25 January 1995 - Cantona Was Kung-Fu Fighting

On 25 January 1995, Manchester United drew 1-1 with hosts Crystal Palace in a match that proved to be very costly for United and their star French forward, Eric Cantona.

Since arriving at Old Trafford from Leeds in November 1992, Cantona had become a United favorite, helping them to the League title in his first two seasons, as well as being named the 1994 PFA Footballer of the Year. Unfortunately, he had also displayed a quick temper, once receiving two red cards in two successive matches.

In that match against Palace, both teams were scoreless early in the second half when Cantona was sent off in the 48th minute for kicking Palace defender Richard Shaw. As he was being escorted off the pitch, he suddenly turned and launched himself feet-first over the advertising hoardings into Palace supporter Matthew Simmons, who had been heaping verbal abuse on the Frenchman. Down to 10 men, United managed to take a 1-0 lead six minutes later, but could not prevent Palace from equalizing in the 79th minute to earn the draw.

Cantona was suspended for the rest of the season, sentenced to 120 hours of community service, and fined £10,000. Without him, United fell just short of winning another title, finishing one point behind League champions Blackburn Rovers.

For his part in the altercation, Simmons was jailed for 24 hours, fined £500, and given a one-year ban from all football grounds in England and Wales.

10 November 2007 - Morrison Makes His Milestone

On 10 November 2007, Crystal Palace drew at home, 1-1, in a league match against London rivals Queens Park Rangers before a crowd of over 17,000. The draw came courtesy of a late equalizer from Palace forward Clinton Morrison (pictured), whose 88th-minute strike was his 100th goal for the club.

The England-born Irish international originally joined the Championship side's youth academy in 1996 and signed with the senior team in 1997. After an impressive five seasons, he moved to the Premier League with Birmingham City in 2002, but found it difficult to break into the first team and moved back to Palace in 2005.

He got off to a good start in the 2007-08 season, scoring twice in his first three matches to bring his career Palace total to 99. He struggled to score thereafter, however, and was dropped from the starting line-up for several matches.

Morrison returned to the starting eleven for the match against QPR and looked ready to hit the century mark. He sent a 25th-minute shot just over the bar, then had a 50th-minute shot ruled offside. In the meantime, QPR had gone up 0-1 with a 45th-minute goal from Scott Sinclair.

The Palace forward's historic 100th goal finally arrived in the 88th minute, as he headed home the equalizer from a Palace free kick. Morrison celebrated the goal by running the length of the pitch. He was only the eighth player in the history of the club to reach the century mark.

Morrison left Palace at the end of the season with a club, having scored a total of 113 goals. He currently plays for Coventry City.

3 November 1963 - Local Boy Will Make Good In 21 Years

On 3 November 1963, future Crystal Palace and Arsenal legend Ian Wright was born in Woolwich, London.

A late arrival to professional football, the striker was discovered at the age of 21 by Crystal Palace scout Pete Prentice in 1985 while playing in a local Sunday league. Wright signed a contract with Palace in August of that year. They were in Division Two at the time.

He scored 9 goals in his first season at Selhurst Park, and helped lead the London club to promotion in 1989. Injuries limited his playing time in the 1989-90 season, but Palace advanced to the 1990 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. Wright made an unforgettable appearance as a late substitute, coming on in the 69th minute and scoring three minutes later to level the match at 2-2. He scored again in extra time to put Palace ahead, but United equalized to force a replay, which the Manchester club won, 1-0. Wright played six seasons for Palace, making 277 appearances and scoring 177 goals, making him the club's third-highest goalscorer.

In September 1991, he moved across London to Arsenal for a then club-record transfer fee of £2.5 million. He got off to a blistering start in his first season with the Gunners, taking honors as the League's top scorer with 29 goals (five of which he had scored for Palace before the transfer). He was the club's top scorer for six consecutive seasons and won several trophies, including the League title (1998), the FA Cup (1993, 1998), the League Cup (1993) and the Cup Winners' Cup (1994). In all, he scored 185 goals for Arsenal in 288 appearances. He was the club's highest scorer until the record was broken by Thierry Henry in October 2005.

He left Arsenal in 1998 and spent time with West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Celtic, and Burnley before retiring in 2000.

9 April 1995 - A Dark Day In The FA Cup

On 9 April 1995, 35-year old Crystal Palace supporter Paul Nixon died during an outbreak of violence before the FA Cup semi-final between Crystal Palace and Manchester United at Villa Park.

According to police reports, Nixon and a group of other Crystal Palace fans were outside a pub in Walsall, eight miles from Villa Park, when they were attacked by a group of United supporters. Nixon was stabbed and hit by a brick before falling and being crushed under the wheels of a bus as he tried to escape.

Nevertheless, the match was played, ending in a 2-2 draw. United won the replay four days later by the score of 2-0, with first-half goals from Gary Pallister and Steve Bruce. United then progressed to the final, where they lost to Everton. It was the first season since 1989 that United had failed to earn a trophy.

Tensions had been high between supporters of Crystal Palace and Manchester United since January of that year, when Manchester United played away to Crystal Palace. During that match, which ended in a 1-1 draw, star United forward Eric Cantona leapt into the crowd and kicked a Palace supporter he claimed had been issuing racist taunts. Cantona was suspended for the rest of the season and fined £20,000.