of course Darren our chairman. email us if you know any more.

the period that follows was in complete and we are currently looking for more photos and stuff to do with the Guards,

1993

In 1993 Darren returned to the Guards to get his son football only to find that the club had reduced in size and sadly disbanded his ties with the club with only two teams left, they were no longer wearing the palace kit nor ball boys at Selhurst pk, some say that Mr Noades did not see it as worthwhile and he formed the Junior Eagles instead. the guards had reached virtual extinction .the secretary at that time Tony Pilgrim had worked hard to keep the club alive but himself was a Chelsea fan and the real drive was not quite the same. it was Tony whom offered Darren the chance to run his own team,

1995

Darren’s Guards team established the club as a force winning the Tandridge League under 11 south division, the first championship to the guards in many years

The past decade

Darren and his team went on to win 6 championships with that team which included 4 a division titles both in Tandridge league and Bexley premier and senior divisions, Pat Palmer played a huge role guiding the team as assistant manager with his hands on expert football knowledge with an amazing three back to back trebles in both league and cups, it has been the platform to which the guards have grown, The chairman and his wife tirelessly strived to achieve higher levels, Other guard teams have won their respective leagues and the guards now boast 10 championships in the last 10 years. a real achievement from all the coaches and staff at the guards, also our chairman is a Crystal Palace Scout and has signed several guards to CPFC academy over the past decade,

when Simon Jordan took charge at Palace , the guards were re-installed as the official ball boys and the playing arm of the junior eagles and have done a marvelous job, Ian Dowie describing the Guards in the Daily Mirror as " the best ballboys in the Championship" when he was asked about their sportsmanship as ball boys .

The Guards also helped by their club sponsor C&C Panels and Abbey MOT have changed back to wearing the official Palace Kit ,

The Guards now have moved from their Langley Park Home to the New Eagles nest, New Addington ,Where there are many hard core Palace fans , see our eagles nest section for ground details and photos ect, the club currently are moving towards Charter standard and are working towards Funding for the nest, Darren and Sally both huge Palace Fans have worked hard to reinstate the club back to its finest state, The Guards remain more now than ever a place to bring children to learn and play football in an educational ,pleasant, sporting environment .you do not have to be a palace fan to join the Guards, if your interested in being part of our club, simply read through our how to join page,

Thank you for reading our history and if you can add anything at all please email our webmaster with info or photos