By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year
January 17 – Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of moving into the Olympic Stadium after London 2012 are set to suffer a major blow later this week when a rival plan to renovate the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre, a key part of their proposal, is unveiled.
Championship club Crystal Palace are considering relocating from Selhurst Park, and co-chairman Steve Parish is set to announce plans to move to an “exciting new venue” – thought to be nearby National Sports Centre – in a press conference on Thursday (January 20) at 3pm.
Tottenham were hoping to use the National Sports Centre as part of their bid to secure the Stratford Olympics site after the 2012 Games, promising to spend £25 million ($40 million) on revamping the decaying stadium to fulfil the legacy pledges made by London during its successful bid.
Palace’s proposal – which involves building a football stadium on the site – have caught the Premier League club by surprise, who admitted that they know nothing about their plans.
The Championship side, currently 22nd out of 24 teams in the Championship, have called the conference at TAG, the company owned by Parish.
When the Eagles were bought by CPFC 2010 last summer the new owners said they were going to look at building a new ground before they pressed ahead with redeveloping Selhurst Park, their current home.
The National Sports Centre has long been mooted as a potential site, including by Simon Jordan, the previous owner of the football club, but has always previously faced opposition from four local Borough Councils that converge in the Park, and concern from local residents.
Palace started playing on the site there in 1905 and stayed until the start of World War One when they were forced to leave by the military, eventually moving to Selhurst Park in 1924.
The football stadium hosted the FA Cup final between 1895 and 1914, including in 1913 when the match between Aston Villa and Sunderland attracted a crowd of 121,919, the largest attendance ever to watch a domestic match in England.
Crystal Palace have used the National Sports Centre, which was opened as an athletics facility in 1964, for reserve matches, most recently as 2001.
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