The Palace legend made 151 appearances for the club, scoring six times and starting at Hillsborough in the famous battle with Sheffield Wednesday, before being named club captain in 2010.
He returned to Palace as Under-18s coach, before moving up to the Under-21s and later the first-team, taking charge of Premier League games against Arsenal and Everton.
But what is it like to be in the dressing room with a leader like McCarthy?
In 2021, our cameras were in the dressing room before his Under-18s took to the pitch for a vital final match of the season, looking to keep the title race alive.
He sent them off with this rousing speech, which you can read every word of below:
