Palace for Life 2025 in numbers
As the year draws to a close, we wanted to reflect on a historic year for Palace on and off the pitch.
What a year for Crystal Palace F.C.. Two major trophies and a European tour. What’s more, the impact has been just as strong off the pitch in the community.
Here’s your official Palace for Life 2025 in numbers.
18,000+
Young people worked with in total in South London across our programmes from Targeted Intervention to Football Development.
You can find out more about our work here.
250
Palace fans crossed the Marathon March finish line! We broke two (yes, TWO!) records: A record number of marchers, and the record amount raised, £130,000.
Watch the highlight video below 👇
8,280
Pupils have seen the FA Cup from 15 schools in South London, so far!
These are all partner schools, where we regularly deliver our primary and secondary education programmes. You can find out more here.
Children from Ryelands Oasis Academy Primary School sit for an assembly with the FA Cup and Community Shield Trophies as part of an event organised by the Palace For Life Foundation at Ryelands School, Croydon, London on 29 September 2025 (Photo: Micah Crook/KontentHaus)
13
Young people offered trials with the Crystal Palace F.C. Academy.
We are passionate about developing young footballing talent through a clear and dedicated player pathway, offering the most talented players the chance to progress into the Academy and other local teams. Players like Teddy are already thriving through the Palace Pathway. Read his story here.
3
Times Palace for Life appeared on the front of shirt in Palace’s inaugural European Conference League campaign.
22
Local schools played on the pitch at Selhurst Park in our annual Play on the pitch event.
The event is part of our Football Development programme, where we help aspiring players develop all aspects of their football, both at courses in the school holidays and in a further education setting. We provide opportunities to progress to academies, universities or even the professional game.
1
Palace for Life event at the Houses of Parliament.
A proud moment at Speaker’s House 🏆
We joined the club and partners in Parliament to celebrate @CPFC‘s historic FA Cup win and highlight how we’re changing lives across South London ❤️💙
Read the full story below 👇
— Palace for Life (@PalaceForLife) October 20, 2025
1
Charity single released from the DS Eagles.
The DS Eagles, our Down’s Syndrome football team, recorded a powerful cover of the iconic Palace hit Glad All Over to raise awareness, challenge outdated assumptions about disability and work, and raise vital funds for young people in South London. This was all as part of the DS GAME ON programme, a project that combines our DS Eagles work with our flagship employment programme, GAME ON.
120
Miles cycled from Bournemouth as part of our annual cycling event!
1
Premier League poetry competition winner. Michaela was first selected as Palace’s club winner before going on to win the overall competition. Her powerful poem stood out in the League-wide initiative, centred on the theme “Greatness Comes From Everywhere”, which highlights the importance of education and the Premier League’s ongoing commitment to tackling discrimination. Read more here.
6
Players from our Emerging Talent Centre programme visited Downing Street.
1
First-team squad photoshoot with the DS Eagles. The Palace Men’s First Team were joined by our DS Eagles team for their 25/26 squad picture. The DS Eagles aren’t just a football team. This year, they took part in DS GAME ON – a year-long Palace for Life course helping people with Down’s Syndrome build skills and confidence for the workplace, partially funded by the Premier League and Professional Footballers Association. They trained as baristas, explored careers in caring and cooking, and even recorded and produced their own track, the one you’ll have seen on this page above.
10
Tournaments hosted at the Crystal Palace Academy.
3
Schools turned red and blue for the FA Cup Final.
2
Visits to ITV HQ.
140
Attendees at our annual Iftar event.
140 south Londoners came together to break-fast at our fourth annual community Iftar, at Selhurst Park ❤️💙
One of our goals is to make football more inclusive, especially for our local Asian and Muslim community, the latter of which makes up 11% of the community in Croydon. pic.twitter.com/zwg01cZFQs
— Palace for Life (@PalaceForLife) March 18, 2025
104
FPL players in our mini-league – another record!
2
Trips abroad for our participants. Jamal took on a stage of the Tour de France in July! After joining our GAME ON programme at a difficult time in his life, Jamal has gone from strength to strength, and now he’s conquered one of the toughest climbs in the Tour de France. Representing Palace for Life and supported by Le Loop, Jamal took on the iconic Col du Tourmalet, earning praise, respect, and even the Cyclist of the Day award.
Read more about his story here.
1,000
Mentoring sessions delivered. We aim to tackle the risk factors that impact young people in South London and work closely with them on a one-to-one basis in order to find positive solutions that work best for them.
140
Schools we delivered programmes in.
3,000
Young people reached through our Community Engagement and Disability Sport sessions. Find out more about how our work helped Thomas achieve his dreams 👇
101
In-custody interventions delivered, through our DIVERT programme.
Thank you, once again, for all your support this year, and we look forward to another record-breaking year in 2026.
You can support our work by donating here.
You can stay up-to-date with our work by joining our mailing list here.
You can find out more about our work here.