Looking back at Matthews' Premier League debut ball presentation
With Remi Matthews having extended his contract with the club until 2025, we take a look back at the goalkeeper's milestone moment - and subsequent Premier League debut ball presentation - earlier this season.
The then-29-year-old goalkeeper, who first joined Palace in the summer of 2021 – after impressive spells with Norwich, Doncaster, Plymouth, Bolton and Sunderland – had previously been named on the bench 23 times for the Eagles before his debut day arrived.
But when Sam Johnstone suffered a calf injury with five minutes of regulation time left on the clock against Liverpool at Selhurst Park in December – and with Dean Henderson at that stage on his way back from injury – Matthews’ long-awaited opportunity came to fruition.
While Liverpool went on to win that game, the Palace goalkeeper could still take pride in the milestone of both his Premier League and Eagles debut.
Presented with his Premier League debut ball ahead of the following training session by goalkeeping coach Dean Kiely, Matthews told Palace TV: “Obviously it’s another reminder of making a dream come true.
“I’m delighted to receive that, and thank you to the Premier League for doing it. It’s a nice touch and I look forward to putting it on my bedside cabinet.
“With all the messages and the texts and the phone calls I got after, it took a few days to sink in and realise I’d played in the Premier League. That’s something me, my old man and my family had always wanted to achieve. No-one can take that away from me now, and I’m delighted to have done so.
“People don’t see the hard work that we, as a goalkeeping group, and me individually, have done over the years. It’s been a long 10 years in professional football but I’m delighted to play in the Premier League and at Crystal Palace as well. I’m delighted and let’s see what happens from now.”
Matthews became the 17th goalkeeper to represent the club in the Premier League, with Vicente Guaita making the most appearances (149) and Nigel Martyn leading the way for percentage of clean sheets recorded (25 from 79 matches, at 32 percent).