Yannick Bolasie, the boy from Wembley way, aiming to light up FA Cup final for Crystal Palace
Tricky winger grew up in shadow of famous stadium and hopes to make his mark on Saturday, he tells Matt Gatward
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Your support makes all the difference.Yannick Bolasie was going to arrange a bus for his mum and other family members to get to the FA Cup final on Saturday - but then thought better of it. “Willesden to Wembley. It’s not worth it really,” he reasons of the three-mile journey.
The famous old stadium is so close to the Bolasie family home on a north London estate that you can see it from Yannick’s old bedroom window. His mum Yolande still lives at the house and it’s where Yannick and his brothers grew up, just walking distance from where his team will take on Manchester United on Saturday.
So a young Yannick must have been buzzing whenever there was a Cup final on?The crowds, the noise, the atmosphere? Except one gets the impression from speaking to a laidback Bolasie at the Crystal Palace training ground in south London this week, that he doesn’t do buzzing, more chilling.
“I don’t remember really,” he says of Cup final day. “I was probably playing ‘Wembley’ and not really focusing on that. With about 40 other kids that weren’t interested. Just playing football. We didn’t really take notice.”
Bolasie, 26, says Saturday will be a “dream come true” but he’s not the sort to get over excited. Maybe the stadium isn’t as daunting for him as it is for some, familiarity breeding complacency. That, and having already played there as a kid. “I played at the old Wembley for Brent Borough district,” Bolasie explains. “I was 12, we played half the pitch. It was still an experience, [being] at Wembley. It was an an actual tournament. There was quite a few people there: 10-15,000 watching.”
None of this means the fleet-footed, skilful, winger is taking appearing in an FA Cup final for granted, not after his circuitous route to success. His isn’t the typical spotted-as-a-boy, taken-up-by-an-academy, worked-up-the-system to the first team story.
It has been some journey. Born in Lyons, France, to Yolande and Gaby Yala from the Democratic Republic of Congo the family moved to Willesden when Yannick was young. His late father represented his country - Yannick has as well now - but he admits not paying much attention until, aged 14, he saw Thierry Henry score a hat-trick at the San Siro for Arsenal which “made me want to play football [professionally].”
His first crack at the senior stuff was with amateur side Hillingdon Borough but his career then took an unusual turn when aged 18 he had a trial with the Maltese club Floriana. “At the time, I was nowhere near [getting picked up by a professional club]. I didn’t know why. The opportunity to go to Malta was a surprise. I didn’t know anything about Malta but I had a chance to play football full time. It was a no brainer.”
After a year Plymouth Argyle signed him. He made 50 appearances but was also sent out on loan to Rushden & Diamonds and Barnet before he joined Bristol City in 2011 then Crystal Palace a year later, aged 22 after a hectic and often frustrating four-year spell.
The last four years, during which time he has had two children who fill his time off the field, have been more settled. He has made 132 appearances for the Eagles now and has scored 12 goals. “Palace offered me the opportunity to come and play and I took it with both hands,” he says of then manager Dougie Freedman’s interest. “The chance to come back to London was great but I didn't care about what money I was getting, I just wanted to play because I knew playing would make me improve. When you look at Wilf [Zaha] on the other wing I knew there was gap there and I thought I could come and do something special. Every year at Palace I’ve improved and added a lot to my game.”
Hopefully my mum will enjoy Saturday because it’s her birthday and I can make it special. Hopefully, I can [give her] the FA Cup. She’ll be more than happy
Including goals, and none more important than the first in the semi-final win over Watford - which made up in some way for him not getting off the bench during Palace’s 2013 Championship play-off win over the same club. “Scoring early in the semi-final did a lot for me personally,” he says. “I had to out-jump Troy Deeney and he jumps a lot in the role that he plays for Watford. So beating him was good for myself. Now I am just looking forward to playing in the final.
“United expect to win. United's that kind of club. Everyone always expects them to win trophies and if they leave without a trophy this season I think that'll be disappointing for them. [But I am looking forward] to expressing myself and enjoying myself and showing the world what I can do.”
And Zaha, the tricky winger on the other flank, helps him do that. “It’s always worked like that,” Bolasie says. “When we were both in the Championship, my first season here, nobody knew about me, so everybody was concentrating on Wilf. They've seen Wilf go to United, then teams started to concentrate more on me a bit. At the start of this season it was working to a tee. There’s two outlets. We can both take the ball up the pitch and help the team.”
Yet the two don’t spend much time together off the pitch. “We get along off the pitch but obviously he's got his life and I've got mine. We’re at totally different stages: I've got two kids so I've got responsibilities...I just like to relax and chill out with the family.”
And to that end, it’s a return to Willesden. “I go back a lot,” Bolasie says. “My brothers are still there and my mum does a lot of cooking for me. Hopefully my mum will enjoy Saturday because it’s her birthday and I can make it special.” So, what’s he got her? “Hopefully, I can say the FA Cup. She’ll be more than happy. She follows my football really closely and she is almost like my manager as well. The way I’ve grown up, the man I am today, reflects on my mother. I’ve seen other people grow up and not have respect. But even though I play football, I’m still able to talk to everyone on the estate. Whenever I go, I can talk to anyone that I meet and everyone I have known from my past. It is normal, I casually get on with it.”
And that tournament when he was a kid at Wembley, a decent goal kick from his childhood house. Did he win? “Yes we won. Obviously I won.” There’s no lack of confidence in the Bolasie house, which could be a happy one come Saturday night.
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