Leeds United must be thankful Crystal Palace, Jermaine Beckford deal never happened: View | OneFootball

Leeds United will be thankful that legendary striker Jermaine Beckford didn't sign for Crystal Palace before making the move to Elland Road.

Beckford is remembered fondly by Leeds supporters for his contribution during the club's time in League One, scoring 85 goals in 152 games in all competitions between 2006 and 2010.

The striker enjoyed an outstanding spell in the third tier for Leeds, scoring at least 20 goals in all three of the seasons he played for them at that level. His time at the club was crowned with promotion back to the Championship at the end of the 2009/10 season, finishing runners-up behind Norwich City, after failing in the play-offs in both of the previous campaigns.

His most iconic moment in a Leeds shirt came in a third-round FA Cup tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2010, when his goal sealed a 1-0 win despite 42 league positions separating the sides.

Beckford was a natural finisher, and his goal-scoring efforts for Leeds earned him a move to Premier League club Everton in the summer of 2010.

However, Leeds fans may never have enjoyed the privilege of watching Beckford in a white shirt if he had joined a different club shortly before his arrival in West Yorkshire.

Beckford could have signed for Crystal Palace

When Beckford was regularly scoring goals for Wealdstone in non-league as a youngster, there were a host of clubs interested in signing him.

The forward reportedly had trials with QPR and Reading, as well as attracting interest from Swindon Town, Brentford and Yeovil Town.

In March 2006, he went on trial at Championship club Crystal Palace, playing for the reserve team against Arsenal in front of several scouts.

Quotes from a Crystal Palace supporters' website reveal that at the time, director of football Bob Dowie was put off by Wealdstone's asking price.

"We didn't do a deal because we thought the money got too ridiculous," Dowie said. "We got him in and we could have done a deal but we chose not to.

"It went from being a reasonable risk to an unreasonable risk. We wish him all the best though, he's a nice lad."

Four days after Beckford impressed against Arsenal for Palace's reserves, Leeds made an approach for the forward. Their bid of £45k was accepted by Wealdstone and the rest is history.

Leeds will be thankful that Palace chose not to sign the young striker, as his goals were crucial to the Whites achieving promotion back to the second tier.

Beckford enjoyed his best form at Leeds United

Beckford never scored more than the 85 goals he notched for Leeds at any of his future clubs.

After swapping Elland Road for Goodison Park in 2010, he scored 10 goals in 40 appearances for Everton before going on to play for a number of other clubs in the EFL, including Leicester City, Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers.

His time at Preston North End was his most prolific period outside West Yorkshire. Beckford scored 21 goals for Preston under his former Leeds boss Simon Grayson, including a hat-trick at Wembley as they won the League One play-off final against Swindon in 2015.

Leeds fans will be delighted that they got to witness the best of Beckford as he cemented his name in the club's history books, and they will be thankful that he never ended up signing for Crystal Palace after he went on trial as a non-league striker in 2006.