Head back 76 years, and the landscape was very different. But at Crystal Palace, history was about to be made by a pioneer determined to make his way in the English game.
After an early career at Belgian side OC Charleroi, Marcel Gaillard arrived in London with big ambitions – and even bigger self-confidence.
A Belgian national and aged just 20-years-old, it is fair to say the odds were stacked against him. After all, this period immediately after the Second World War meant social tensions were still high, economic turmoil still substantial and the national game still emerging from its unhappy and compulsory hiatus.
After a spell with Tonbridge in non-league football, however, Gaillard joined Crystal Palace and made Selhurst Park history exactly 75 years ago today, becoming the first overseas player to represent the club. He wasn’t satisfied to merely etch his name in the record books, and he underlined his significance by netting in a 5-0 demolition of Watford and becoming the first overseas scorer too.
English football fans took Gaillard to their hearts, and the Glaziers finished midtable in his first campaign in south London.