'I want to play for Crystal Palace in the Premier League and my ...

Joe Whitworth knows the question is coming. He has been asked it many times before and the issue never seems to go away. Even on Tuesday night, as he prepared to defend a penalty for Exeter City against Birmingham City, the chant from the away fans behind his goal touched upon it. “Alfie May, he’s taller than you,” they sang.

For the record, May is 5ft 9in.

So the question is whether Whitworth, a goalkeeper on loan at the League One club from Crystal Palace and who is under 6ft tall himself, believes his relative lack of height has held him back.

“No, not at all,” the 20-year-old tells The Athletic. “My dad said to me that you just have to make every other part of your game strengths. I’ve done that over the years. My height might have been a disadvantage, but I don’t think it is anymore. The average goalkeeper height has gone down a lot and you see a lot more shorter goalies than before. It doesn’t matter at all. My agility, speed and power help me.

“People will always look at crossing but I feel like I’ve dealt with that really well and improved a lot. My height won’t hold me back.”

As for the Birmingham fans’ chant, it is fair to say it tickled him. “That one was probably my favourite. When you play in big stadiums there aren’t many people near the pitch. But at these grounds, there are people right, right next to you, shouting and telling you you’re this and that. I love it, it makes me play better and I thrive on that.

“Instead of getting rattled about it, if you laugh they’ll respect that and laugh back.”

That is a mature attitude from a young player experiencing his first taste of regular senior football. Whitworth has risen through the academy ranks at Palace, the club he and his family support, after joining from AFC Wimbledon aged 13. Now, after waiting patiently for regular senior involvement, the loan to Exeter is offering opportunities. Before the midweek round of games, no goalkeeper across the Premier League or Football League boasted more clean sheets this season than his nine in League One. Five of those came in consecutive appearances.

“I don’t really get too honed in on loads of stats, but I want more,” he says of the shut-outs. “One of the things about coming here was Exeter’s track record of bringing young players in, developing them and moving them on to bigger things — look at Jay Stansfield and Luke Harris (both now at Birmingham, the latter on loan from Fulham), and Viljami Sinisalo (now of Celtic) in goal last season.

“When I spoke to the gaffer, Gary Caldwell, I saw how much confidence he had in me and how much he thought I could bring to the team. He wanted me to come in and be a leader from the off. I feel I’ve done that. The goalkeeping coach, Kevin Miller, being an ex player was a big thing. It really helps that he played and he can give me tips when we go through clips of games.

“The main thing for me is to become a leader of the group and play as many games as possible. I’ve consistently performed. I’m loving life down here; the group is good, we are really together. The gaffer and Kevin Miller have been amazing with me on and off the pitch.”

That is Miller the former Palace goalkeeper who featured 76 times for the club between 1997 and 1999. Whitworth is too young to have seen him play, but says his grandad has shared his memories.

“He’s told me a few times about some different games, some of the saves he’s made. No videos yet, but I’m sure that’ll come,” he says. “When he brought me in he told me he had so much confidence in me, how many times he’d watched me and how much the gaffer believes in me. When you come in and see it, hear how they speak to me… it gives me confidence from how much they believe in me.

“The main thing they wanted me to bring to the team was the ‘in possession’ stuff and my personality.”

How would he describe his personality? “You’ll have to ask someone else,” he says through a smile. “No, I feel like I’m energetic and a leader on and off the pitch. My willingness to win comes out. I want to drive standards, help people out, be there for people and lead. I’m quite loud and I communicate a lot.

“Playing outfield as a striker for a long period of time when I was younger definitely helped me playing out from the back. The in-possession side of my game has always been very good; one of my standouts. The game is moving in a way where a lot of teams play out from the back and want the goalie to be on the ball a lot. It massively helps me. I like to show what I can do with the ball at my feet. It does give a different dimension to our team and helps us a lot.

“I came here to play as many games as possible and make an impact. I want to perform consistently — to play 40 or 50 games here. We want to be in the top half of the table and push for the play-offs. That would be incredible.”

Whitworth might have had to wait for his first senior loan, but he already has Premier League experience under his belt.

He has made two top-flight appearances for his boyhood club. Vicente Guaita was ruled out of Palace’s match with arch rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in March 2023 through injury and, with Sam Johnstone also absent, then manager Patrick Vieira turned to Whitworth to fill in at the Amex stadium. The youngster found out only hours before kick-off that he was playing.

“To be on that pitch with the Palace badge on my chest was my dream and my family’s dream as well,” he says. “My grandma, grandads uncles, mum, dad — everyone’s been there watching since before I was born.

“The only thought in my mind was to perform well for the team because I knew how big a game it was. To lose (1-0) hurt me so much. It didn’t really sink in for probably weeks. Then it came to a year after I played and that was probably when I was like: ‘Wow, I actually achieved this dream and played in the Premier League like so many young people growing up want to.’ It was amazing.”

His second appearance came a few days later in a 4-1 defeat away at Arsenal, this time under his former Under-18s and Under-21s manager Paddy McCarthy after Vieira’s dismissal in the wake of that defeat at the Amex.

“I just remember him saying that he was proud of me,” Whitworth says of McCarthy. “We have been through a lot together and to get to that moment was the pinnacle of anything in English football.

“The Emirates stadium being so big, with 75,000 people there… that was my first real taste of playing in front of that many people. It was a tough result but I absolutely loved playing for Palace in front of the away fans. I’ll be forever grateful for it.”

That evening the song from the away end was “Super Joe Whitworth in goal” as the travelling support serenaded one of their own. It has been repeated by the Exeter faithful this season, his status helped by a penalty save — something he made a habit of with Palace’s under-21s — in his first game against Yeovil Town during pre-season.

“When it first started at Palace it really put a smile on my family’s face,” he says. “Then the fans at Exeter have been amazing with me and them singing that song means the world to me. To be able to hear it after I’ve made saves, before games and when I come and clap the fans is great, and I love it.

“I believe I’m going to save every penalty I face. You can watch clips of people as much as you want, but anything can happen in the moment. As a goalie unit here we will watch clips of penalties of every basically every player in the opponents’ team and see where they go. But in the moment I just go with my gut feeling. I’ve saved a few so it’s worked for me.”

Whitworth has had to wait patiently as his contemporaries, in particular fellow Palace academy goalkeeper Owen Goodman and Brighton’s James Beadle, both his age, have secured loan moves of their own — to Colchester and now Wimbledon, and Oxford United and Sheffield Wednesday respectively.

“I love that guy,” he says of Goodman, while he has played against Beadle on numerous occasions over the years when Palace have come up against Charlton, from whom Beadle was signed by Brighton. The pair are good friends.

There is no bitterness at having to spend an extra season in academy football compared to Goodman.

“Seeing Owen do really well in League Two over the past two seasons… it’s been amazing for me to speak to him and get advice off him because this is my first year in senior football,” he says. “We speak most weeks. It’s different for every goalkeeper and, for some reason, it didn’t happen with me that year. I’m not bothered at all. Seeing my mates doing well and getting experience was the important thing. Now it’s my turn.”

He has aspirations to play for England, where he has also risen through the youth ranks. But further recognition will be reward for performing well domestically. And, while his priority is winning games with Exeter in the south-west, it is back in south London where his heart lies.

Not far from Selhurst Park, just a five-minute walk up Whitehorse Lane, there is a street that bears his name. The stadium’s proximity to Whitworth Road adds to the sense that the family is intertwined with this club. His younger brothers, Harry and William, are also goalkeepers at the club’s academy. Palace is in their blood.

“I’ve been told about that road ever since I was young, mostly by my granddad,” he adds. “I haven’t played at Selhurst in the Premier League yet, but to do that would be the pinnacle and reward for me and my family for all the hard work we’ve put in. That will be the biggest thing I’ve done for sure.

“I want to play for Palace in the Premier League. Whether that’s soon or in four or five years’ time, I’m not bothered. I want to play for them again and play for them consistently.”

(Top photo: Andrew Vaughan/Getty Images)

Matt Woosnam is the Crystal Palace writer for The Athletic UK. Matt previously spent several years covering Palace matches for the South London Press and contributing to other publications as a freelance writer. He was also the online editor of Palace fanzine Five Year Plan and has written columns for local papers in South London. Follow Matt on Twitter @MattWoosie