Unsung Heroes #1 - Marc Edworthy

Every club has its legends and of course Palace are no different. Whether you were around for the days of John Jackson, the era of Jim Cannon, along for the ride with Thomas, Wright and Bright, the sublime year of Lombardo, there will always be players lifted onto a pedestal above the others. But what of those that do the graft and get no credit?

Here at Flying High we want to celebrate those unsung heroes, to give them a little of the spotlight and remember just why they were important to their team at the time. To kick things off, Sam Hesketh has picked defender Marc Edworthy.

It may be cheating to use Edworthy as the first in our Unsung Heroes feature, due to the fact that he picked up the Player of the Year award in 1998, but it is rare to hear his name spoken when discussing good players that have graced the Selhurst pitch in the famous Red and Blue, so he is going to stay as my pick.

The club had the likes of Freedman, Hopkin and Martyn at the time of his signing from Plymouth so his star wasn’t shining quite as brightly as it might but he was a very solid right back. He could defend well, get forward with pace and cross the ball, endearing himself to the fans in his first year.

Despite giving away the penalty that led to Leicester’s equaliser in the 1996 Play Off Final, his performances continued to be very good and he was an integral part of the team that got promoted to the Premier League the following year. 

A near ever present in the team, he picked up the aforementioned Player of the Year trophy due to his consistency, solid dependability and ability to push forward, despite the team falling down the table with alarming speed in the second half of the season. Despite picking up the accolade, it will always be the season remembered for poor home form, spunking money on Ismael and Zohar and, of course, the joy of seeing Lombardo play for us.

He might not have had the tricks or the goals or any real recognition outside of SE25, but Marc Edworthy was a quality player who worked hard and was an important cog in a team with its fair share of decent players. He was my favourite player at the time (these were the days before the  real emergence of Clinton) and I still look back fondly on his Palace career. 

Did you see Edworthy play for Palace? Were you a fan? Let us know!