When thinking back to Crystal Palace legends, Wilfried Zaha is almost guaranteed to be one of the first that almost everyone will think of. The Ivorian was at Palace for 13 years of his career and a further 10 years in the academy and 16 years ago today, he made his debut.
There are very few players who will bring more of a smile to the face of Crystal Palace fans than Wilfried Zaha.
The former Eagles attacker would get into every single Palace fan’s dream team and it is clear to see why, with the dual international inspiring the Eagles to some of their greatest ever wins and moments.
Zaha had two spells at Palace, spanning a total of 11 years, and there were a further 10 years where he was in the academy, and a further two years spent on loan at Selhurst Park from Manchester United.
He was Mr Crystal Palace and on this day 16 years ago, it was his time to shine.
A debut for Palace
Aged just 17, a fresh-faced Wilfried Zaha stripped off his tracksuit bottoms and readied himself to enter the field for the Eagles.
It culminated a decade of being in the Palace academy, whom he joined at the age of eight.
Palace caretaker manager Paul Hart had seen enough in training, it was time to bring him on and see what he could do on the pitch.
Zaha replaced Stern John on 27 March 2010 to make his debut for the club and his professional football debut.
He played for 10 minutes as Palace slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Cardiff City.
A few days later and he signed a two-year professional contract at Selhurst Park.
What happened next?
That was Zaha’s only appearance of that season but he became heavily involved the year after with 41 appearances in the Championship, registering one goal.
He would play a further 41 matches the following season and then 43 the one after that, before Manchester United decided to take a chance on him.
Eagles fans were stunned to see that Zaha’s move to Manchester United did not work out, and having played just twice in the Premier League for the Red Devils, he was sent on loan to Cardiff City.
The following year and he was back at Palace, this time on loan, where he registered his first goal in the Premier League.
Zaha would then move back to Palace the year after on a permanent deal and he would go on to be a talisman for the next eight seasons.
In total, he scored 90 goals in 458 matches for Palace before electing to go to Galatasaray to taste Champions League football.
Now Zaha plies his trade in the MLS with Charlotte FC, where he is on his second loan deal from Galatasaray.
He will likely be representing Ivory Coast at the World Cup this summer, as they face Germany, Curacao and Ecuador in Group E in the USA, Mexico and Canada.