7. Gabor Kiraly
Neal Simpson/EMPICS SportThe Hungarian goalkeeper was a favourite during his three years at Selhurst Park not just because of his reliability in front of goal but also on account of his interesting decision to wear tracksuit trousers instead of the more traditional shorts. This unconventional apparel was the source of no end of amusement for Palace fans as they would regularly sing the Tracksuit from Mantalan chant in his direction for jest. Humorous though the goalie may have been, his influence wasnt enough to keep Palace in the top-flight following the 2004/05 season; however Kiraly was the first-choice keeper over the man now considered to be a club legend Julian Speroni. In the 2005/06 season Kiraly manged to rack up 43-appearences in the Championship, keeping the Argentine alternative on the bench. However, despite being the first choice keeper, Kiraly believed he should be playing Premier League football and put in a transfer request. When no top-flight clubs inquired about the Hungarian, he was unceremoniously dropped to the bench in favour of Scott Flinders. However, when Flinders conceded seven goals in just two games, Peter Taylor was forced to reinstate Kiraly on the Eagles starting line-up. Despite being loved by the fans, Kiraly eventually got his wish and transferred to Championship rivals Burnley in May 2007. This proved to be a terrible decision as in the 2007/08 season the north west club finished 13th while Palace made the play-offs. Kiraly quickly fell out of favour at Burnely and was loaned out before eventually being released to play in the second tier of German football where he resides to this day. Given the phenomenal amount of success and praise Julian Speroni receives these days, Kiraly must wish that he stayed in south east London.