The Palace for Life path that led Teddy to an Academy Trial

Every home matchday, Teddy and his Dad, Olly take their place behind the goal of the Whitehorse stand in clear view of Dean Henderson, studying how he defends his box. Teddy is only nine years old but that view, alongside his raw talent on the pitch helped along by the Palace for Life football pathway, has helped him secure a trial at the Crystal Palace Academy.

Teddy and Olly sit behind the goal in the Whitehorse stand on matchdays

The moment he was offered a trial is not something any nine-year-old budding goalkeeper is going to forget, and what makes his story stand out is how clearly you can trace that very moment back through the sessions he’s participated in with Palace for Life.

Teddy didn’t start playing football in any structured way until September 2023 when he joined London Kickers, a local South London grassroots club. Before that, he’d only played in a handful of local sessions in the park and the usual kickabouts with his Dad in the garden. It wasn’t long before Teddy settled quickly with London Kickers as an outfield player, and by Christmas, his coaches had moved him from the U7s to the U8s.

Incidentally, this was around the same time he chose Palace as his team which helped turn football into something he not only enjoyed but also genuinely cared about.

Early the following year, Olly, asked around about Palace for Life and was hearing positive things, so cue Teddy’s first experience with Palace for Life: an Easter half term Soccer School. It was an instant hit. “From the get-go, that was it,” Olly said. “It was all he wanted to do.” A month later he was running out of the tunnel at Selhurst Park for our Play on the Pitch event, telling us afterwards that it felt like being “one of the players.”

That feeling seemed to have stuck.

From then on, he was at every Soccer School he could get to, at every school term break at the Kent County Cricket Club, suitably located right next to the Crystal Palace Training Ground.

“There’s something exciting about training near where the Premier League players train. For these boys, it must feel amazing.” Olly noted.

Once again, Teddy was grabbing the attention of his coaches. Within four months of that first Soccer School in Easter, Teddy was invited onto Palace for Life’s Emerging Talent Centre (ETC), which is the natural next step within the Palace for Life pathway for talented players looking to develop their football.

Olly remembers how surprising and encouraging that felt. “He’d only just started football properly,” he said, “but Palace for Life recognised he had something.” Teddy threw himself into the ETCs from the first session. Smaller groups, brilliant coaches, playing at the Academy every Friday, things were clicking.”

Soon enough, the ETCs became the one session each week he really looked forward to. “It had a real cachet,” Teddy’s dad said. “Training at the Academy at these incredible facilities, it feels really special, both for the kids and the parents.”

At this point, Teddy is still an outfield player, but somewhere along the way, he started to express an interest in goalkeeping. At home he loved diving around and saving shots, but didn’t get many chances in goal with his grassroots team and luckily it was Palace for Life that gave him the room to explore it.

One morning before a session, he announced to his coaches he wanted to try the goalkeeper session and the thankfully, they agreed. Andrew, our goalkeeper coach, took him on. “He improved every week,” Olly said. “Without those sessions, he wouldn’t have got to a point where he’d have wanted to be a goalkeeper.”

From there, things began to build on their own. Aaron, one of the ETC coaches, started putting him in goal more for matches in training and against other clubs. By the end of the season, he’d become the ETC’s unofficial goalkeeper. That gave the family confidence to let him commit to the position properly and he joined Dulwich Village Blacks as a full-time goalkeeper.

Teddy loves it. “It’s fun and a really good standard,” he said.

By spring 2025, all the little pieces, the Soccer Schools, ETCs and the extra coaching, were adding up. Teddy’s understanding of the game had jumped and he was starting to look more comfortable. Ask him what he likes about goalkeeping, it’s the responsibility that comes with the position. “Defending the team,” as he puts it.

What about the pressure? He says he enjoys it because “when you do save the team, it’s fun.”

Then came October 2025, when Palace for Life selected him for a recruitment showcase fixture which is a proper chance for young players to test themselves and be seen. Teddy played well, and as he walked off the pitch an Academy scout came over to him and Olly and said, “I think you’re good enough to be in the Academy.”

It was the first time anyone from the Academy had spoken to them directly.

Following the showcase fixture, Teddy was offered a few more opportunities to develop and be assessed in different environments. His performances were strong and consistent, with one tournament in particular where he conceded just two goals in seven matches and saved a penalty and that naturally led to further chances for coaches to see how he handled real match situations.

This progress within the Palace for Life pathway led Teddy to hearing the news he’d been hoping for. But never expected: an eight-week trial with the Crystal Palace Academy.

Michael, Palace for Life’s Football Development Coordinator, had been hearing about Teddy’s progress in the background from the very start: “His name kept coming up for his strong performances, hard work and great attitude” Michael said. “Fun, enjoyment, working hard – those were the phrases that kept being fed back to me.”

Palace for Life Football Develop Coordinator Michael Cleary, kept hearing positive feedback about Teddy’s development

He explained that Teddy’s journey through Palace for Life hit every part of the pathway the way it was designed: the fun and freedom of the Soccer Schools, the focused detail of the Development Clinics, the team-based challenge of the ETCs and the specialist work of the goalkeeper sessions. “He had the best of all worlds, as well as that technical development and then the game realism” Michael said.

For Olly, the constant through all of this has been how Teddy has felt. “We weren’t chasing academies,” he said. “Our main concern is his happiness. Palace for Life has always been welcoming, focused on development, never too pressured. It’s got the right ethos.” He describes Palace for Life with two words: “kids thriving – whether that’s children just taking part and having fun over half term, playing football for football’s own sake, enjoying being in a team, or children who want to push themselves further.

Teddy recreating the iconic Eze celebration

He continued: “Palace for Life manages to be both participation-based and meritocratic, which means whatever standard a child is at, there’s space for them. They can get fantastic coaching, be part of a nurturing, family-friendly environment and, if they work hard and it’s something they want, Palace for Life can also give them the chance to showcase their skills in front of people from the football world.” For Olly, that balance, a place that’s both a stepping stone and a home for great grassroots football and fun, is exactly why Teddy has thrived.

Ask Teddy about his favourite moments and he picks out two: hearing he’d been invited into ETC and then hearing he’d earned his Academy trial. His favourite thing about Soccer Schools hasn’t changed either, it’s always been “playing with my friends and enjoying football.”

And when you ask where he dreams of playing one day, he gives the best answer a young footballer can: “Any pitch, because it’s a football pitch.”

Teddy and Olly spoke about their experiences with Palace for Life at our December Investors Club event

In early December, Teddy and Olly were the guest speakers at the final Palace for Life Investors Club event of 2025. Speaking on stage before Mark Bright and Darren Powell, they both shared how their experiences both as a participant and a parent at Palace for Life had become a dream come true.

For more information on the Palace for Life football pathway, head here.

To read more about the Investors Club, or to join, head here.