Oliver Glasner chasing 'the best feeling you can have' for historic Crystal Palace farewell in UEFA Conference League final

It was confirmed earlier in the season that Glasner will leave the club, despite ending The Eagles' wait for a first ever major trophy by winning the Emirates FA Cup last season.

Palace also lifted the FA Community Shield and qualified for the Conference League - the first time the club has competed in a major European competition.

Glasner will take charge of the showpiece final on Wednesday following his last match in the Premier League, against Arsenal at Selhurst Park.

As part of an exclusive interview with TNT Sports, Glasner was shown a clip of what the Palace faithful think about their outgoing boss' legacy in South London.

The words "greatest ever manager" were heard more than once, while there was the suggestion of a statue outside Selhurst Park.

However, Glasner himself had a different idea of how he would like to be remembered.

"Everything they said, that's enough for me," he told TNT Sports. "The memories stay forever.

"Everything else, the buildings and all of the stuff, they get old. But memories stay. You can take everything away from people, but not the memories.

"I don't need to be remembered as the best manager or the second best manager or the third best or whatever.

"I think what they said, that I will always be connected to their FA Cup win - probably the best day of their lives. That's far more than I expected and that's by far enough."

Glasner is quietly building an impressive collection of medals, which includes the FA Cup, the Community Shield and the UEFA Europa League, which he won at previous club Eintracht Frankfurt.

"I don't like to rate what's bigger [between honours]," he explained.

"Beating Man City in an FA Cup final at Wembley is huge, to be honest. Winning the Europa League final with Frankfurt, beating Barcelona, West Ham and then Rangers in the final was huge as well.

"Now, the names of the opposition [this season] are not as traditional as the ones I mentioned before, but it would be huge again."

Palace defeated Zrinjski Mostar, AEK Larnaca, Fiorentina and Shakhtar Donetsk in the knockout stages on their way to the Conference League showpiece - their first European final.

Glasner touched on one key principle that has helped the club achieve so much success over the last couple of years.

"We talk about it quite often, we want to show who we are there," he said of the final. "We don't want to do anything different.

"Of course, there are some adjustments, tactically, to win against Real Vallecano, but 90% we want to show why we're there, why we have been successful, we want to show our personality.

"We don't want to be somebody else. We want to be Crystal Palace, the team of South London. We want to be who we have always been.

"It's football, it's sport, you never know the result; anything can happen in a final in one game. But if you lose, you lose football, but you don't lose your identity or personality - the most important thing in life. If you win, you win your way, and it's the best feeling you can have."

One player who has played a pivotal role in Palace's success is England international Dean Henderson.

"It's pretty incredible when you look at it," the goalkeeper told TNT Sports when reflecting on his Palace journey.

"In the short space of time, you end up taking things in your stride; you don't look back on things. Even the FA Cup last season, you haven't had time to reflect and realise how big it was for the football club.

"To be in the Conference League this season and to ride the waves of that with the amount of games we've played, it's been incredible from all the lads involved. It will be incredible if we see glory on Wednesday evening."

Henderson joined Palace from Manchester United in 2023 and was surprised to learn that there was no "connection between the players and the supporters" when he arrived.

However, he feels that it is one key element that has improved during the club's success, and can help to make history on Wednesday.

"I think it's so important that you have that, because that unity can help in so many different ways," he said.

"I look around now and I see the lads celebrate after games, the supporters are really appreciating what the lads are doing, and vice versa.

"It's gone from strength to strength, but I think it's so important and I feel the community feel in South London as well, the unity and that togetherness.

"Hopefully, we can come together on Wednesday and celebrate something special."

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