With Christmas fast approaching, we caught up with Under-21s 'keeper Marcus Hill to discuss childhood traditions, family rituals, and the festive chaos that makes the season so special.
The U21s keeper has gained valuable minutes with the U18s this season, delivering a series of assured performances – including a 4–2 win over Leicester and a commanding 4–0 victory against Chelsea – where he produced several impressive saves.
Palace’s 2024/25 Scholar of the Year is now looking ahead to the Christmas holidays and the chance to spend quality time celebrating with his family.
“Honestly, my earliest memories are a bit blurry – just flashes of tearing open presents and the usual family chaos.
“But one thing I do remember is that every Christmas Eve the whole family would pile around the tree and read Christmas books together. At the time I thought it was a bit cringey… but looking back, it was actually pretty nice.”
“One year I got a pair of Adidas Predator boots – still probably my favourite Christmas present ever. I must’ve been about nine. That’s about as far back as my memory goes!”
“Wake up… then immediately wake everyone else up. I was the one going around the house telling everyone, ‘Come on, it’s time to open presents!’ That was what Christmas morning was all about for me.”
“We still get up early and gather around the tree as a family. We take turns opening presents one by one, which weirdly makes it more exciting.
“After that we get changed, pack everything away, and head over to one of our cousins’ houses. The rest of the day is just hanging out with the whole family – and I always love seeing my cousins.”
“There is one that always gets talked about. My youngest cousin – he was about four or five – was running around the kitchen full of energy, like always.
“They’ve got one of those floor-level wine cellars, and the hatch was open. He didn’t see it and took a little tumble straight down… landing on a family member who was already down there.
“For a split second everyone panicked, but he bounced straight back up without a scratch. There were a few dramatic screams before we realised he was perfectly fine – and now it’s one of those stories we all laugh about every year.
“Other than things like that, all my Christmases blur into one – all just as good as the last.”
“I used to. At school we had Christmas Jumper Day and I had one with Rudolph on it – the nose even lit up!”
“It was mainly watching the Boxing Day games with my family, then heading outside to play football in the garden with them.
“At the Academy we don’t play actual matches over Christmas itself – just over the festive period – so it’s mostly training every day, which isn’t too bad.”