The ground only held 40k for most of the 60s until Arthur Wait expanded the Whitehorse Lane terrace and his eponymous stand in the late 60s when Palace got promoted. Even then their biggest crowds, such as against Chelsea in the fifth round of the Cup were 48k. That was with thousands of Chelsea fans (such as my dad) locked out an hour before kick off. Thousands of Palace locked out too They could have got a whopping crowd for that with a bigger ground. Palace did not need a big ground. Until they got promoted in 69, they had poor crowds. https://www.cpfc.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-161965.html
The reason the crowds were small on the 60’s is that Palace spent most of it in the old third division. However, the ground was huge with miles of terracing and the grass knolls behind the terraces. The capacity was far larger than any crowds of the 60’s.
