“So many good times, man!” When looking back at Wilfried Zaha’s best moments, it’s an exclamation you would expect to hear across a pub in south London.
After all, the winger's achievements with Palace were the stuff of legend.
This time, however, the words came from the man himself. Sifting through a selection of iconic images as his mural began to be created earlier this year, Zaha couldn't help but smile at some of the key moments.
The centre-piece, a celebration from an equaliser at West Ham, immediately stands out. Zaha picks it up.
“I absolutely love this image,” says artist Marc Silver. “I think the passion is absolutely incredible. It’s a great image.” Zaha agreed.
“That is my celebration most of the time,” he explains. “I didn’t score, but… there are a few words you can associate with me, and one of the main ones is: ‘Passionate’. However I feel, I will express how I feel.
“That game was a tough game, and we managed to come back to 2-2 in the end. It was a difficult game but we ground it out.
“That was me celebrating the second goal – believe me, that is recognisable to the fans.”
Club photographer Seb Frej was on hand to capture the passion in all its glory, although very nearly at some personal cost.
“I love that West Ham picture,” he remembers. “I almost got banned from West Ham because I was running to get him!”
Seb’s photographs litter the selection, including a particularly poignant example of Zaha’s effect on Palace's younger generation.
As a jubilant Zaha dances down the touchline in celebration – the image the winger chose for the right-hand side of his mural – a recognisable ballboy punches the air.
That ballboy has gone on to make his debut for the Palace first-team: Joe Whitworth. “Oh wow, that’s crazy!” Zaha laughed. “I didn’t even know that. Does he support Palace? I didn’t know that, man, that’s crazy – and now he’s training with us!”
Of course, any mural of Zaha would not be complete without reference to arguably his most iconic goals: the goals that sent Palace on their way to the Premier League.
A double at the Amex against Brighton & Hove Albion in the 2012/13 Championship play-off semi-finals – does it get any better?
“That had to go in, because it’s one of my most memorable goals for the club on the way to the Premier League,” Zaha said. “That’s definitely going in there.
“It has to be in there because that is one of the biggest games I have played in here.”
It’s a near-impossible task to distil Zaha’s Palace career so far into just a few images, but Silver and his colleagues have done a tremendous job.
As Zaha surveyed the assorted memories, there was one final comment: “I can’t believe I’m 30 – it’s a long time, man. So many good times.”
