Doncaster Rovers loanee Rob Street on his route in football as a nostalgic reunion with Crystal Palace awaits

After scoring on his league debut for Rovers after signing on loan from League One outfit Lincoln City, the hard-running forward did his bit to help Grant McCann’s side take his former club Hull City all the way to penalties in last Sunday’s third-round tie.

Rovers prevailed and the romance arrives by virtue of a last-32 home encounter with the club where it all began for the Surrey-raised player next month. Premier League side Crystal Palace, who famously visited Doncaster for a round-five clash in February 2019.

Back then, Street was a teenager coming through the ranks with the Eagles. He spent seven years with the South Londoners before his permanent departure in the summer of 2023.

Street was fast-tracked to the under-23s during his time at Palace, but despite showing his prowess - he helped the club achieve promotion to the Premier League 2 Division 1 after a play-off success in 2020-21 - the first-team call never came.

The closest he made it to an appearance was when he was named as an unused substitute for a Premier League game at West Ham in August 2021.

He remains grateful for his time at Selhurst Park.

Street, now 23, said: "There were brilliant memories and I was there for seven years in the end. I saw a lot of players come and go and there were a lot of different experiences.

"I really enjoyed it, it was a brilliant club with really good people there. They do give the players the best opportunity to have a career, whether that's away or at Palace.

"A lot of players get that taste of what it’s like to be at a Premier League club and you always want to get back there and that is ultimately a goal in my career and hopefully I can achieve that.

"My youth team coaches were Paddy McCarthy and Sean Derry. They were players who had brilliant careers, but going into management, they are really good coaches and they were a big influence on me.

"In my first full year (season-long loan) at Shrewsbury, Steve Cotterill was a big influence in my first full season in men’s football. There’s been lots of people on my journey.

"Family have been a big influence and players that you play with."

Journey is the operative word for Street, who spent loan spells at Torquay United, Newport County and Shrewsbury during his time at Palace to further his development before a permanent switch to Cheltenham Town in the 2023 close season. He headed to Lincoln last summer.

In truth, his football expedition began well before that.

Street was released by Palace at the age of eight, only to return at 15. Instead of coming through the academy system, he played Sunday League football for Whyteleafe Juniors and at county level for Surrey.

A second chance ultimately beckoned at Palace. His route was rather old-school, but he wouldn’t have had it any other way. In many respects, he feels it's been the making of him.

He said: "It was probably different to a lot of academy lads. I only joined the academy system when I was at the end of the under-15 season.

"The boys in the academy were probably there since they were eight or nine years old. I was let go at that age and I think it was beneficial to me.

"I played a lot of Sunday league and for my county growing up. It was a different pathway but I think it did make me stronger.

"I wasn’t given the luxuries of the academy, which I think a lot of boys are given.

"I wasn’t really ever given anything. It was good and a test. Ultimately, it made me who I am today.

"My parents would drive me up and down and around the M25 and all sorts into London. There were loads of journeys and even when I signed for Palace, it was getting me to training every morning and my grandad used to help with a lot of stuff dropping me here, there and everywhere. Everyone played a part as they do in most families, to be fair."

Despite joining Lincoln on a four-year deal from Cheltenham last July, Street was allowed to head out to Rovers at the start of this month.

He sees his long-term future at Sincil Bank, but is currently solely focused on Rovers, with work to do in the league and glory to chase in the cup.

He added: "Ultimately, I am still a Lincoln player at the start of next season and have a few years left on my contract.

"I want to succeed at Lincoln and do really well and prove why I was brought into the club.

"It hasn’t gone in the way I'd have liked at the start, but you have just got to get on with it.

"My short-term goals are focused on Doncaster and then see when I go back to Lincoln in the summer if I can hopefully nail down a position."