Crystal Palace honours Jedinak with Chairman's Award
Former Australia captain Mile Jedinak has been honoured with a unique Chairman's Award by Premier League club Crystal Palace.
Two weeks after announcing his retirement, Socceroos great Jedinak, who played 179 times for Palace - captaining the club in its 2013 EFL Championship play-off final win over Watford - has been honoured with the club's Chairman award.
“[Jedinak] is a very special player, a very special person," Palace chairman Steve Parish said. "He’s just retired from the game.
"When he arrived he came to us from Turkey, I think we had to pay the princely sum of £50,000 to secure his services. From the moment he arrived, he was a massive, massive presence at the club.
"He drove the team and probably drove me. Sometimes Mile was most unhappy when we’d won - in the dressing room afterwards. [He had] such high standards that he expected of himself and everybody around him.
"Promotions are won on the pitch but they’re also won with the attitude: 46 games, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday. And nobody had a better attitude, nobody was more robust, nobody drove everybody on, expected more from everybody and delivered more himself than Mile Jedinak. It’s an absolute privilege and a pleasure to give him an award."
Reflecting on his time at the club, an emotional Jedinak spoke of his pride at being able to lead the players back to the Premier League.
"I always got immersed in everything Crystal Palace is and Crystal Palace will always be," he said. "There’s a big spot there for me, and my family, for that matter. They all know and we all know the importance of Crystal Palace in my journey and, without it, it looks totally different.
"To play alongside that [Crystal Palace squad], to be part of it, to captain them, to be teammates, to be mates, to be friends… this group was really, really special. It was all a fantastic privilege for me.
"I have enjoyed every single moment, all the obstacles, all the challenges, thrived in the environment. The next chapter is yet to be written, but only time will tell."
In 2016 Jedinak sealed a move to Aston Villa - then in the EFL Championship - with whom he reached another play-off final in 2017.
He was released by Villa in 2018-2019, before formally announcing his retirement this month.