Mooney reveals 15-hour days that secured a professional contract

Before every home game, the Crystal Palace programme shines a light on one of the club's rising Academy stars. In the Leeds United edition, Fionn Mooney explained his passion for football, inspiration from the game's greatest artists and 15-hour days to get closer to his dream. You can read every word below.

Fionn Mooney cites Diego Maradona and Paul Gascoigne when speaking about his footballing idols. He’s then asked, with fumbling inaccuracy, if he could ‘do the flick against...’ and, sensing the struggle of a less-honed footballing mind, interjects: ‘Scotland. Yeah, I could do that.’

For a teenager not born until 2003, Mooney missed Maradona’s final game by almost six years, and entered…