In 1854, Queen Victoria opened the new Crystal Palace Exhibition building in South London near to Sydenham Hill.

The Crystal Palace Park, which surrounded the site of the exhibition building, officially opened in 1856, and incorporated various sports facilities including a cricket ground.

The first game recorded as being played at the Crystal Palace was on 5 April 1862 against Forest Football Club (who later became Wanderers F.C.).

A match report from December 1867 states that the club "last year appeared likely to become extinct, in consequence of the loss of their ground at Penge and the seeming impossibility of obtaining another to suit them."

The same report states that the club would make "a fresh start… on part of the Crystal Palace Park Cricket Ground.

Four players appeared for the England national team in the full internationals against Scotland between 1872 and 1876: The club became founder members of the Football Association in 1863, and along with Wanderers F.C., Barnes F.C.

[24] Delegates of the club attended every AGM of the FA for its first crucial decade, during which time the Laws of the Game began to evolve.

In 1867, just six delegates attended the AGM, including Crystal Palace's representative Walter Cutbill who opposed the adoption of two major Sheffield Rules laws.

[25] At the FA Committee meeting held on 16 October 1871 to discuss the creation of the FA Cup competition, the Crystal Palace captain and secretary Douglas Allport (1838–1915),[26] proposed the formation of a committee to draw up the rules required for the competition.

Palace competed in the first ever FA Cup competition in 1871–72, reaching the semi-final stage, where they lost to the Royal Engineers after a replay.

[32] A fixture arranged for 4 March 1876, against Westminster School at Vincent Square, did not take place because of "the inability of the Palatians to raise a team.

The Athletic News match report stated that this was an attempt to revive "the past glories of the old Crystal Palace Club which, in its day, was one of the strongest metropolitan societies, but eventually came to grief owing to a misunderstanding with the Palace authorities about their ground.