Sean Scannell

He joined Palace at 14 and notched 23 goals for the academy during the 2006–07 season, graduating to the reserves before breaking into the first team in the 2007–08 season. Scannell made his debut for Crystal Palace in a 2–1 win at London rivals QPR in December 2007, coming on as a substitute for Franck Songo'o. In his home debut against Sheffield Wednesday on 15 December, he again came on to replace Songo'o in the second half and scored a 90th-minute winner, his first senior goal in a 2–1 victory for Crystal Palace. He finished that campaign having featured in 25 games, earning him a call up to the Republic of Ireland Under-17's squad, and was named Palace's Young Player of the Year in 2008.[7]

Following this, Scannell was offered a two and a half year professional contract with Palace, and to beat off interest from, among others, Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton and Blackburn Rovers, chairman Simon Jordan placed his value at £3million. Scannell signed the contract at the beginning of the new year, and celebrated by scoring Palace's second goal in a 3–0 victory at Molineux against Wolverhampton Wanderers the following weekend.

Scannell is described as an exciting player with searing pace[8] and is one of many talents to emerge from Palace's academy in the last few years. He has also won the Crystal Palace Young Player of the Year Award 2008.[9]

At the end of the 2008–09 season, and still only 18 years old, Scannell was voted Championship Apprentice of the Year due to the outstanding potential he demonstrated throughout the season.[10] He made steady progress over the following two campaigns, but missed the first half of the 2010–11 campaign because of a knee injury, that restricted him to 19 outings over the 2010–11 league campaigns although he did manage to score twice in both seasons.[7]

The 2011–12 season was Scannell's best season for the Eagles, with 37 league appearances, four goals and three assists. His form early in the season earned him a new four-and-a-half-year contract with Palace in September 2011.[11] He was given the freedom to play down the middle or out wide drifting in and out of dangerous positions in the attacking line.[12] Scannell hit the ground running by scoring the equalising goal in Palace's game against Coventry City on 16 August 2011 where two goals in injury time would turn a 1–0 deficit into a 2–1 win.[13]

It was reported on 22 June 2012 that newly promoted Huddersfield Town were poised to make Scannell the club's first signing of 2012 since winning promotion to the Championship via the League One play-offs. The reports stated that Scannell who was linked with the Terriers in January 2012, had agreed a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee and would move subject to a medical.[14] Later that day, Scannell signed a three-year contract with Huddersfield, making him Simon Grayson's first permanent signing for the club.[9] He made his league debut in the 1–0 defeat by Cardiff City at the Cardiff City Stadium on 17 August. On 3 November 2012, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 victory versus Bristol City.

On 18 August 2017, Scannell joined Championship club Burton Albion on loan for the 2017–2018 season.[15] The loan was cut short on 11 January 2018 due to an injury.[16]

On 19 July 2018 Scannell signed for League One club Bradford City on an initial two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[17]

After one year at Valley Parade, Scannell joined Blackpool on a free transfer.[18] He was released in June 2020.[19]

On 2 September 2020, Scannell signed for League Two club Grimsby Town.[20]

As Scannell was born in England and is of Irish and Jamaican heritage, he is eligible to play international football for four national teams. His father being from County Armagh allows him the choice between Northern Ireland or the Republic.[6] He has represented the Republic of Ireland at Under-17, Under-18, Under-19, Under-21 and Ireland B levels.[14]

Scannell made his under-21 debut in a 1–1 draw with Montenegro in March 2008 at Terryland Park in Galway.[21] In 2007, he was awarded the Young Player of the Year award by the Football Association of Ireland.[9] Scannell was named man of the match in the under-21s' 1–1 draw with Germany on 10 February 2009 at Turners Cross in Cork.[22] He made 10 appearances for the under-21s between 2009 and 2012. On 30 July 2012, Scannell received his first call up to the under-21 squad since joining Huddersfield Town, for the European Championship qualifier against Turkey. He would play the final 10 minutes for the Irish in his 10th appearance.[23][24]

His good form with Palace led to him being recognised for the Republic of Ireland senior team by coach Giovanni Trapattoni, who called Scannell into his 28-man squad for friendlies against Serbia and Colombia in 2008.[25][26]

In May 2018, it was reported that Scannell had submitted the required paperwork to FIFA to declare for Northern Ireland and would be involved in the squad's upcoming Nations League campaign.[6][27]