Fans Survey (Part 1) - Most Successful Academy Product

Crystal Palace fans were asked: "Who do you feel the most successful youngster is to have come through the clubs academy in the past and why?"

The results are as follows: (Most answers included more than one name so all have been included)

Victor Moses – 48 (26%)

Nathaniel Clyne – 27 (15%)

Ben Watson – 21 (12%)

Kenny Sansom – 19 (10%)

Gareth Southgate – 18 (10%)

Wayne Routledge – 8 (4%)

Clinton Morrison – 6 (3%)

Hayden Mullins – 5 (3%)

Sean Scannell – 5 (3%)

Wilfried Zaha – 5 (3%)

John Salako – 3  (2%)

Kieron Cadogan – 2 (1%)

Jim Cannon – 2 (1%)

Kieran Djilali – 2 (1%)

Vince Hilaire – 2 (1%)

John Bostock – 1 (<1%)

Dean Gordon – 1 (<1%)

Lee Hills – 1 (<1%)

Martin Hinshelwood – 1 (<1%)

Paul Hinshelwood – 1 (<1%)

John Jackson – 1 (<1%)

Matthew Parsons – 1 (<1%)

Richard Shaw – 1 (<1%)

Tom Soares – 1 (<1%)

These results show that Victor Moses has been voted as the best Crystal Palace player to have come through the academy in the past by the 100 fans surveyed.

Victor Moses made his Crystal Palace debut at the age of just 16 when he came on as a substitute in an away match against Cardiff City. From this point on, he went onto make 58 appearances for the club in the next three years whilst scoring 11 goals. He was seen as a young and skilful player who, on his day, would terrorise defences with his pace and talent which saw his quickly become and firm fans favourite.

Victor Moses at Crystal Palace

It was only because of the club going into administration in January 2010 that Moses left the club for Premier League side Wigan Athletic in a £2.5 million deal. This step up to the top flight of English football was seen as a natural progression by most Crystal Palace fans for a player who had shown his potential and what he was capable of producing when on a football pitch.

Despite a slow start to his Wigan career, Victor Moses is now a regular in the side and in the Premier League where he is starting to show why many Crystal Palace fans felt that he was destined for the top flight. He has so far made 29 appearances for the club, scoring twice, with many more surely ahead of him being only 20. This helps to show that by him playing at a lower level with Crystal Palace, he gained the necessary experience to allow him to make the step up and he is now starting to become a success where this may not have happened had he started at a team in the top level of English football.

Signing for Wigan Athletic

In addition to this, Moses has represented England at under 16, 17, 19 and 21 level and has now been tipped to play for the Nigerian national side, the country of his birth.

Representing England at International level

Another key point of these results is that there are players from a number of different decades, showing that there is a good chance that successful academy players will stay in the minds of fans for years to come. For example, goalkeeper John Jackson made his debut for the club in 1964 and went onto make 346 appearances for Crystal Palace whilst the likes of Jim Cannon, Martin Hinshelwood, Paul Hinshelwood, Kenny Sansom and Vince Hilaire all made their debuts during the 1970’s. In comparison, the likes of Victor Moses, Nathaniel Clyne and Ben Watson, amongst many others, have made their debuts in the past decade.

Kenny Sansom

With the survey producing such varied results, this gives the impression that coming through the academy and having a successful career at the club will be remembered by fans and leaves a lasting impression. Due to players who made their debuts nearly 40 years ago being voted for, it also helps to show that the Crystal Palace academy have been producing its own talent for many years and will continue to do so in the future, making it a great club to join to learn and gain experience to form the basis of a long and successful career.