When Eagles Dare charts Crystal Palace F.C.’s remarkable resurgence from financial ruin and administration in 2010, to playing in the 2013 Championship Play-Offs for promotion to the Premier League.

When Eagles Dare

## World Cup winner ##
> After a season-and-a-half on loan to Swansea City, Marc Guéhi was recognised as one of the Championship's brightest prospects. He joined Palace in summer 2021.

Guéhi signed a five-year contract with the club, committing his services until summer 2026.

He became Patrick Vieira’s third signing as Palace manager.

Guéhi was born in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire - the same city Wilfried Zaha was – and moved to England aged one. He spent much of his early years in Lewisham and began his youth career with Bromley-based Cray Wanderers.

It didn’t take long for Guéhi to attract attention and, aged just seven, he was scouted by Chelsea.

Progressing over the following decade with the Blues, Guéhi did enough to stay at the club year on year and reaped the rewards with an immensely successful peer group.

Winning the treble with the Blues’ Under-18s in 2016/17, Guéhi signed his first professional contract in September 2017 and went on to help Chelsea scoop the quadruple – including the FA Youth Cup and league – that same season.

Guéhi’s Academy team helped to reinforce Chelsea’s image as one of the fiercest youth sides in England, as the centre-back played alongside the likes of Reece James, Tariq Lamptey, Billy Gilmour, Conor Gallagher and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

But it wasn’t just at club level where Guéhi enjoyed success with a noteworthy youth team, as the teenager won the Under-17 World Cup with England in 2017. Indeed, Guéhi captained the Young Lions to the U17 European Championship final that same year and scored in the World Cup final just months later.

These performances ensured Guéhi was rewarded with a taste of first-team football, and he began to be named in Chelsea squads in spring 2019 – being a senior substitute on four occasions in 18/19.

His breakthrough came in the League Cup against Grimsby Town as the Blues stormed to a 7-1 victory with Guéhi in the backline. He again earned professional minutes for Chelsea in a fourth-round defeat against Manchester United, and secured a loan move to Swansea City shortly after.

Guéhi fought to secure his place over a half-season with the Swans that was disrupted by the league’s suspension in March. Having returned from the pause, Guéhi played in Swansea’s final five matches and helped to clinch a sixth-place finish.

Play-off heartbreak came for the first of two times as Swansea lost on aggregate to Brentford in the semi-finals, but Guéhi went on to enjoy personal progression the following season regardless.

2020/21 was something of a landmark for the defender, who returned to Swansea on loan for a full campaign and played 45 games. He became recognised as one of the league’s brightest talents and helped Swansea climb further up the table with a fourth-place finish.

Swansea and Guéhi continued to go one better than 19/20 by reaching the play-off final, but football showed its unforgiving side once again as Brentford overcame them for a second time. Guéhi played in every minute of the three play-off matches.

Guéhi describes himself as “strong, comfortable on the ball and hopefully growing to be a leader one day.”

These traits are evident in his play, with the 21-year-old having captained England Under-21s and made himself a mainstay for Swansea despite being one of the squad’s youngest players.

His attitude became clear when a post-match interview with him went viral across social media. Having earned a spot at Wembley and consecutive Man of the Match awards from Sky Sports, Guéhi humbly rebuked the accolades by saying: “The first time I was really surprised. Now I think it’s getting a bit ridiculous! Everyone was fantastic today, to a man. I could name everyone. For me to get this again, I don’t know.”

On the pitch, Guéhi is assertive and vocal, often heard organising his teammates with confidence. This confidence is reflected in his willingness to drive out from the back and distribute possession from relatively high up the pitch.

During a solid first season with Palace, Guéhi captained the club for the first time against Watford in February earned a debut England call-up in March 2022, making his debut in a 2-1 win against Switzerland.

UEFA European Under-17 Championship, 2017

Team of the Tournament

Crystal Palace March 2022

Player of the Month

Crystal Palace, 2021/22

Players' Player of the Season

Shirts

Twitter

Appearances

Goals

The first team 'secretly' voted for their player of the season

Andersen & Guehi on their defensive partnership

Marc Guéhi speaks about the loss to Newcastle United

Don't Let It Drip!

Marc Guéhi takes questions from the press before the FA cup semi-final

Marc Guehi wins W88 Player of the Month for March

Marc Guehi on a goalscoring cup performance

Marc speaks to Palace TV after hearing of first senior Three Lions selection

Marc Guehi explains the focus needed to defend against Man City

Marc Guehi reflects on another clean sheet on the road.

Marc and Conor join forces to rate each other's performances

Marc Guehi on a clean sheet at the Brentford Community Stadium

Crystal Palace vs Hartlepool | Access All Over

Marc Guehi reflects on a goalscoring performance against Pools

Marc Guehi on an end-to-end game at Selhurst

Goals Inside Box

Goals Outside Box

Right Foot

Left Foot

Shots

Shots on target

Hit woodwork

Penalties taken

Penalties scored

Touches

Touches in opposition box

Aerial duels

Aerial duels won

Interceptions

Blocks

Recoveries

Tackles won

Duels won

Clearances

Minutes

Attempted passes

Successful passes

Chances created

Crosses

Yellow cards

Red cards

Fouls won

Fouls Conceded

Season

Games

Crystal Palace’s Academy side burst onto the scene last season, after achieving Category 1 status and – in their first season at that level – taking the league by storm.

Famous victories over Chelsea, Tottenham, Arsenal and many more followed, as an unlikely title challenge became a very real possibility.

Led by former-Palace heroes in Paddy McCarthy and Darren Powell, the squad – many of whom have played together since their early teenage years – grew and developed, exhibiting some stunning football along the way.

In this fly-on-the-wall documentary, go inside the dressing room as they deal with the challenges of facing the very best young players in the country. Hear directly from both McCarthy and Powell, as well as many of the major figures in the squad including Jack Wells-Morrison, Joe Whitworth and Fionn Mooney.

Two players from the side have already gone on to make their first-team debuts, with Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Tayo Adaramola both featuring under Patrick Vieira this season.

You can [watch all three episodes on Palace TV+ by clicking HERE](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/palace-tv/).

Throughout the 2020/21 season, a Palace TV camera crew followed the club’s Under-18s side as they took a thrilling title race right down to the wire. Get unrivalled access to the next generation of south London talent with all three episodes of Coming of Age: The Step Up available to watch now.

Watch Coming of Age: The Step Up documentary now

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Teammates at Academy level can be fleeting. Players come and go, and squads change as they rise through the age groups, but many of the players in front of him had been together since their early teenage years – if not before.

The new Palace TV+ documentary *Coming of Age: The Step Up* captures McCarthy’s final pre-match team talk to his Under-18s side, who had defied the odds by taking the title race right down to the wire in their first season at Category 1 level.

**Read every word of his inspirational address below:**

“It might be the last time we sit here as a group shoulder to shoulder. Enjoy every last minute of it.

“Make sure you leave it all out on that football pitch. Don’t bring anything back in here.

“Now I don’t know a lot, but what I know about is two things. I know about people, because of where I'm from. And I know about football, because that’s all I've ever done.

“The biggest thing in both of them is trust. That one word: trust. The most powerful thing in team sport is trusting.

“Get your heads up and look around at every individual in this room. And you know you can trust your mate beside you. You know he’s going to run himself into the ground. You know he’s got major quality. You know you when you need to scrap and fight, and when it gets tough he’s beside you.

“And that is the most powerful thing in sport, and not only in sport, in life. Trust yourselves, enjoy it and leave it all out there.

“Come on, let’s go!”

[Watch the full documentary on Palace TV+ by clicking HERE](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/palace-tv/)*.*

On the final day of the 2020/21 season, with Crystal Palace needing a win to keep their chances of an U18s Premier League title alive, Paddy McCarthy addressed his players for a final time.

Every word from Paddy McCarthy’s inspirational dressing room speech

The new Palace TV+ documentary *Coming of Age: The Step Up* demonstrates how the passion of the club’s fans runs right through the young players, with boyhood Palace supporters proud to pull on the shirt in the most important game of the season.

“Next week, you do not need any external motivation,” Under-18s manager Paddy McCarthy tells his players before their trip to the south coast. “Next week is one that this football club demands that we go and win – demands that we go and fight for.

“Rocking down to Brighton with our heads held high and our chests puffed out, knowing that we’re going to be on the front foot and take the game to them as well.”

After his speech, McCarthy takes boyhood Palace fan and Academy midfielder Jack Wells-Morrison aside.

“Go again, let’s go get these,” he tells him. “You know what it means to Palace fans next week, don’t you?”

“Biggest game of the season,” comes the reply.

“For everyone,” the manager agrees. “You know what it meas. Make sure the rest of them know what it means. This is the one. Let’s get down there and get in their faces and get at them.”

For goalkeeper Joe Whitworth, it’s the same story.

“I’ve been coming to Palace since I can remember, since I was four or five when my mum took me,” he says. “I’m really proud to be at Palace, and really proud to be at the club.

“Paddy and \[Darren\] Powell made sure we knew how much of a big game this was, and me and Jack made sure all the lads knew we had to win this game. We couldn’t lose.”

Wells-Morrison has a similar perspective.

“My whole football life the only thing I’ve ever known was Palace,” he says. “I know what it means to wear that shirt, I know what it means to the fans.

“As a Palace fan, you can’t lose one of those games.”

In the dressing room at Brighton, Paddy McCarthy called on the two die-hard Eagles in his side to press the message home.

“Jacko, what does it mean to Crystal Palace fans coming to Brighton?” he asked.

“Everything,” Wells-Morrison responds. “I know that every Crystal Palace fan will be watching this game and wanting us to win. I just want to beat them.”

McCarthy wheels around. “Joe, as a Palace fan what does it mean?”

“It’s everything – we have to win it,” Whitworth replies passionately. “We can’t lose it. We’ve got to win it.”

As the team stand up to head out to the pitch, McCarthy delivers one final instruction.

“These are the games,” he shouts. “We leave everything out there to go and win it.”

Their passion worked. Palace scored first, and restored their lead before half-time after Brighton’s equaliser. Then, in the second-half, they let loose.

Kaden Rodney’s 25-yard strike was the pick of the bunch, but Jack Wells-Morrison celebrated wildly after adding two of his own. The Eagles ran out 5-1 victors.

*To watch* [Coming of Age: The Step Up in full via Palace TV+, click HERE](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/palace-tv/)*.*

Even at Academy level, there is no better feeling for a Palace player than beating Brighton & Hove Albion – especially on their own patch.

Inside the Palace v Brighton rivalry at Academy level

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Academy

Academy

Watch Coming of Age: The Step Up documentary now

Every word from Paddy McCarthy’s inspirational dressing room speech

Inside the Palace v Brighton rivalry at Academy level

Shop online

Latest Videos

Coming of Age: The Step Up. Episode Three | PalaceTV+

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6Marc
Guéhi

Academy

Academy

Watch Coming of Age: The Step Up documentary now

Every word from Paddy McCarthy’s inspirational dressing room speech

Inside the Palace v Brighton rivalry at Academy level

Shop online

Latest Videos

Coming of Age: The Step Up. Episode Three | PalaceTV+

End of Season Lap of Appreciation | 2021/22

Kells: Palace hero on and off the field

The Full 90: Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester United | PalaceTV+

Extended Highlights: Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester United

Wilfried Zaha speaks on the pitch after scooping fan award

6MarcGuéhi

6Marc
Guéhi