Crystal Palace v Jong PSV matchday programme 2223 by Crystal Palace F.C.

Crystal Palace u21s √ jong psv tuesday, may 23 2023 | 19:00

palace u21s √ jong psv tue 23 may | 19:00

04 04 manager 06 academy director 10 palace preview 12 meet the u21s 18 jong psv 20 loan roundup 22 stats & results

Directors Chairman Steve Parish, David Blitzer, Joshua Harris, John Textor Chief Financial Officer Sean O’Loughlin Sporting Director Dougie Freedman Club Secretary Christine Dowdeswell Head of Sports Medicine Dr. Zaf Iqbal Academy Director Gary Issott Director of U21 Development Mark Bright Chief Operating Officer Sharon Lacey Chief Commercial Officer Barry Webber General Counsel David Nichol Head of Ticketing Paul McGowan Head of Retail Foz Bowers Chief Marketing and Communications Officer James Woodroof Head of Safeguarding Cassi Wright Head Groundsman Bruce Elliott Editor Will Robinson Design Billy Cooke, Stu Ellmer, Lucas Gough

the briefing

Palace for Life Foundation’s first-ever charity match, Palace Aid, is coming to Selhurst Park on Saturday, 3rd June – and trust us: you won’t want to miss it. A fantastic lineup of celebrity Palace fans and ex-players will feature – including the two team captains: former Palace and England striker Andrew Johnson and legendary rapper and comedian Ben Bailey Smith (aka Doc Brown)! Keep an eye on Palace for Life’s social media for more details.

Fan update Palace’s End of Season Awards take place at the Clapham Grand tomorrow evening – for more details head to cpfc.co.uk.

Contributors Robin Johnson, Toby

What’s inside

Jagmohan, Darren Powell, Gary Issott

Find out… the story of Palace’s dramatic journey to the final (page 11), and how our loanees took the Football League by storm in 2022/23 (page 20).

Photography Neil Everitt, Sebastian Frej, Pinnacle Photo Agency, Getty, Toby Jagmohan Printer Bishops Printers

contents

u21s manager

darren

This tournament has been different: playing against different styles, formations, philosophies and teams. It’s been challenging, and the boys have had to find a way to win and execute their game plan against opposition that have been both possession based and direct.

e have had great moments against Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting Braga and Valencia which will all be etched in their memories. We take it one game at a time – we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We look at the opposition, put a game plan together and go out and execute it, and hopefully win each game as they come. It has been a long process, but it’s just reward for the amount of work that the boys have put in. It has been a long season, but a good season for the boys’ development, with the amount of games in the week. It’s helped the boys physically and psychologically. We’ve played about 40 games this season across four different competitions. The boys out on loan, like Jake O’Brien winning the league in Belgium; Killian Phillips, Jes Rak-Sakyi and Scott Banks winning Player of the Season awards; it’s been so positive to see them playing at good levels and ultimately

succeeding and gaining the experience to come back better players and better people. The simple fact is that in the last game of the Premier League 2

We look at the opposition, put a game plan together and go out and execute it, and hopefully win each game as they come. It has been a long process, but it’s just reward for the amount of work that the boys have put in

Division 1 season we could have finished second if we had won against Liverpool. Playing 120 minutes on the Wednesday before, u21s manager

training and playing again on Saturday against a fresh Liverpool side wasn’t easy. It caught up with us, but it’s all progression overall. We’re evaluating and seeing slight progressions, we still finished in fourth position – slightly better than we did last season. Since the Liverpool game a couple weeks ago we’ve just been keeping fitness topped up, and looking ahead to PSV and getting our tactical work done. Winning on penalties against Valencia can only give the players strength and belief in what we’re doing. We think we can give whoever we play against a good game and hopefully we can do the same against PSV. I would also like to say thank you to everyone coming along to support the boys. We all love it. The players do appreciate the support, as do the staff. The more the merrier and hopefully all of you here tonight can stick with the boys throughout the whole game, make some noise, help to spur them on and see us across the line

academy director

gary

The Under-21s have been outstanding all year. Our league form was excellent up until the last couple of games, where injuries left us without some key players, but we still managed a fourth place finish.

he EFL Trophy campaign was a good experience, as was the Premier League Cup, but the Premier League International Cup has been something new for us and the boys have really embraced playing against foreign opposition. It’s been a really, really strong season for the Academy this year. When you look at it from a team perspective: the Under-12s won the Mina Cup out in Dubai; the Under-15s are now Floodlit Cup National Champions, which is a fantastic achievement; the Under-16s have a win percentage of 71%, which shows you how strong that team is; and the Under-18s have had a very decent campaign finishing third. The Under-21s went on some fantastic unbeaten runs throughout the season and managed to finish fourth. As always, the directive at the start is to stay in the Premier League 2 Division 1, because it’s such a strong league with all the top clubs in the country. It is really competitive – last year Chelsea nearly got

relegated and Tottenham got relegated this year, so you can’t underestimate how tough it is. The first two thirds of the league campaign were brilliant, and losing Ademola Ola-Adebomi

Talking to Jadan Raymond after his goal against Valencia, he said the noise was incredible when he scored. I hope we can replicate that first-team style atmosphere for the players – that is what they want

and Jack Wells-Morrison at critical times in the run-in probably cost us the points that we needed to finish second. academy director

The Under-21s’ season finishes tonight in front of a crowd at Selhurst Park with the final of the Premier League International Cup, and of course we’re aiming to win it against PSV. The 7-3 win against Paris Saint-Germain was a standout result in the run, but we had plenty of great performances. Liverpool away was tough on a Friday night, for instance, but we went up there and won 1-0. We can’t underestimate what a challenge it has been to reach the final of this competition: to come through the group stages and then go through tough knockout games like Liverpool and Valencia, so it’s a great achievement for the players and staff alike. I know the players will love playing in front of a crowd. Talking to Jadan Raymond after his goal against Valencia, he said the noise was incredible when he scored. I hope we can replicate that first-team style atmosphere for the players – that is what they want. That is the energy that they’ll thrive off and it will give us the best chance of winning tonight. Thank you for your support

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Did you know? Darren Powell’s Under-21s side have beaten some of the best young sides in Europe to reach the final of the Premier League International Cup – including a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory against Valencia Mestalla in the semi-final at Selhurst Park.

palace u21s

Palace Under-21s have enjoyed a fantastic season under Paddy McCarthy and Darren Powell, and lifting a trophy at Selhurst Park would be the icing on the cake.

match preview -

story so far

It all comes down to this. The Premier League International Cup culminates under the lights at Selhurst Park. The U21s, backed by the Palace faithful in full voice, will give their all in the hope of securing silverware and writing their names into the history books in SE25. This is the Eagles’ third season as a Category 1 Academy and it has been the longest campaign of them all. The U21s have competed across four different competitions this season, playing 41 games, but this, the 42nd, is as big as they come. The youth side of Dutch giants PSV stand in the way of Palace’s pursuit of the trophy and they will need to be at their very best to defeat the side which has gone unbeaten throughout the competition so far.

Home

away

third

recent matches Opposition

score

h/a

position

3-3

3RD

5-0

4TH

0-3

4TH

1-1

N/A

4th

(5-3)

0-1

Played

Scored

Condeded

Top scorer

JK. Gordon (12)

Most apps

K. Rodney / V. Akinwale (36)

most recent = bottom

kaden rodney

palace u21s

VERSATILE

No one made more appearances than Rodney in 2022/23, in no small part down to his versatility; he can fill in in central midfield, at centre-back and right-back.

route to the final 1-0

group stage

7-3

group stage

1-2

group stage

2-1

group stage

0-1

quarter-final

1-1

semi-final

story so far

tue 06 sep wed 28 sep sat 04 feb wed 08 feb fri 31 mar

wed 03 may

(5-3)

semi-final

1-1

(5-3) wed 03 may | selhurst park starting xi 01

0. goodman

03 t. adaramola

05 s. grehen 11

06 k. balmer 02 d. abu

04 k. rodney 08 d. ozoh 11

f. mooney

j. raymond

07 D. omilabu 09 v. akinwale

subs 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

j. sheridan j. izquierdo n. watson m. vigor d. reid a. nascimento f. umeh

palace u21s

The Eagles have enjoyed a stellar run in the tournament so far – their campaign in Group C began back in August with a 1-0 victory over Hertha Berlin and a remarkable 7-3 triumph over Paris Saint-Germain which saw them top the group. Five months later in February, after postponements, the Eagles narrowly lost out to Dinamo Zagreb before a last-gasp winner from captain Jack Wells-Morrison against Sporting Braga saw the south Londoners progress to the knockout rounds. A Victor Akinwale winner saw Palace overcome a tricky test away at Liverpool to set up a semi-final clash against Valencia Mestalla at Selhurst Park. It went right down to the wire against the Spanish giants, but Darren Powell’s men kept their cool and secured a 5-3 triumph on penalties.

Jackson Izquierdo

joe whitworth

POS GOALKEEPER

NAT ENGLAND

DF owen goodman

GK DF

TAYO ADARAMOLA

sean grehan

POS GOALKEEPER

POS DEFENDER

NAT ENGLAND

NAT REP OF IRELAND

27 06

Age

Height

1.90m

Joined

Under-15s

apps

clean sheets

An athletic, imposing goalkeeper raised in Canada, Goodman has stepped up to the top Academy level between the sticks and even competed with the first-team during pre-season. He has been recognised internationally by England Under-18s. The goalkeeper signed a contract extension with the club in November 2022, and made the first-team bench four times, including away trips to Brighton & Hove Albion, Arsenal and Southampton. Goodman made a crucial save in the penalty shoot-out victory over Valencia in the semi-final at Selhurst Park.

palace u21s

player profile

danny imray

caleb kporha

POS DEFENDER

NAT ENGLAND

JOE SHERIDAN

noah watson

kofi balmer

POS DEFENDER

NAT ENGLAND

NAT N. IRELAND

player profile

Age

Height

1.83m

Joined

Under-21s

32 09 apps

clean sheets

With over 100 career appearances to his name in his early 20s, Balmer is an experienced centre-back who is good on the ball and calm under pressure. The defender joined the Eagles from Larne F.C where he made over 40 appearances across all competitions in their successful 2021/22 campaign, which saw them secure a Europa Conference League play-off spot. His consistent performances at the start of the season saw him earn his first senior call-up to the national team and make the first-team bench against Leicester, Wolves, Everton and Newcastle before the World Cup break.

palace u21s

cormac austin

scott banks

POS MIDFIELDER

NAT N. IRELAND

NAT SCOTLAND

fionn mooney

killian phillips

david ozoh

POS MIDFIELDER

NAT ENGLAND

player profile

Age

Height

1.87m

Joined

Under-10s

35 02 apps

goals

Originally an attacking player, Ozoh has moved back into the centre of midfield over the past few years, becoming an all-action midfielder; his popularity with coaches and teammates off the field belies his aggression on it. Tall, strong and skilful, he combines an impressive athleticism with an eye for a pass, and is crucial in Palace winning back possession in the middle of the park. The midfielder made history when, on January 21st, 2023, he appeared for the final four minutes of Palace’s 0-0 draw against Newcastle, becoming the club’s youngest-ever Premier League player at the age of 17 years, eight months and 15 days.

palace u21s

jadan raymond

dylan reid

POS MIDFIELDER

NAT ENGLAND

NAT SCOTLAND

mf jack wells-morrison

mf mf

kaden rodney

matty vigor

POS MIDFIELDER

NAT ENGLAND

32 06

Age

Height

1.82m

Joined

Under-9s

apps

goals

player profile

A multi-faceted midfielder who is just as comfortable sitting deep as he is in an attacking role, Wells-Morrison joined the Palace pre-Academy at the age of six, after impressing at a Goals summer camp run by the club – he and his family are Season Ticket holders in the Main Stand. In 2022/23, Wells-Morrison has captained the Palace Under-21s side and made the first-team bench in the Carabao Cup tie against Oxford United and against Southampton and Newcastle United in the Premier League. He scored a 93rd minute winner against Sporting Braga to send Palace U21s through to the knock-out stage of the tournament in February.

palace u21s

FW FW

Maliq Cadogan

John-Kymani Gordon

POS FORWARD

NAT ENGLAND

victor akinwale

Zach Marsh

Adler Nascimento

POS FORWARD

NAT ENGLAND

NAT PORTUGAL

36 08

Age

Height

1.78m

Joined

Under-13s

apps

GOALS

player profile

FW FW

There are fewer harder working strikers than Akinwale, whose ability to get on the scoresheet demonstrates only half of his importance to the Under-21s. He began his career as a winger, predominantly on the left-hand side, but made the switch to centre-forward at youth level – mirroring the switch made by his footballing idol, Cristiano Ronaldo. He finished the 21/22 campaign with 27 goals to his name, his performances earning him a place in the pre-season squad which travelled to Singapore and Australia. His excellent finish against saw Palace beat Liverpool in the competition’s quarter-finals.

palace u21s

FW FW Ademola Ola-Adebomi

David Omilabu

POS FORWARD

NAT ENGLAND

FW FW Rob Street

franco umeh

POS FORWARD

NAT ENGLAND

NAT REP OF IRELAND

player profile

Jesurun Rak-Sakyi

Age

Height

1.83m

Joined

Under-21s

32 09 apps

Umeh has made a blistering start to life in south London after signing from Cork City in February, having made his debut for the Rebel Army at the age of 17. After five goals in his first five starts for the Under18s, he was given his chance for the Under-21s, coming on as a late substitute against Blackburn Rovers and promptly scoring the equaliser on his debut. He made his Republic of Ireland Under-19s debut in March, and is looking to cap a highly successful season personally by lifting a trophy at Selhurst Park.

palace u21s

goals

Jong PSV’s run to the Premier League International Cup final has been nothing short of remarkable, as they swept away the best young sides in the English game.

opposition preview -

story so far

They have enjoyed the best run of any side in the competition this season. They topped a tricky group, beating Manchester United and West Ham United 2-0 and 5-0 respectively, before recording a resounding 7-2 victory away at Arsenal. In the knock-out stages, they dispatched Everton and then eased past Fulham at Motspur Park to set up tonight’s clash in SE25. As the competitions top scorers, they will pose one of the toughest test for the Palace backline this season. Jong PSV are currently mid-table in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier in the Netherlands. They are currently managed by former player Adil Ramzi and play using, as is traditional with Dutch football, a 4-3-3 formation.

Home

away

recent matches Opposition

Played

Scored

Condeded

Top scorer

A. Priske (5)

third most recent = bottom

score

h/a

5-4

0-1

3-0

3-1

1-0

august priske

dangerman opposition

August Priske, son of former Danish international Brian Priske, has been in fine form during the tournament, leading the scoring charts with five goals to his name.

19 most recent = bottom

Boot in both camps

route to the final 0-5

group stage

2-2

group stage

0-2

group stage

2-7

group stage

0-3

quarter-final

1-2

semi-final

patrick van aanholt

tue 11 oct mon 05 dec

Van Aanholt spent two years in the PSV youth system before moving to Chelsea and making his professional debut. He joined Palace in 2017 and spent four years in south London, making 134 appearances before leaving for Galatasaray. He returned to PSV on loan in February.

mon 19 dec tue 07 feb thu 02 mar

thu 13 apr

semi-final

1-2 thu 13 apr | motspur park

starting xi 01

n. Schiks

03 J. Seelt

04 F. Leysen 05 M. Jiménez 02 L. Comenencia 06 M. Tielemans 11

I. Saibari

M. Nassoh

06 05

08 S. Colyn 07 SAVIO 09 J. van Duiven subs 15 16 17 18 19 21 22

R. Tytens R. Steur A. Priske T. van den Heuvel F. Fofana I. Babadi D. Arts

opposition

academy loan

Crystal Palace’s youngsters have been making their mark up and down the country this season – check out how the Under-21s got on out on loan throughout the campaign…

f the mark of a good loan move is a player’s impact upon their adopted side, then Crystal Palace’s 22/23 loanees have enjoyed some outstanding loan moves indeed. From individual award winners and national nominees to title victories and play-off exploits, the potential return of a number of Palace’s Academy starlets to Selhurst Park tonight could impress any supporters who have not followed their first forays into regular senior football.

Young Player of the Season award in the division. With 15 goals and nine assists in 49 appearances this season – including 23 goal contributions in League One, a total bettered by only a handful of other players – Rak-Sakyi returns to Palace, following his first spell away from the club, a proven talent in the testing grounds of senior football.

jesurun rak-sakyi killian phillips

In the English Football League, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi – fresh from signing a new five-year deal with the club last summer – stayed close to home with his season-long loan move, joining Charlton Athletic in League One. A phenomenal season ensued, as the 20-year-old claimed not only the Addicks’ Player of the Year award, but also a nomination for the EFL

Also winning plaudits following his spell on loan during the second half of the season was Killian Phillips, who claimed Shrewsbury Town’s Young Player of the Season award after three goals and two assists in 20 games. The Republic of Ireland U21s midfielder helped the Shrews to win each of their first six games of his loan spell, but a late-season loss of form saw the team finish in 12th. loan roundup

john-kymani gordon

rob street Phillips starred at Shrewsbury alongside Palace teammate Rob Street, who also enjoyed a fine developmental full-season loan in Shropshire, netting four goals along the way; the forward declared it “a privilege to wear the shirt” after making 42 appearances.

At the time of going to print, Bradford lead Carlisle United 1-0 halfway through their play-off semi-final – the team for whom John-Kymani Gordon could feature. The young forward, having signed a contract extension at Palace in the winter, has attained plenty of valuable experience in League Two with the Blues, scoring on his senior footballing debut and adding another a fortnight later.

Another loanee to taste glory recently was defender Jake O’Brien and his adopted side RWD Molenbeek, who clinched the Belgian First Division B title on the final day of the season. O’Brien and his defensive colleagues delivered nine clean sheets over 32 games to secure victory – and, with it, the jubilation of promotion.

Scott Banks made it a Palace Academy hattrick as the winger took home Bradford City’s Young Player of the Season award, scoring six goals and assisting three more as the Bantams completed a late charge for the League Two play-offs.

In non-league, Reece Hannam made 17 appearances in the National League for Bromley FC, scoring twice, as they reached the play-off semi-finals before losing out on a place at Wembley to Chesterfield after extra-time.

DAN QUICK Fellow defender Dan Quick represented both Dorking Wanderers in the same division, and then Billericay Town in the Isthmian League Premier Division as they made a late push for the play-off places.

RYAN BARTLEY

JAKE O’BRIEN

scott banks

REECE HANNAM

MALACHI BOATENG Also gunning for promotion was Malachi Boateng with Queen’s Park, who despite leading the Scottish Championship table for much of the season, ultimately missed out on the title in the final game of the season, before falling short in the play-offs. loan roundup

Ryan Bartley impressed for Eastbourne Borough during 15 appearances in the National League South, as his adopted side fell just three points short of qualifying for the play-off places.

DAVID BOATENG And in the same division, David Boateng – who also enjoyed a spell at Queen’s Park before moving to Dover Athletic for the second half of the season – played 11 times in the division, scoring once and helping them to secure their survival on the final day, finishing ahead of Dulwich Hamlet by just two goals’ difference. A season of challenges but a campaign of achievement for many of Palace’s young prospects on loan, who return to the club with the benefit of senior football under their belts – ready to kick on.

premier league 2 table 22/23 pos

Club

player stats

31 +49 59

man city

liverpool

chelsea

Crystal Palace

fulham

Brighton

arsenal

everton

man united

blackburn

west ham

GD Pts

Name

Apps Goals

Tayo ADARAMOLA

46 29 +17 46

Joshua ADDAE

55 42 +13 43

Victor AKINWALE

45 42 +3 42

Kofi BALMER

50 39 +11 41

Ryan BARTLEY

58 49 +9 39

Freddie BELL

39 40

David BOATENG

51 -12 32

Maliq CADOGAN

46 64 -18 30

Owen GOODMAN

42 52 -10 29

John-Kymani GORDON

39 49 -10 28

Sean GREHAN

wolves

39 50 -11 28

Danny IMRAY

spurs

34 46 -12 28

Jackson IZQUIERDO

leicester

29 57 -28 19

Caleb KPORHA

Fionn MOONEY

Adler NASCIMENTO

-1

Home fixture Away fixture Cup fixture (Crystal Palace score shown first)

fixtures & results 22/23 AUGUST Mon 8 Brighton & Hove Albion W Fri 12 Manchester United W Fri 19 Fulham D Fri 26 Wolves W Tue 30 Swindon Town W SEPTEMBER Sat 3 Tottenham Hotpsur W Tue 6 Hertha Berlin W Fri 16 Chelsea D Wed 28 Paris Saint-Germain W OCTOBER Sat 1 West Ham United W Tue 4 Bristol Rovers L Sun 9 Everton L Tue 18 Plymouth Argyle L Sat 22 Manchester City D Mon 31 Arsenal D NOVEMBER Fri 4 Leicester City D Mon 14 Sheffield United W Mon 21 Newcastle United W Mon 28 Bristol City D december Sat 3 Bristol City L Mon 19 Newcastle United L

3-2 5-1 2-2 2-1 2-0 3-0 1-0 3-3 7-3 1-0 0-2 3-4 0-1 3-3 1-1 0-0 2-1 1-0 2-2 2-5 2-3

JANUARY Sun 8 Brighton & Hove Albion Fri 13 Sheffield United Mon 16 Fulham Sun 22 Liverpool Mon 30 Manchester City FEBRUARY Sat 4 Dinamo Zagreb Wed 8 SC Braga Mon 13 Leicester City Mon 20 Manchester United Mon 27 Tottenham Hotspur MARCH Sun 5 Everton Fri 17 Arsenal Fri 31 Liverpool APRIL Mon 3 Chelsea Fri 7 Blackburn Rovers Mon 17 West Ham United Mon 24 Wolves Fri 28 Blackburn Rovers MAY Wed 3 Valencia Sat 6 Liverpool Tue 23 PSV Eindhoven

premier league

W D L W L

4-2 1-1 1-2 1-0 0-5

L W D D D

1-2 2-1 1-1 0-0 1-1

W 1-0 W 2-0 W 1-0 W W D L L

2-1 3-1 3-3 0-5 0-3

W 1-1 (5-4) L 0-1

Jack O'BRIEN

Ademola OLA-ADEBOMI

David OMILABU

David OZOH

Killian PHILLIPS

Dan QUICK

Jesurun RAK-SAKYI

Jadan RAYMOND

Dylan REID

Kaden RODNEY

Laurie SHALA Cardo SIDDIK

Rob STREET

Franco UMEH

Matthew VIGOR

Noah WATSON

Jack WELLS-MORRISON

Joe WHITWORTH

Crystal palace u21s Tayo ADARAMOLA Victor AKINWALE Scott BANKS Kofi BALMER Owen GOODMAN (GK) John-Kymani GORDON Sean GREHAN Danny IMRAY Jackson IZQUIERDO (GK) Zach MARSH Fionn MOONEY Adler NASCIMENTO Ademola OLA-ADEBOMI David OMILABU David OZOH Killian PHILLIPS Jesurun RAK-SAKYI Jadan RAYMOND Dylan REID Kaden RODNEY Joe SHERIDAN Rob STREET Franco UMEH Matty VIGOR Noah WATSON Jack WELLS-MORRISON Joe WHITWORTH (GK)

jong psv

S. Jackson S. Fudge J. Block J. Miles

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D’Leanu ARTS Isaac BABADI Simon COLYN Livano COMENENCIA Matteo DAMS Koen JANSEN Mylian JIMENEZ Fedde LEYSEN Mohamed NASSOH August PRISKE Niek SCHIKS (GK) Dante SEALY Jenson SEELT Roy STEUR (GK) Mathiks TIELEMANS Renzo TYTENS Emmanuel VAN DE BLAAK Tim VAN DEN HEUVEL Jason VAN DUIVEN

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