So I'd like to remind you of three of Crystal Palace's finest wingers.
Don Rogers.
The stylish yet understated Don Rogers signed from Swindon Town in 1972 for £150,000 and went onto make 83 Appearances scoring 30 goals. He went on to become one of the Eagles finest ever players and fondly remembered by their fans for his destruction on Manchester United in 1972 when he scored two fine goals, in the process overshadowing Best, Law and Charlton.
With a Mexican bandits moustache and a languid gait with one drop of the shoulders "The Don" was off with a turn of devastating pace leaving many a defender in his wake. Though his stay was brief in an unspectacular side, Rogers brought a touch of class to Selhurst Park. Look up his legendary game against Manchester United on You Tube and you will see why Don Rogers is remembered as Crystal Palace all time great.
Peter Taylor.
It's funny now, but Peter Taylor is known more today for his exploits as a manager, particularly his stint as England Under 21 manager. Yet he was the replacement for the aforementioned Don Rogers. He was signed from Southend in 1973 by the flamboyant Crystal Palace manager Malcolm Allison and went onto make 142 appearances and scored 39 goals. Growing up as a young boy he was one of the players I admired for his dribbling, though not quick he could beat players and had an air of mischief and invention about him. He led Crystal Palace to the 1976 FA Cup Semi Final and has the distinction of being one of the earliest players selected for England who played outside the top flight. He gained 4 caps and scored 2 goals for England and only a loss of form after a big money move to Tottenham and the emergence of other wing talents such as the mercurial Gordon Hill and maverick Peter Barnes stopped him gaining more caps.
Vince Hilaire
I like wingers. If there were three wingers I would have loved to be in the late 70's and early 80's it would be Steve Coppell, Laurie Cunningham and Vincent Mark Hilaire. I loved to watch all three, but it was Vince that carried the most buzz for me, he was labelled like a lot of black wingers of the time a bit "flash" but being "flash" was alright by me.
Vince made 255 appearances and scored 29 goals in his pomp for Crystal Palace. Not nearly enough goals in retrospect compared to Don Rogers and Peter Taylor. Yet Vince Hilaire was more than goals. He was to a generation of fans, loathe him or love him (and plenty racists hated him) the exciting epitome of Terry Venables's "Team of the 80's" made up of young talents such as Terry Fenwick, Jerry Murphy, Kenny Sansom and Billy Gilbert. Though Fenwick and Sansom would grace future World Cups, "Vince The Prince" didn't quite scale those heights but he is remembered for his swagger and style and as a true pioneer for black footballers in Britain.
What he must be remembered for is electrifying football, tip toeing down the wing daring the full back to challenge and then skinning him alive in the full glare of often racist terraces. Being black and with a neat afro Vince appeared to bring a touch of the exotic to Selhurst Park and became a firm favourite. He is almost forgotten by historians when they mention emerging vanguard of black talent in the 80s as history tends to remember Laurie Cunningham, Cyrille Regis and John Barnes but Vince was right up there with them. He went on to star at Portsmouth and Leeds and played for England Under 21s.
Two Palace wingers of the 90's, Eddie McGoldrick and John Salako, get an honourable mention both effective rather than exciting wingers when Steve Coppell managed the team, yes the same Steve Coppell mentioned above. Victor Moses, now briefly on loan at Chelsea and Liverpool, now at Stoke, promised much at Palace in his formative years, failed to live up to expectation but is yet another winger in Palace lore. Zaha and Bolasie are building a reputation for exciting wing play at Palace. Under Alan Pardew, a Coppell disciple himself I expect Zaha and Bolasie to join the pantheon of Crystal Palace wing greats.
