Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
£100m refurb will bring Palace up to scratch
CRYSTAL Palace plan to spend up to £100 million redeveloping Selhurst Park into a 34,000-capacity stadium fit to host international football.
Chairman Steve Parish hailed a project bidding “to create a new Crystal Palace for the modern era”, including a centrepiece five-storey stand boasting an all-glass front.
Palace expect to start work on their bold blueprint to extend Selhurst Park’s current 26,000 capacity within 12 months, with plans to be submitted to Croydon Council in January.
“We need a stadium that reflects who we are, how far we have come and where we want to go,” said Parish.
“A stadium that south London can be proud of, a home worthy of our incredible support and unique atmosphere and this great Premier League we represent.
“We have worked long and hard and looked at several options over the years, including returning to the original site of Crystal Palace, which wasn’t viable.
“We are creating a new home worthy of our club, our fans and our community, and a celebration of our 112 years in south London.
“We want to make the pitch regulation size so it is Fifa and Uefa compliant so we can host internationals or European games, and we will remove the TV gantry in the Arthur Wait Stand which will massively improve the sight lines.
“The investment will probably be between £75m to £100m. We have a shareholder base that are capable of funding it but with all of these developments we’ll look to be selling some things — whether they be debentures or pre-sold 10-year season tickets.”