My First Football Shirt: Ed Malyon

Crystal Palace football shirts are some of the most under-rated shirts on the vintage market. From sash designs to classic sponsors and manufacturers, the London club have a huge number of great kits, and Ed Malyon knows it!

We caught up with Ed, Managing Director of The Athletic UK, to talk Crystal Palace shirts and knee slides at family weddings, wearing PSG shirts in PE and Ventola lobs.

What was your first ever football shirt?

🗓 On this day in 1995: Dougie Freedman scored the first of his 108 goals for Palace in a 1-1 draw with Stoke City!#CPFC | https://t.co/utMcYSlISB pic.twitter.com/b6eSmsBenV

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) September 30, 2020

It was the 1995 Crystal Palace shirt made by Nutmeg (pretty sure they don’t exist anymore) and sponsored by TDK (who probably don’t either). I got it for my 6th birthday and the next day was my Aunt’s wedding, once I’d completed my page boy duties in classic sailor suit, I switched to my Palace kit for the reception and ran around doing knee-slides. Simpler times ….

What is your favourite football shirt?

Paris Saint Germain, 2001/02. #FastForwardFriday pic.twitter.com/74OgOGLRHt

— 90s Football (@90sfootball) February 14, 2020

I used to collect them when I was younger and have quite a decent stash somewhere. At least 50. My favourite is either the 2000 PSG home shirt (which I insisted on wearing for PE at school) or the white Portugal away shirt from Euro 2004 which I had with Figo on the back.  Honourable mentions to my classic Kaizer Chiefs effort and Deportivo Wanka home kit.

What is your favourite ever goal?

Nicola Ventola’s lob against Southampton in 2004/05. Ultimately meaningless but it really sticks with me as a great moment – it would have kept Palace up and the kid had barely played all season through injury. He came on and scored this amazing effort and everyone thought we’d done it. I would pick one of the ones at Brighton away in recent years – the problem is the aftermath was so frenzied every time that they’ve all become a bit of a blur.

Nicola Ventola was minutes from being Crystal Palace's saviour. The injury-jinxed Italian loanee talks about his goal against Southampton in 2005 that so nearly kept #CPFC in the Premier League... | @domfifieldhttps://t.co/UwjNTz8jcU

— The Athletic UK (@TheAthleticUK) March 23, 2020

Thanks to Ed for speaking with us!

If you want to read more about the football memories of players, writers, and more you can buy the full Your First Football Shirt book. Discover Alan Shearer's first ever football shirt, Carl Anka's most cherished shirt and more. All proceeds go to the charities CALM and Willow.

We also have a range of shirts from Ed's beloved Crystal Palace in-stock, which you can check-out here.