Clubs: Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient

David Payne had supported the Palace from the Whitehorse Lane terraces as a boy and he joined the club as an apprentice on 1st January 1964. He signed as a full professional later that year and made his senior debut in the closing months as a 17-year-old. Manager Dick Graham only released his young star upon the Second Division scene slowly, David's first game was at Preston in early December.

He became a regular midfield member of the league side in the following season, 1965/66, and in three seasons he rarely missed a match, although a mid-season injury at Millwall restricted his appearances in the club's 1968/69 promotion team to a mere thirty. However he was fit for the final, crucial eight games of that successful season and was immediately restored to the side which clawed its way remorselessly to the runners-up position. Fans of that period remember with pleasure and admiration David's ceaseless energetic displays. His tough tackling and midfield vision alongside Steve Kember were all vital components in the triumph.

David was not a big man but, like several Palace midfielders and defenders of that time, but he excelled under intense and almost continuous pressure in the top flight. As the situation demanded, David would play almost anywhere. He actually wore eight different numbered shirts for Palace in four seasons in the First Division, and even in such illustrious company he was rarely outshone. Indeed, it was in that elite division that David's unflagging workrate, selfless running and accurate distribution proved him to be a player of the highest calibre.

England manager Alf Ramsay included David as a substitute for the under-23 side against Wales in Swansea on 1 November 1967, but Palace folk of that era will always contend that David was worthy of further and higher honours. He eventually left Selhurst Park for Leyton Orient in August 1973, joining several other former Palace stalwarts at Brisbane Road when Malcolm Allison was re-shaping the club. But his departure was regretted by Palace fans who had always held this likeable young man in immense respect and affection.

Statistics

	Games	Goals
1964/1965	8	0
1965/1966	29	0
1966/1967	42	2
1967/1968	42	2
1968/1969	35	4
1969/1970	33	1
1970/1971	42	1
1971/1972	46	1
1972/1973	49	1
Total	326	12

Source: Crystal Palace FC, Player by Player Since 1960, Rev. Nigel Sands, (1996, Sporting and Leisure Press)