Pre-war
The Third Division (South) years were not kind to the club, and were to last as long as the Third Division South itself. With only the champions gaining promotion, it was a hard division to escape from, but Palace came close on more than one occasion.
In the fourteen pre-war Division Three South seasons, Palace finished in the top seven ten times, and never lower than 14th.
Palace finished runners-up no less than three times. There was a suspicion in those days of a fixed maximum wage with win bonuses, that players were better off playing at a lower level and winning lots of games, than gaining promotion and then struggling to win games at the higher level. Plymouth Argyle finished runners-up six consecutive seasons from 1921-1927.
Read more about this topic: History Of Crystal Palace F.C.