Stuart O’Keefe: I take immense pride in Crystal Palace’s Premier League longevity

EXCLUSIVE
BY EDMUND BRACK
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk

Crystal Palace are gearing up to compete in their 11th consecutive Premier League season – and Stuart O’Keefe admits he still takes pride in the way his former club have grown and established themselves.

The Eagles’ longest consecutive run in England’s top-flight before they won the 2013 Championship play-off final was four years.

They reached the lofty heights of third in 1991 before being relegated in 1993, at the end of the inaugural season of the Premier League.

Palace have finished no lower than 14th since 2014 and have also been FA Cup runners-up in 2016 and semi-finalists in 2022.

O’Keefe was not always a guaranteed starter during his time at Selhurst Park. But the young midfielder went from playing at Southend United in League One as a 19-year-old to turning out at Wembley for the Eagles in the Championship play-off final and then scoring his first Premier League goal.

O’Keefe told the South London Press: “I have so much time to talk about the club. I love it. The memories and what it gave me – it’s such a brilliant place.

“For the club to establish itself in the Premier League for such a long time now is a credit to everyone involved with that football club.

“It’s rare to find a team that comes up and survives 10 – going on 11 – years. I take pride in it.”

It was a rapid rise for O’Keefe. He joined the Eagles in the summer of 2010 following a recommendation from the club’s now sporting director Dougie Freedman, who had been appointed as George Burley’s assistant manager after the South Londoners exited administration under new ownership, CPFC 2010.

“Coming from Southend, who were in a poor situation, to Crystal Palace, was a big deal for me,” said O’Keefe. “I played with Dougie at Southend.  I was a young lad – he always made sure I did things right and he looked after me.

“He spoke to me in the summer and said: ‘There’s a chance to come to Palace. It would be great for you’. I developed at quite a quick rate in that environment.

“Crystal Palace’s situation helped me. The squad wasn’t massive and they weren’t able to go and spend loads of money in that first stage after coming out of administration and finding their feet again.

“I was able to take advantage of that. I played a good game against West Ham reserves and then found myself on the bench at Ipswich in the Championship – it happened so quickly.

“I was thrown in the deep end and made me develop at such a quick rate – it was excellent for me.”

There were highlights in O’Keefe’s early stages with the club – keeping Park Ji-sung and Paul Pogba quiet in the 2-1 EFL Cup win at Manchester United in 2011.

He was kept out of the side for the majority of his time with the club in the second tier, featuring on the bench and filling in if Mile Jedinak, Kagisho Dikgacoi or Owen Garven were unavailable.

He did not complete 90 minutes once during the 2012-13 league season or play in back-to-back games under Ian Holloway or Freedman.

His most telling contribution in a Palace shirt came on the biggest stage against Watford in the 2013 Championship play-off final, replacing Dikgacoi, forced off with a calf injury, in the 17th minute at Wembley.

O’Keefe slotted in alongside Jedinak in front of an 80,000-plus crowd as Palace ended an eight-year wait for a Premier League return.

“It’s the best day of my life,” said the now 32-year-old. “We were a good team and a great squad.

“I could have never been at Wembley again or been involved in the play-offs, so I didn’t think of the football side of things – I just wanted to enjoy the occasion.

“Yannick Bolasie and Andre Moritz were on the bench but he (Holloway) stuck to what we knew as a team.

“It was all a blur. I was nervous and a bit anxious, so I was just trying to get my head around the fact I was going on in the biggest game in the club’s history in a long time. I didn’t have time to think about it all.”

O’Keefe booted the ball at Watford midfielder Almen Abdi midway through the second half following a foul that stopped Palace from carrying themselves up the pitch. His action spiked the noise levels from the section housing their fans.

He said: “It was a tetchy and cagey game before that. Both teams were working each other out. I came on, smashed someone and kicked the ball into someone’s face and everyone thought ‘there is a game on here’. It opened up after that, which helped us.”

Wilfried Zaha won the penalty that Kevin Phillips fired past Hornets keeper Manuel Almunia.

“When you have Wilf in your team, you want the game to be stretched,” said O’Keefe. “Watford committed people and that allowed us to go on the counter and Wilf to drive at Marco Casetti. It was only a matter of time before something worked in our favour.

“Afterwards there was such a sense of enjoyment, excitement and relief – so many emotions. I was overwhelmed because you didn’t realise what we achieved – for ourselves and the football club.”

O’Keefe’s first game in the Premier League – coming on for the final seven minutes against Sunderland – he curled a shot from the edge of the box beyond Kieran Westwood to seal a 3-1 victory.

“I still look back at it now,” admitted O’Keefe. “Sometimes things fall into place, and that day, everything fell into my favour.

“Making my Premier League debut, it was the club’s first win back in the top flight and it was my first goal as a professional, in front of the Holmesdale [Road Stand].

“When we had that 10-year reunion, you realise what that group achieved.

“To come from Southend to scoring in the Premier League, so quickly, was a credit to myself and to everyone who helped me on that path. My time at Selhurst Park meant the world to me.

“I was a young lad who had never experienced anything at that level or size of club. For me to go in and learn my trade, it made me grow up.

“I was playing with exceptional players. It really gave me a platform to have a career.

“To score in the Premier League and help Palace’s survival was the cherry on the cake.”