Crystal Palace v Manchester City Monday 14th March 2022 // 8:00pm
Will Hughes started his career at an early age, playing eye-catching football with flair. Rumours circulated that the then-teenager would sign for England’s biggest clubs, or even Barcelona. Here, he tells Ben Mountain how that formed his humble, grounded attitude and why he became the industrious player he is today.
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over the road The Palace Academy has produced players from Steve Kember to Wilfried Zaha, and plenty more in between. Here, we look at some of the talented prospects in the system today.
Tayo Adaramola age: 18 / position: Left-back / joined: Under-12S
highlights so far Making his professional debut for Palace in the FA Cup against Hartlepool United, then earning his first start against Stoke City.
Take note of Adaramola can bomb up and down the left flank, looking comfortable on the ball and keen to support the attack. He often plays as a wing-back in a very advanced position, almost with such frequency you’d mistake him for a winger. inside the academy
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getting to know Tayo Adaramola -
When you see Tayo in full flow it can take your breath away, but his standout quality is his attitude. He wants to do more and more and more; he’s an enthusiastic young man and a credit to his family. Paddy M©Carthy Under-23S manager
The last month has been transformative for Tayo Adaramola. At 18-years-old, the left-back made his professional debut in the FA Cup and then started, and played 65 minutes, against Championship side Stoke in the next round. The two games were landmark achievements for the Academy player, who signed professional forms with the club in 2020. With Tyrick Mitchell the only designated left-back in the first-team currently, Patrick Vieira called Adaramola up to senior training for the past few months. His Hartlepool debut was the denouement of that experience, with Stoke providing the teenager a platform to build on. “Right now I’m over the moon,” he said after his debut, beaming. “I can’t even explain how I’m feeling too much. I don’t even know what to say – I’m still shocked!” Adaramola was informed he’d made a senior squad in a unique way: by Jaïro Riedewald, with the Academy player disbelieving of his now-teammate. But Riedewald has often been referenced by younger prospects as a supportive influence, saying last season: “I think everybody in the squad has been a young lad coming into the first-team. I’ve been there myself at an early age – I was 17 when I met the first-team of Ajax. I know how Inside the academy
it is – when you come to the firstteam you see all these big names, big players in the dressing room, on the pitch. It has quite an impact.” Adaramola reveals this approach has been extended: “Jaïro is a great guy. He took me under his wing as soon as I came up… He went through the Academy at Ajax so he knows how it can be when a young lad comes up and the first-team players don’t really talk to them. So he tries to guide us young boys when we come up.” Now Adaramola has two Palace appearances to his name his task will be to continue at first-team level. He called his hour against Stoke “steady progress,” modestly and astutely describing it as “a happy moment for the Academy.” And it’s in the Academy where the left-back’s platform has been built, as he developed first in the portacabin era and now among the phenomenal new facilities. He is fully aware of the support he has: “My mum, my dad, the coaches; I can’t even name everyone, but everyone knows they’ve put in work to help me get to where I am now. “Right now I’m enjoying playing football a lot. I have two great managers in the Under-23s and Under-18s which push me every day. Now with the gaffer [Vieira] and first-team I’m learning a lot every day. I’m enjoying it. It’s probably the most I’ve ever enjoyed it [football].”
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quiz, games, brighty & more!
Put your Palace, opposition and Premier League knowledge to the test in our various challenges below. The perfect way to pass time pre-match - let us know how you fare via social media!
virtual mascot
Guess who
Welcome to today’s virtual mascot, Alfie Greenwood! We hope you have a great day at Selhurst.
Can you guess the ex-Eagle above just from their picture?
matchday quiz 1
Where did Steve Coppell begin his playing career?
2
Sun Jihai played for three English clubs: Palace, City and who else?
3
Which national side did Paul Dickov represent?
4
Which of these countries did Malcolm Allison manage: Lebanon, Kuwait or Azerbaijan?
5
True or false: Paddy McCarthy professionally represented Manchester City.
GAmes
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FAMOUS FAN
guess the ground
Can you work out which Football League club’s stadium this is?
‘The Hitman’, a former boxer, defended his IBO light-welterweight title at the then-City of Manchester stadium. Having been a supporter all his life, this well-known Citizen was born in Hyde, Manchester, and was part of the club’s Academy at an early age. Do you recognise this famous Manchester City supporter?
BEAT BRIGHTY In each edition, club icon Mark Bright calls it how he sees it and predicts scores from the day’s football. See how you fare and try to Beat Brighty! Scoring: One point for every correct result, three for a correct scoreline.
Brighty
You
0-2 3-0 2-1 0-1 total Manage to Beat Brighty? Keep track of your total score above!
ANSWERS Guess who: Kieran Djilali Quiz: 1) Tranmere Rovers 2) Sheffield United 3) Scotland 4) Kuwait 5) False (academy player) Famous Fan: Ricky Hatton Guess the Ground: Valley Parade - Bradford City
games
Crystal palace f.c. Jack BUTLAND (GK) Joel WARD Tyrick MITCHELL Luka MILIVOJEVIĆ James TOMKINS Marc GUÉHI Michael OLISE Cheikhou KOUYATÉ Jordan AYEW Eberechi EZE Wilfried ZAHA Will HUGHES Vicente GUAITA (GK) Jean-Philippe MATETA Jeffrey SCHLUPP Joachim ANDERSEN Nathaniel CLYNE James McARTHUR Remi MATTHEWS (GK) Christian BENTEKE Odsonne EDOUARD Conor GALLAGHER Martin KELLY Nathan FERGUSON Jaïro RIEDEWALD Tayo ADARAMOLA Jesurun RAK-SAKYI
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 22 23 34 36 44 45 49
manchester city f.c. 02 Kyle WALKER 03 Rúben DIAS 05 John STONES M. Atkinson L. Betts R. West
06 Nathan AKÉ 07 Raheem STERLING 08 Ilkay GÜNDOGAN 09 Gabriel JESUS 10 Jack GREALISH
S. Hooper
11 Oleksandr ZINCHENKO 13 Zack STEFFEN (GK)
J. Gillett H. Lennard
For Ticketing, reaction and highlights download the Official Palace App
14 Aymeric LAPORTE 16 RODRI 17 Kevin DE BRUYNE 20 Bernardo SILVA 25 FERNANDINHO 26 Riyad MAHREZ 27 João CANCELO 31 EDERSON (GK) 33 Scott CARSON (GK) 47 Phil FODEN 80 Cole PALMER 87 James McATEE