Crystal Palace icon Jason Puncheon on how his daughter’s frank comment helped end his Premier League career, playing abroad and taking steps into management
Sometimes an innocent comment from one of your children is enough to make you understand.
Jason Puncheon will agree. In 2019, the former Crystal Palace striker had no hesitation in moving his family abroad to extend his playing career with a view to taking his first steps into management.
Of course, it also helped that Cyprus was the final destination. Sun, sea and football: a dream combination.
Puncheon, then on loan at Premier League side Huddersfield, knew his top-flight career would end in 2019.
But even then, it took a heart-to-heart with his daughter to get the message across.
Jason Puncheon admits his daughter made him realise his top-flight career was over
The winger realised his Premier League career at Huddersfield Town was coming to an end
Puncheon made the decision to move to Cyprus to continue his career, before taking up coaching
“Footballers know the reality,” Puncheon told Mail Sport.
‘My career was at its peak then. I wasn’t going to go and play for Manchester United and win the Premier League.
‘And to be honest, there was no other Premier League option. If there was, I might have a different opinion.
‘I had Championship options, but Cyprus gave me the chance to play for a team that was fighting for something and had a good life with my family. It was an option I wanted to take.
‘A few weeks ago my second youngest daughter, who is very quiet, said to me, ‘Daddy, why do you have to go away all the time?’
‘It hit me. She said I wasn’t happy. I had travelled all over the country because my family were still in London and I was in Huddersfield most of the week.
‘Throughout my career, my kids have had to travel to games. They enjoyed the travel. But it was painful.
‘I traveled for six hours that day and kept thinking about what she said.
“So I said I would make my next move a family decision. Somewhere we could all go together and build a new life.”
The attacker joined Pafos FC and later played for Anorthosis Famagusta for 12 months
Puncheon was manager of Limassol’s AEZ Zakakiou before leaving the club earlier this year
That place was Paphos, where temperatures in summer can reach 42 degrees Celsius.
He played three seasons at Pafos FC before spending 12 months at Anorthosis Famagusta, retiring in 2023.
By then, however, Puncheon had already set his sights on a coaching career and was appointed manager of second division club Peyia 2014, before joining Limassol side AEZ Zakakiou. However, the 38-year-old left the club earlier this year.
Puncheon is now looking for a way to return to management and is still open to working outside the comfort zone of his own home.
“Footballers need to seize these opportunities and take them more often than they turn them down because there is still so much to learn,” Puncheon explains.
‘For me it was the route into coaching because the reality is I’m not Steven Gerrard or Wayne Rooney.
‘Maybe at the end of my active career Crystal Palace would have said to me: “Come to the U15s”.
‘But I thought if I go to Cyprus and make a name for myself, maybe it would be easier for me to get into coaching, which is always the end goal.
‘Whereas in England, once I retire, I might have to wait forever.’
After winning UEFA A and B titles alongside Juan Pablo Angel, Djimi Traore and Carlton Cole, Puncheon has put his decision to take up coaching to former Palace manager Alan Pardew.
Puncheon credits former boss Alan Pardew for planting the seed for coaching move
Roy Hodgson also backed Puncheon as he launched his own managerial career
“Alan was the one who first planted the seed. He told me to think about it because he believed I could be a coach,” he explained.
‘Sam Allardyce and Roy Hodgson said that to me too, so that was a good sign.
‘My first job at Peyia was completely new to me. I did all the coaching, all the analysis and planned all the sessions.
“The first four months it was really hard to switch off. Even my wife told me she wished I was still playing. It was so stressful.
“Your brain is constantly working. It was intense. Then you find your feet and it gets easier.
‘I look at management the same way I look at the game: if you lose a game, you suffer for 24 hours.
‘But once those 24 hours are up, you have to try to forget about it – do something to take your mind off it. Don’t dwell on it.
Monday is a new week and we start again.
Puncheon, who made 204 Premier League appearances, is looking for his next managerial job
“If you can’t play football with a smile on your face… we can’t always be robots. I try to give that energy to the players. When it’s serious, it’s serious.
“But there is time to laugh and joke. It’s about managing that.
‘I’ve had managers who wanted us to be robots, but in the end it failed because there was no human connection.
‘Football teams are like families. We spend 80 percent of our lives with these people every day.’
Puncheon is looking for his new family.