A local lad, Puncheon also stated that he felt it was always his destiny to play for Palace, spending six happy seasons before departing in 2019 to play in Cyprus, where he remains today as manager of Akritas Chlorakas.
Speaking exclusively to the matchday programme for Saturday's game with Millwall, Puncheon reflected on his time at Selhurst Park and – amongst other memories – picked out his first season as a highlight, where Palace recovered from a difficult start to stay in the Premier League.
"I think that first year in the Premier League remains the standout," explained Puncheon. "To say in the league the way we did, with Tony Pulis coming in and steadying the ship, it was a massive, massive achievement.
"People always say to me the FA Cup in 2016 [reaching the final] but I think my biggest achievement was in that first season.
"I don’t think it gets the credit it should, because without that season we wouldn’t have been able to go and get the calibre of players we got down the line.
"We only had a few players at the start, who actually had Premier League experience from before that season, then we got the likes of Scott Dann in January. But everybody wrote us off. That team did so well."
You can read more from our interview with Puncheon by picking up Saturday's matchday programme, where the former Palace midfielder also discusses his loan spell with Millwall, which infamously featured scoring a hat-trick against the Eagles.
Match Details
Crystal Palace v Millwall:
- Saturday, 1st March
- 12:15 GMT
- FA Cup Fifth Round
- Selhurst Park
- Tickets available for Season Ticket Holders and Members.