Northern Ireland international Justin Devenny will hope to help heal World Cup heartache with European honours as part of Crystal Palace’s history-making squad.
Devenny featured in March’s World Cup play-off semi-final loss to Italy which killed Northern Ireland’s dream of a summer finals on the global stage for the first time in four decades.
Now he will be dreaming of minutes on Wednesday in Germany when Palace tackle the UEFA Conference League final – a first European showpiece in the Premier League club’s century-plus existence.
The 22-year-old featured last weekend in the final domestic fixture against newly-crowned champions Arsenal for a Premier League season’s total of 788 minutes across seven starts and 14 games off the substitutes’ bench. His 210 minutes in the European competition’s league phase came across two starts and two sub appearances.
Northern Ireland international Justin Devenny enjoying a Crystal Palace training session. He will be hoping to feature on Wednesday in the UEFA Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)placeholder image
Northern Ireland international Justin Devenny enjoying a Crystal Palace training session. He will be hoping to feature on Wednesday in the UEFA Conference League final against Rayo Vallecano. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
But he has made the 26-strong travelling party selected by boss Oliver Glasner to tackle Spain’s Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, with the versatile Devenny out to make an impact in the main event.
Devenny, who joined the Eagles in August 2023 from Airdrie, has an FA Cup winner’s medal in his collection and scored the decisive penalty kick last year as Palace defeated Liverpool over the FA Community Shield.
He was also on target in Palace’s path to the Conference League final with a goal last December against KuPS.
That FA Community Shield shoot-out strike was named the ‘2025/26 Crystal Palace Socios Moment of the Season’ on the official club website – but Devenny will be hoping for the opportunity to top it in Germany.
Glasner will want a perfect send-off in his final game as Palace boss and highlighted that desire for a trophy farewell when addressing the home fans on Sunday at Selhurst Park.
"What I learned in more than two years here is that usually you should always agree with the chairman,” said Glasner. “But today, I don't have to agree, because he said the best day possibly was the FA Cup final at Wembley... but I think the best day is still to come in three days at Leipzig.”
And Eagles captain Dean Henderson has challenged Palace to “finish the movie off”.
He told PA Sport: “It’s just like a family club. We’re all pushing towards the same end goal.
"Obviously, it would be a great way to finish the movie off for Glasner as well.
"Everyone wants that happy ending and everyone’s working towards that. It’d be unbelievable for him, wouldn’t it?
"Obviously the best manager this club’s ever had and to finish on such a high would be sensational.”
He added: “We’ll play with no fear and we’ll have confidence.”