May 9 2003

Selhurst Park

Crystal Palace reserves could be playing their home matches at Selhurst Park next season.

As Wimbledon have quit Selhurst for Milton Keynes, Simon Jordan has been looking for new tenants but both Brentford and Fulham have turned down offers leaving Palace £600,000 down.

Jordan now hopes to get some of that cash shortfall back by getting big crowds to see the reserves play at Selhurst.

Jordan told the Croydon Advertiser: "I can't help it if there are no takers. We will just have to absorb the loss, try to switch our reserve matches to Selhurst and market them well enough to attract bigger crowds than we have been getting in the past at Beckenham, Carshalton Athletic or Dulwich Hamlet."

Phil Alexander, Palace's chief executive, said: "We would be happy with an average of 2,000. It's only natural that with Wimbledon going we would get our reserves to play at Selhurst. If that happened we can truly say that football has come back home in a manner of speaking.

"It will give fans a chance to see the stars of tomorrow and perhaps whet their appetite for first-team matches.

"The reserves are an integral part of the club so we would welcome the opportunity to give the fans a chance to see them at the club's main home."