The Crystal Palace defender has expressed the team's determination to repay the club's loyal supporters with silverware

Richards stresses importance of the trophyAmerican credits team mentality in semifinal victory Palace looking to secure first major trophy since 1991Getty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED

Crystal Palace secured their place in the 2025 FA Cup final after defeating Aston Villa in a tightly contested semifinal at Wembley Stadium. Following the victory, U.S. international and Palace defender Chris Richards spoke passionately about the team's desire to complete their cup run by lifting the trophy, emphasizing that bringing silverware back to South London would be the perfect way to thank the supporters who have stood behind the team.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s sick you know,” Richards said on the video posted by Crystal Palace. “I think something that we want to be able to do is to give back to the club. Not just the people in the club, the fans, you know, because they’re an extension of us. So again, love, like, today, it makes us fight even harder. So again, we want to be able to bring something back to South London and hopefully, it’ll be a big trophy.”

AdvertisementWHAT CHRIS RICHARDS SAIDTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Crystal Palace will face Manchester City in their first FA Cup final since the 2015-16 season, where they finished runners-up to Manchester United. Since then, have managed to reach one quarterfinal and one semifinal in the tournament before finally reaching the final this season.

Getty Images SportWHAT’S NEXT?

With their place in the English top flight secure, Crystal Palace will face Nottingham Forest on May 5 and then face London rivals Tottenham on May 10 before their FA Cup final. That takes place on May 16 at Wembley Stadium against 2023-24 runners-up Manchester City.