Spurs' computer generated image of new athletics stadium

I never thought I’d ever be writing an article about football, having being brought up in an environment firmly entrenched in the game of the oval ball. The future of Crystal Palace Park is now firmly enmeshed in the ‘beautiful game’ and the Olympic Stadium. Alas! It’s also sadly the only legitimate reason for using the words ‘Crystal Palace’ and ‘Olympics’ in the same sentence as we were overlooked as a venue for 2012.

The future of the Park has been getting complicated enough, most recently with the Secretary of State agreement to go ahead with the London Development Agency’s controversial Masterplan proposals, subject to appeal, such as housing in the Park (to fund its redevelopment) and the replacement of a world class swimming pool and athletics track by a regional sports centre. Now the Park’s future will be influenced by the needs of four London football clubs: Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs), West Ham, Crystal Palace and Leyton Orient.

Spurs and West Ham are bidding for ownership of the Olympic Stadium. According to reports, the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) will decide between the two bids next week with a view to having a deal in place by the end of the financial year. Spurs want to demolish two-thirds of the existing Olympic stadium and build a dedicated football ground whilst providing a rebuilt £20 million 25,000-seater athletics stadium at Crystal Palace. Critics argue taking away the track reneges on the pledge made to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) five years ago. The new venue would have the facility to raise it’s the capacity to 40,000 for major events.

West Ham propose to convert the 80,000-capacity Olympic Stadium into a 60,000-seater venue that would not only house Premier League football but also concerts, athletics, and other sporting events. But this one-stadium-for-all approach has been criticised over how the pitch would cope with a high number of events.

Crystal Palace FC has added a new element to the mix. If plans are approved it will move from Selhurst Park to its ancestral home in Crystal Palace Park. CPFC proposes to replace the athletics venue with a new 40,000 capacity £50 million football stadium, a new aquatics centre and a new athletics facility and sports academy would guarantee the assets earmarked for replacement. Critics do not believe a football stadium would bring much needed regeneration to the area.

CPFC's proposal for new football stadium at C P Park

Leyton Orient Football Club, geographically the closest club to the Olympic Stadium, is a struggling minnow compared to the two Premier League clubs. Both the Football League and Premier League constitutions explicitly state that football clubs should not be permitted to move from one location to another if it results in their encroachment on another club. Interestingly enough the Premier League has given their blessing for either of the two big clubs moving. But the OPLC has a third option to consider, the original bid plan to reduce the 80,000-seat stadium to 25,000 seats for local and international athletics events. Could this include Orient’s games?

The battle for the Olympic stadium is splitting the Athletics community. The Association of British Athletics Clubs has claimed that retaining a running track at the Olympic stadium would provide little useful legacy for the sport. It is therefore backing Tottenham’s l bid for a football-only ground and a redeveloped the Crystal Palace athletics stadium.

UK Athletics, however, backing West Ham, believing that London 2012’s promise to the IOC to maintain athletics at the stadium must be honoured. A UK athletics spokesman commented: “Such is the strength of feeling about this issue, some of the biggest names in the sport have spoken out in support of retaining a track. These include Usain Bolt, Paula Radcliffe, Steve Cram, Brendan Foster, Michael Johnson and Dame Kelly Holmes. Additionally the entire current GB team, led by captain Jessica Ennis, have given their backing to West Ham’s bid”.

Once again, the only thing that is certain is the uncertain future  of Crystal Palace Park and its assets.

When the Crystal Palace Football & Athletic Club were formed eventually in 1905 the feeling of our formative chairman Mr E.F. Goodman was that in time Palace had the potential to compete eventually with the best in the land. He arrived (bringing the famous Claret and Blue kit with him) from Aston Villa’s backroom staff, having lost a leg playing for them, to build a club from scratch…something which he achieved with distinction. OK, we’re still not quite European Champions yet, but when Edmund made that bold prediction in 1905, neither he nor anyone else could have predicted what a thrilling roller coaster ride supporting Crystal Palace would become.

As early as January 12th 1906, 10 man Palace overcame all odds and created a sensation, defeating perennial FA Cup Finalists and then current League Champions Newcastle United at St James’ Park. My own Grandfather’s early experiences of following the Glaziers started way back in 1914 when the Club were forced to move out of the Palace Grounds by the Admiralty to Herne Hill Velodrome. He told me tales of many of those early heroes including the great Peter Simpson (our all time top scorer) and Albert Harry, a bow-legged winged wonder of his day, instrumental in so many of Simpson’s goals.

So, in 2003, a small band of Palace enthusiasts including myself embarked on the mammoth task of gathering recollections of Palace fans’ through the ages on tape for our web-site, with the aide of a grant from the National Heritage Lottery fund. So far, we have collected and collated some amazing full length interviews, covering a wide variety of aspects of supporting The Palace through all their many eras. We still hope there are many more out there waiting to be discovered which can cover literally any aspect or stories about the Club, especially if you have anecdotes to pass on about family members whose association with the Club goes way back. Anyone also interested in the recording of oral history for posterity of future generations or have any rare memorabilia or ephemera they’d like us to photograph for the Virtual Museum

aspect of our web-site can equally get involved and help this Lottery funded Project along. Log on and listen to the stories on the web-site at: www.eagles100.org and contact us via the web-site or me at: don@eagles100.org

If you are not online don’t worry, please still write to us at the “Crystal Palace fans’ Centenary Project” at: CPfCP. PO Box 2005, London SE25 5EN. ‘Hy On Palace’ is still available from Bookseller Crow at just £19.90. It has over a thousand of the legendary Hy Money’s stunning photos of the club taken from the 70′s to the present day. Why not pop in and sneak a peek!

First Published in the Palace Mag Jan 07