This interview was conducted in November 2024 and was initially published in the Crystal Palace v Fulham matchday programme - you can buy issues of the matchday programme by clicking HERE.
There is always a curious period an hour or so after full-time in a big Premier League game.
The global TV roadshow has rolled into town, poured over every blade of grass and rolled back out again. The enormous outside broadcast trucks evacuate the car-park, taking huge satellite dishes with them; the pitch-side cameras and lecterns are packed away, and the stands lie dormant once again.
On the pitch, those who didn’t play the full 90 minutes complete their warm-downs with the coaches. Their conversation echoes around the stadium when an hour earlier they would have had to shout to be heard from just a few yards away.
It’s a different world, and a reminder that the life of a Premier League footballer goes on once the bright lights and the competitive tension have gone away.
Waiting beside the pitch at Selhurst Park is Martin Kelly, who has been covering this particular game for Liverpool TV, but who made almost 150 appearances for Crystal Palace over a seven-year spell. Trotting over to catch up is former teammate Joel Ward.