In July 2020, Crystal Palace’s Academy was awarded Category One status – the highest possible classification for an academy in England.
More than six years on, Donte Martin is the latest Young Eagle to catch the eye in front of goal, with back-to-back hat-tricks helping the Under-18s record consecutive league victories and take his tally to an impressive 11 goals in 10 games this season.
With the young forward finding the net at a remarkable rate, we look back at some of the Academy’s most prolific goalscorers since achieving Category One status.
His prolific form helped the Young Eagles finish second in the U18 Premier League South, missing out on the title on goal difference alone. Omilabu was subsequently named the division’s joint-top scorer and the Club’s U18 Player of the Season.
The versatile forward also played a decisive role in the Under-23s’ promotion to Premier League 2 Division One, scoring an extra-time winner against Wolves in the Play-Off Semi-Final after signing his first professional contract in March 2021.
Despite an injury-disrupted 2021/22 campaign, Omilabu returned to feature regularly for the Under-21s the following season, adding eight goals and seven assists. During his time in South London, he managed 34 goals and 14 assists in 86 appearances…
97 appearances
After joining Palace from Watford at Under-16 level, Zach Marsh registered 12 goals and 12 assists in 24 appearances during his first season with the U18s in 2022/23, earning the age group’s Player of the Season award.
He took his game to another level the following campaign, captaining the U18s on occasion and scoring six hat-tricks before an injury against Chelsea in the FA Youth Cup cut his season short in February 2024.
By that point, he had already amassed 24 goals and five assists across 25 appearances.
Marsh returned the following summer and made a strong impression stepping up with the U21s, contributing six goal involvements in his first 12 games back. He continued to feature regularly throughout 2024/25, finishing the campaign with five goals and seven assists.
Last season, Marsh topped the U21s’ charts for both goals and assists, recording 11 and seven respectively as Darren Powell’s side reached the Premier League Two quarter-finals and the last eight of the Premier League International Cup.
His overall return of 52 goals and 29 assists in 97 appearances makes him the leading goalscorer among the players featured here.
70 appearances
Benji Casey’s rise through the age groups gathered pace in the second half of the 2023/24 season, when he made his U18s debut in the Premier League Cup semi-final against Manchester United before opening his account against Arsenal a week later.
He finished that campaign with seven goals in 11 appearances, then registered 12 goals and an assist during his first full season at the level in 2024/25.
Casey truly came into his own in 2025/26, scoring 19 goals in just 18 appearances across all competitions. His return included two hat-tricks and the best minutes-per-goal ratio in the U18 Premier League South, finding the net once every 74 minutes.
His rapid development was recognised with a senior debut in Palace’s 3-0 UEFA Conference League victory over Shelbourne, where he made an impressive cameo from off the bench.
Back at Academy level, his goalscoring proved instrumental as Palace reached their first FA Youth Cup semi-final in nearly 30 years and lifted the Club’s first U18 Premier League Cup. In the final against Manchester United, Casey won and converted a dramatic 94th-minute penalty to force extra time before the Young Eagles prevailed in the shootout.
His performances subsequently earned him the Academy’s Scholar of the Year award.
An injury-disrupted start to the current campaign, however, has since limited his opportunities, but his record stands at 41 goals and 10 assists in 70 appearances.
56 appearances
Donte Martin is the latest Academy forward to make headlines with his goalscoring exploits, having joined Palace at Under-15 level in 2023/24 before progressing to become a regular in Javier Alonso’s U18s.
He scored more than 30 goals in his first Academy campaign, followed by 27 in 2024/25 as captain of the U16s. That form earned him a step up to the U18s, where he scored twice in six appearances towards the end of the season.
Martin’s first full campaign at the level in 2025/26 brought further progress. He featured in 36 matches across all competitions, scoring 15 goals and providing four assists, with nine of those goals arriving in his final 13 appearances. He also signed his first professional contract in November 2025.
Now, the forward has taken his game up another notch.
Martin opened the 2026/27 campaign with a brace against Tottenham Hotspur before scoring against Fulham to help Palace recover from three goals down and claim a 3-3 draw.
He then struck twice in a 3-0 win over Leeds United to keep the Young Eagles’ Premier League Cup defence alive.
Since the international break, he has been unstoppable: a hat-trick in a 6-2 victory at Ipswich Town followed by another treble in a 5-3 win over Reading.
Those performances have taken Martin to 11 goals in 10 appearances this season, bringing his overall Academy tally to 29 goals in 56 games – and counting…