Overdue an update: the long-delayed main stand edged closer to becoming reality today
In the first public update on Selhurst Park’s £200million main stand development for more than a year, Crystal Palace said today that they have finally completed the purchase of six houses on Wooderson Close – five of which have been bought from Croydon Council.
It has taken Palace, and the council, almost four years to complete this piece of property transfer.
Palace were granted planning permission, for a second time, in 2022. One of the conditions of the planning permission was that Wooderson Close residents, who included council tenants, should all be rehoused.
“With this purchase completed, and all residents rehoused, these properties can now be readied for demolition, removing another formal barrier towards commencing construction,” the football club said in a statement.
Selhurst Park opened in 1924, and Palace’s home ground has been long overdue for significant modernisation.
The new stand, stuffed with high-revenue hospitality facilities, would see Selhurst increase its capacity from 25,486 to 34,259.
Set for demolition: the homes on Wooderson Close, with the Selhurst stands in the background
Following the sign-off on the Section 106 agreement with Croydon Council in August 2024, work was due to begin in May last year, after the end of the Premier League season.
But Palace chairman Steve Parish’s pet project has been dogged by delays over almost a decade.
The scheme was unveiled in 2017 and Palace granted planning permission in April 2018, when the cost of the project was estimated at £75million. When that permission expired, the club had to go through the planning process a second time. Since then, there have been steepling increases in construction costs, with estimates for the scheme last year topping £200million.
According to today’s statement from the club: “A proportion of this newly acquired land will be overbuilt for the south eastern corner of the new stand, with the additional space initially being used towards the formation of a major construction zone, providing safe routes in and out for additional traffic and workers, and minimising disruption to supporters’ matchday experiences where possible.
“When finalised the land will also form part of the access road and walkway onto the Stadium estate.”
Dogged by delays: Palace chief Steve Parish
The club says that behind-the-scenes enabling works have “progressed well”. This includes construction of changing rooms beneath the Holmesdale end, to house match officials and away teams, as well as the relocation of cables and various other pieces of infrastructure. –
“This will enable the portacabins by the Holmesdale entrance to be removed so that area can also be overbuilt,” the club said.
The revenue from the sale of the five council-owned properties will be used to “fund replacement new councilm homes”, according to Croydon’s impotent Mayor, Jason Perry, who described the new stand as “a significant investment in the local area”.
According to one Selhurst local who has been watching the snail-like progress of the project, “Mayor Perry constantly reminds everyone how he’s a Palace fan, and he tries to claim the credit for involvement with this project. Yet it has still taken the council four years to manage to sell five council houses.
“I shudder to think how long all this might have taken the council if Perry had not appointed himself as some kind of superannuated cheerleader for the scheme.”
Read more: Palace granted permission (again) for £100m stand at Selhurst
Read more: Lobbyist to meet councillors over Selhurst stadium proposals
Read more: Residents blocked from meeting by football club’s lobbyists
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