Crystal Palace
Sewell made 204 first team appearances for Charlton, scoring five goals, before signing for London rivals Crystal Palace on October 25, 1963. Between 1963 and 1971, he made 258 appearances for Palace, scoring nine goals, mainly from the penalty spot. He became club captain in 1967-68, when Alan Stephenson left to join West Ham, and in 1969, led Palace to the First Division for the first time in the club’s history.
In 1970, his last season with Palace, he scored his best remembered goal in the closing seconds of a Division One match against league leaders Leeds United. The visitors were a goal up when the ball came to Sewell, thirty yards from goal, who chose to hit a speculative lob back into the penalty area. The Leeds goalkeeper, Gary Sprake, caught the ball at his goal line, and then inexplicably dropped it behind him into his own net.
In 1971, Sewell received a testimonial for his services to Palace, against Belgian club RFC Bruges. It was his last game in a Palace shirt. That same year, he joined an exodus of players leaving Selhurst Park to join their former coach George Petchey at Leyton Orient.
Read more about this topic: John Sewell (footballer)
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