That's the hot rumour on the street and it's certainly a logical conclusion when you look at the obstacles preventing a settlement with the Administrator and new ownership of Palace. The elephant in the room here is Selhurst Park and the prohibitively expensive lease.
As the interested consortium tries to mitigate the cost of their takeover, the continued use of Selhurst Park is important for so many reasons (as we know better than most) but if push comes to shove, then CPFC would need to consider ground-sharing. It is obviously a good tactical position to have a Plan B but there is every reason to believe that the current freeholders might be excited about the prospect of getting permission to sell for development in the event that Palace moved away. That in itself might encourage them to play hard ball with any prospective new owners of the football club.
The word is that the consortium have approached Charlton, Millwall and Gillingham about a possible ground-share. As a Charlton fan who endured every home game at Selhurst Park and as a resident of SE7, I seriously hope this comes nowhere near me. Gillingham is too awkward a journey and no-one could seriously choose to send their fans to the New Den more than once a season if they had any other option. Bearing in mind our financial situation and the fact that Simon Jordan has gone, it's not completely out-of-the-question that we could end up with lodgers. Should this come to pass, there will be no welcome on my hillside.
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Isn't it possible, Dave, that Greenwich Council (harbouring nasty thoughts) may block any potential ground-share anyway? The local residents tried to stop Charlton moving back so you can imagine (albeit 18 years on) some getting ready to fight this is it does become a serious option for the Croydon team. In saying that, is it something that the Board could turn down; financially it could be a lifeline?
ReplyDeletePedro45
Surely Crawley FC could fit them in?
ReplyDeleteEven without the Greenwich Council nimby factor (club partners my @rse) I don't think palace would seriously consider the Valley for a share. 46 league matches on that pitch would also destroy it. WOuld palace's new owners really commit to paying CAFC sufficient rent to cover the whole cost of their tenancy, which would be considerable indeed. Having the Valley sullied by the inevitable accoutrements and colour scheme of the norwood nigels would be gastly. Surely palace would be better off up at Loftus Road? Fratton will be empty by August...
ReplyDeleteThere's a spare pitch in my local park. They could use that instead?
ReplyDeleteThere must be a spare playing field at Pratts Bottom.
ReplyDelete