Old-fashioned centre forwards are becoming something of a rarity these days and one man who excelled in such a role is former Crystal Palace, Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest striker Neil Shipperley.

When asked what were his best attributes were during a professional playing career that spanned across 15-years, it was refreshing to hear such modesty from one of the game’s cult heroes.

He told Football League World in an exclusive interview: “I used to love holding the ball up in the final third – that’s what really excited me.

“Obviously as a striker it’s great to be tapping the ball into the goal but I think a lot of players now, particularly strikers, don’t like side of the game that brings others into play but I loved doing that.”

The man mountain of a centre forward was a feared marksman during his days playing at various clubs in the Football League and his defining moment came during the Championship Play-Off Final back in 2004, when Crystal Palace defeated West Ham United 1-0 to secure a return to the Premier League.

Shipperley netted the winning goal and it is an occasion that he looks back on with extreme fondness.

He said: “It all went to plan really. As a kid growing up as a centre forward you want the limelight and you want to be the one who gets the goals in the big games.

“It was absolutely perfect, I was captain on the day so to lead the team out was one positive and scoring the winning goal was just the icing on the cake. It doesn’t get much better than that to be honest.”

“Looking back if anyone was to ask ‘what did Neil Shipperley do in his career’ it’s that one occasion that will be mentioned so yes I would agree that it was the best moment of my career.”

The Eagles were fancied for a half decent season during that particular campaign but the eventual promotion into the top flight was one which caused an element of surprise given some sporadic mid-season form.

He continued: “If you look at the squad at the start of the season under the management of Steve Kember then we certainly fancied ourselves to do something, it’s as simple as that.

“For whatever reason our form just plummeted and things stopped working out. Come Christmas we were in the bottom three and Iain Dowie was taking over as manager.

“We went on one hell of a run and we sneaked into the play-offs on the final day of the season. The trend is one that is quite common nowadays, where the team who finishes on a high performs gains the momentum over their rivals and the teams that finish higher end up with nothing.”

During his playing days Shipperley had several striking partners but one that sticks firmly in the memory is when he played for Wimbledon and struck up a scintillating partnership with David Connolly.

In 2002/03 the deadly duo netted 50 times between them and Shipperley speaks affectionately on the rapport he built up with the Republic of Ireland international.

“Me and David were just a perfect example of big man, little man it really was that simple with us two. David wasn’t lightening quick but he was so intelligent, he’d get to all my knockdowns pretty much and we just linked up really well.”

“His ratio of shots to goals was phenomenal and he was probably the best finisher I ever played with to be honest. We were injury free for a large part of the season and we developed quite the understanding.

Whilst his personal performances were exceptional, difficult club circumstances and dismally low attendances put a slight downer on his time with the Dons but his professional persona ensured he maintained a positive approach.

Speaking with an element of sadness he said: “We are professionals at the end of the day. It’s not ideal but we are the players and we simply have to get on with playing football. It’s a shame when you run off to celebrate a goal and there aren’t any fans in the stadium but you have to keep going.

“The fans didn’t want to come and on the last day of that 2002/03 season they actually turned their backs on the football for a large part of the game and with a lot of the lads making their debuts I really started to feel for them a little bit.

Shipperley isn’t naïve enough to think that his career was all sweetness and light and a difficult spell at Nottingham Forest was what he describes as one of the lowest ebbs of his playing days.

He said: “Forest was a tricky time as the club was in the middle of Pierre Van-Hooijdonk strike fiasco. The supporters weren’t having me, I signed for £1.5 million and they wanted someone to be signed for about £3-4 million instead. It was probably the worst period of my career to be honest.”

In terms of regrets, Shipperley’s overriding thoughts on his playing career are that he was mightily lucky to have lived the life of a professional footballer. During his first spell at Crystal Palace in the 90’s however, it was nearly destination Naples and the bright lights of Serie A for the frontman.

“I try not to have too many regrets, although when at Palace the first time around we had Attilio Lombardo and a few other foreign boys and they had seen in the Italian papers that some Serie A clubs were interested in me and first I thought it was a pipe dream, but it later transpired it was true.

“Napoli were interested in me and just as they were about to make a bid and I tore my hernia which scuppered those plans. At that period in my career it would have been nice to have a look at that and see how it would have happened.

“I suppose the other one would be when I finished at Brentford which was my local club at the time. The standard of football was poor and I had arrived at Griffin Park having turned down an offer from MLS, one from Australia, a couple in Cyprus and a La Liga club as well. I certainly lost a bit of desire for the game during my time at Brentford and that was the beginning of the end for me.

“That said, what a life it is to earn a living out of kicking a ball around. You always say when you start playing football that if you can play for 15 years then you’ve done alright and I was fortunate enough to do that.

So just what does the future hold for a man who boasts 119 goals from 446 career appearances. A stint of management in step six of the non-league bore the fruits of frustration and Shipperley is getting buzz from a whole new industry these days.

Shipperley concluded: “I have recently been learning the London Knowledge Exam to get my black cab license so hopefully I can get that sorted and venture into that line of work. It’s difficult but I am enjoying, even if I might have broken all sorts of records for how long it takes to pass such a course!”

Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Wimbledon supporters, what are your memories of Neil Shipperley? Let us know in the comments below!!!