Crystal Palace boss proud of his Selhurst Park tenure

Roy Hodgson has revealed why establishing Crystal Palace’s presence in the Premier League is one of the biggest achievements of his long career.

Crystal Palace’s meeting with Chelsea on Saturday evokes fond memories for Roy Hodgson. It was against them, in October 2017, that he claimed his first Premier League win as Palace manager.

“I sometimes think of that as my first game but it wasn’t, it was my fourth game,” he tells Sky Sports with a chuckle. “It was just the first time we got a result, so I don’t think too much about the others.”

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Hodgson can laugh about it now but Palace were in dire straits at the time. Frank de Boer’s tenure had lasted only 77 days and Hodgson’s had started inauspiciously too. Palace sat at the foot of the Premier League table without a point or even a goal in seven games. “People were writing us off,” recalls Hodgson.

They were still among the bottom three when they next faced Chelsea five months later but since that afternoon in March 2018, they have not so much as set foot in the relegation zone.

Palace went on to finish 11th in Hodgson’s first season and four years later they are 12th, safe from the drop again and a picture of stability in the ever-changing landscape of the Premier League.