This shows the club’s ability to compete at the highest level of development football after being awarded Category 1 Academy status in July 20220.
How the season unfolded is explained below.
A flying start (Leicester City, West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion)
The young Eagles started the 21/22 campaign by travelling to Leicester City. After initially going a goal behind, Palace turned it around with a quickfire brace from striker Victor Akinwale before half-time. Jadan Raymond added a third in the second-half to seal all three points in a 3-1 victory.
This result set the precedent for the season – showing the side’s resilience to comeback after going behind and demonstrating Akinwale’s impact at centre forward.
His first against the Foxes would be the first of 27 in all competitions, making him the Under-18 Premier League south's top scorer. More on that later.
West Ham were the first visitors to Copers Cope in the new season and fell as Palace recorded back-to-back victories thanks to goals from Akinwale and Maliq Cadogan.
The south Londoners made it three on the spin as they narrowly edged out West Bromwich Albion at the end of August. A 94th-minute winning header from Joe Ling saw the Under-18s win in a 3-2 triumph and shoot up the table.
Topping the table (Aston Villa and Southampton)
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the south Londoners. After seeing off one of the west midlands outfits, a tricky encounter at Bodymoor Heath against Aston Villa arose.
Despite dominating large parts of the game, Palace found themselves 2-0 down. A brilliant display of character, along with goals from Tayo Adaramola and Cadogan, saw the side fight back to earn a 2-2 draw and keep their unbeaten start alive.
Southampton were the visitors to Copers Cope at the end of September in a top-of-the-table clash. Midfielder Raymond found the only goal in a cagey affair to put Palace top of the league for the first time in the new season.
Raymond and Adaramola were awarded for their efforts at the end of the month with call ups to Wales and Republic of Ireland Under-19s respectively.
Last minute antics (Reading, Birmingham City and Arsenal)
Palace travelled to Reading at the start of October to consolidate their lead at the top. A topsy-turvy game saw the south Londoners secure a 2-0 advantage by half-time, only to find themselves 3-2 down by the 94th-minute. A last-gasp equaliser from Junior Dixon two minutes later saw the points shared and the unbeaten run extended in dramatic fashion.
This would be the first example to prove manager Rob Quinn's words at the end of the season: "We’re a little disappointed not to have secured the title, which we were more the capable of, but know the circumstances that prevented it... we know we didn’t manage games properly on occasion."
After the international break Palace's six-game unbeaten run came to an end. Much like the match before against Reading, the Eagles looked likely to snatch a point with an 89th-minute Akinwale equaliser against newcomers Birmingham City. However, the Blues scored a 90th-minute winner to depart Copers Cope with all three points.
Quinn’s side had no time to rest on their laurels as they travelled to Arsenal at the end of the month. Once again, a great display of character saw the Raymond-inspired Eagles secure a 3-2 victory after coming from behind twice.
West London struggles (Chelsea and Fulham)
The victory over Arsenal was the first of four London derbies for the young Eagles. November saw them face the renowned Chelsea Academy and the reigning Under-18 Premier League south champions Fulham.
A seven-goal thriller in south London ended 3-4 in Chelsea’s favour at the start of the month, with another decisive goal in stoppage time to snatch a point from Beckenham.
Midway through November, Palace made the short journey to Motspur Park to take on Fulham. The Cottagers looked as though they got the better of their guests, though Akinwale’s 10th league goal of the season levelled the scores at the death.
Winter progress (Tottenham Hotspur and Barnsley)
Two games in the space of four days awaited the Eagles at the start of December. The last of the four successive London derbies saw Palace comfortably brush aside Spurs with a 3-0 victory.
A clash with Barnsley in the FA Youth Cup third round awaited Palace just four days later. In what U18s manager Quinn described as his standout moment of the season, the young Eagles managed to turn it around late on with a winner from Ademola Ola-Adebomi resulting in a 2-1 victory.
Quinn went on to add: “Winning at Barnsley, when we went behind in a tough game, with tough gamesmanship, it was good for the group to show their resilience – which we know they have. To come from behind late and nick it there was a real positive and real good moment for us.”
Frustration and redemption (Norwich City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham City)
Palace welcomed Norwich City to Copers Cope after the Christmas break and were left frustrated by their visit. The resolute Canaries defence denied Palace's opportunity to move into second place as they withstood the home attacks to claim a point.
The FA Youth Cup fourth round saw Palace play at Selhurst Park against Wolverhampton Wanderers. An impressive display ended with another stoppage time goal and Palace later suffered a heartbreaking defeat on penalties.
It was easy for the south Londoners to feel deflated after the result, as Quinn explains: “I’ve missed penalties in the FA Cup and know what it feels like, so I could empathise and understand their disappointment. I said on the night: that result won’t define their careers. Be disappointed, but don’t have a hangover from it.”
In what was described as a “show of resilience and character,” the young Eagles went on to thump Birmingham City 4-0 to kickstart the first of five wins on the spin.
A north London double double (Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Norwich City)
Back-to-back clashes with the two north London sides beckoned for Palace at the start of February. An Ola-Adebomi hat-trick, which brought his tally for the season up to 10, saw Palace do the double over Spurs in a 2-4 victory at Hotspur Way.
A five-star triumph over the Gunners followed this, which meant Palace had done the double over both north London clubs and put a dent in Arsenal’s title hopes.
The end of the month saw another cagey encounter with Norwich, though this time the young Eagles managed to emerge victorious with Akinwale’s 14th goal of the season separating the two sides.
Pushing for top spot (Leicester City, West Ham United and West Bromwich Albion)
It was shaping up to be a five-horse race for the title in early March, and Palace faced two of the contenders back-to-back. They outfoxed Leicester at the beginning of the month with an excellent Fionn Mooney free-kick to secure their fifth straight victory.
Table-topping West Ham were next less than a week later, and victory would mean the young Eagles leapfrogged them to top spot. Though Palace managed to take the lead, first place wasn’t to be as West Ham emerged 2-1 winners to bring an end to the winning streak.
As has been the case throughout the season, the south Londoners bounced back quickly after defeat. They trounced West Brom 3-0 in their final game in March to keep their push for the title alive.
A fighting chance (Aston Villa, Southampton, Brighton & Hove Albion, Reading and Chelsea)
Just like earlier in the season, after West Brom came west midlands rivals Aston Villa, and Palace put in a statement of intent as they struck six past them, with Akinwale scoring a hat-trick.
After Villa, another top-of-the-table clash against the Saints awaited Palace, where a win would have made them title favourites. The south Londoners were on course for victory, but the Saints hit back and managed to secure a 93rd-minute winner to claim all three points.
The young Eagles suffered late heartbreak on the south coast again three days later, as fierce rivals Brighton & Hove Albion snatched a 1-0 win in the 90th minute.
Quinn says Palace's Under-18s can and will learn from conceding late this season, with the lads having reacted to the disappointment and learned for later in their careers.
Reading and Chelsea rounded off the month for Palace after the Easter break. Two defeats pushed Quinn’s side to third place, however a 3-0 drubbing over Reading kept their now-slim title chances alive.
Sharing a point after coming from behind twice against Chelsea meant the Eagles were no longer mathematically capable of winning the league, though they were building a steady buffer to secure third place.
Consolidating third (Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham)
The start of May offered a chance for redemption – and Palace took it. A 2-1 victory over rivals Brighton, courtesy of leading goalscorers Akinwale and Ola-Adebomi, not only secured a reponse to the late defeat the month before, but also mathematically ensured third place.
The concluding game of the campaign saw Palace defeat last season’s reigning champions Fulham 1-0 to seal third place and round off a solid second season in the Under-18 Premier League South.
By the end of the season Palace sat just nine points of first and could proudly boast of Akinwale being the league's top scorer.
He told the club: “It feels good. I feel like in pre-season I worked really hard, so I'm just happy to get top scorer. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t come higher in the league, but we did our best this season.”
You're not wrong, Victor.
