Our first interview of the season is with Palace youth player Mandela Egbo. The full back has represented England at youth level several times and featured in the U17 European Championship triumph in Malta earlier this summer. We thank Mandela for taking the time to answer our questions.
Q. Firstly, we have to start with the fantastic England U17 European Championship winning team in Malta that you were involved in. It must have been quite an experience, tell us about it?
Yes, it was amazing. Firstly, it is an honour to wear the three lions on my shirt in any match at any age. To be one of the lucky eighteen players who were able to do it in Malta, in a European Championship Finals, was wonderful. Winning on penalties in the final was the icing on the cake and a night none of that team and staff will ever forget. Now hopefully we can go and do that on a bigger stage in four years time.
Q. When did you start playing football and how did you end up at the Palace Academy?
I have been playing football for as long as I can remember to be honest. It has always been part of my life. I cannot have been much older than two or three when my father started taking me to the park to kick a ball around and since then I have not stopped! I started training properly at a local sports centre at around the age of six, and joined my first team, Hackney JFC, at the age of eight or nine. I played for them for a while before an unsuccessful trial at Chelsea when I was ten. I then joined a Sunday league team
based in Brixton called Afewee Urban and played for a midweek team a bit closer to home at the same time, Crown and Manor. It was playing for Afewee that I was scouted by Palace and spent a couple of months on trial here before being signed when I was twelve.
Q. What is it like to be part of the Palace Academy, perhaps you could give us a brief insight?
Well, it is an academy known for bringing youth through and that is evident by how many of us are given the opportunity to train with the first team every now and then. Another big part of the academy is team spirit. All the lads are good friends on and off the pitch and we will never say no to an occasional team Nandos.
Q. Palace have always given a chance to youth, you only have to look at Wilf Zaha and his big move to Manchester United. Is that something that you are aiming to emulate?
Yes, definitely. I hope Wilf gets given a chance this season because he deserves it and people will recognise again just how much Palace have to rely on their young players. Being a right back, however, I look more at Clyne being the one player I could emulate simply because we have similar playing styles and he is probably the most recent academy graduate playing regular top flight football.
Q. Other than yourself, who do you think has a chance of breaking into the first team from the Palace Academy?
There are so many amazing talents in the Palace academy, every one of us has a chance if we keep working hard and smart.
Q. What team do you support?
Palace of course! And Arsenal when they are not playing the Eagles.
Q. Which two players, one past, one present, do you admire most and why?
Thierry Henry is the reason I support Arsenal, and the reason I was a striker for so long. He is a role model, we share a birthday and he had a personality on the pitch that I would love to emulate, even from a more defensive position.
Zidane has got the be the player from the past that I admire the most. The most vivid memory that I have of him is his cheeky chipped penalty in the World Cup Final against Buffon.
Q. Which current first team player do you look to for inspiration?
All of the first team lads are amazing when it comes to talking to the younger players and making us feel part of the football club. For that reason it is hard to single one player out but I would have to say Joel Ward, because he is my competition to get into the first team and he had such a great season. Also, Mile Jedinak because he is a true captain and hard worker.
Q. What do you like to do when you are not training or studying?
I quite like hanging out with a few friends, going out for a bite to eat or to watch a movie and obviously playing a bit of FIFA!
Q. And finally, being a big music fan myself, I want to know which three tracks are your most played on your music player?
At the moment there are a two Afrobeat tunes that I cannot stop playing – Sona ‘No Wahala’ and Sarkodie ‘Adonai’. Lastly, UK artist Skepta’s new track with JME, ‘That’s Not Me’. As well as them, before a game I cannot go without listening to a bit of South London artist Stormzy. His stuff gets me in the zone before a game.
