Chris Richards at Crystal Palace

Turner reunion with his old club

 

Richards starts! today's FA Cup semifinal, Palace 'hosting' Aston Villa (at Wembley). [Turner is on the bench.]

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Palace wins 3-0, Richards playing the full match and picking up a yellow card for his troubles.

On to the FA Cup Final, opponent to be determined tomorrow (Nottingham Forest or Manchester City).

 

Watched the match, cracking atmosphere. Richards with a really strong defensive performance.

 

City

 

5/17/2025, In the US, the match will be streamed live on ESPN+.

 

Richards starts! today's featured match, Palace (12th) hosting Nottingham Forest (T-6th, trying not to slip further). Note that Matt Turner is not in the squad, as I assume by rule he cannot play against NF).

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Starts:

 

Won 0-2, Richards going the full distance. Palace remain in 12th, but climb closer to Fulham and Bournemouth, with two league matches remaining.

Next up, the focus shifts to the FA Cup Final, Palace v Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday.

 

The FA Cup Final has arrived. Richards is certain to start (if healthy). And yes, Richards starts! (Turner is on the bench.)

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Unless I'm forgetting someone, Richards will now become only the 5th American to appear in an FA Cup final. Only 2 have won it, and only one since the 19th century.*

1873: Julian Sturgis (Wanderers) - beat Oxford University
1993: John Harkes (Sheffield Wednesday) - lost to Arsenal
2004: Tim Howard (Man United) - beat Millwall
2009: Tim Howard (Everton) - lost to Chelsea
2020: Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) - lost to Arsenal
2021: Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) - lost to Leicester (only appeared as a sub)
2022: Christian Pulisic (Liverpool) - lost to Liverpool
2025: Chris Richards (Crystal Palace) - vs Man City

*(Sturgis moved to England when he was only 7 months old, so even putting aside the 120 year gap, he seems to be in a different category from the others.)

 

Wow digging up stats from 1873! Did they name that city in the Dakota's after this feat?

 

Asterisk for Roger Espinoza for his win with Wigan in the 2013 FA Cup (and relegated the next week). Honduran international & naturalized US citizen.

 

Palace has beaten Man City to win the FA Cup. Richards w/ a 7.5 FOTMOB rating w/ some huge plays on D. Pretty friggin cool.

 

He was soo good!

 

Well now he’s a Crystal Palace legend.

 

Nice!

 

Cool! Happy for him!

 

I know that this a YA thread, but let's not forget Henderson (GK) in their win, but yeah CR was just awesome.

 

Happy for Chris. Winning the FA cup with Crystal Palace is simply amazing. A moment he will be able to enjoy the rest of his life with reunions and cult status.

Not a lot of Americans have lifted the Cup.

 

Been a rough year for YA. This sweetens that sour quite a bit. Congrats to the young man!

 

Chris Richards lifting the FA Cup and Matt Turner right with him🇺🇸🤩 https://t.co/wFsksgsqmg

— USMNT News (@USMNTNews2) May 17, 2025

 

He really was outstanding yesterday. Richard’s has really lived up to his potential this season. So chuffed for him. ESPN front page: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/45196046/usa-chris-richards-fa-cup-crystal-palace-final

 

Richards was immense. All the more impressive given Guehi exited the match with an injury about 60 minutes in.