 At the Football Association Committee meeting held on 16 October 1871 to discuss the creation of the FA Cup competition, the Crystal Palace captain and share-registrar Denison Allport (1844-1931) proposed the formation of a committee to draw up the rules for the competition.He was also part of the delegation which selected the trophy.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.