March 15 2018

Selhurst Park

Crystal Palace chief Steve Parish has vowed to invest more money into Selhurst Park once the club gets the nod to build a new Main Stand.

Palace are hoping plans will be approved by Croydon Council next month to build a new stand that will take the ground capacity up to 34,000 and be ready for the 2020/21 season.

The decision will secure the club's future at the stadium, which has been their home since 1924, and Parish says the other stands will then get a fresh makeover.

He said: "There will be disruption, but it will be minimal. The Arthur Wait Stand, there is so much cosmetic stuff to do. If we can get that gantry down, that improves the view and we can improve the concourse.

"We would improve the whole stadium, and of course all of those things we have wanted to spend money on, in the Holmesdale areas like the mezzanine floor which isn't fitted out.

"We can look at all of those things now, because deciding to do this new stand gives us a long term plan for everything else as well.

"The other thing as well, is in the close season, this year hopefully we can start to look at some of those areas. Our new development is this new Main Stand, so we can make improvements around other stands.

"Obviously, it's been holding us back because you don't want to spend a whole load of money on somewhere if you don't know it's going to be there long-term or if we were going to move away. It has stopped us, really, from doing things we have wanted to do in the stadium anyway."

The new stand will cost between £75m and £100m and will have room inside to generate vital income for the football club.

"Things on non-matchdays, we are looking at all possibilities to put inside it. So they are exciting," said Parish.

"We have talked about a medical facility, or exhibition space - there are lots of non-matchday events, like weddings, those kind of things.

"So we are very happy to do as much as possible for the local area. And our Foundation will have bigger offices, too."

The Eagles co-owner added: "We want everything improved at our stadium. The referee's room isn't big enough, our dressing rooms aren't big enough for the modern amount of staff people bring.

"And the media area, the mixed zone is difficult to keep the players in an area where it's close to them and close to the media.

"But that will be all under the new stand - it will be as good as anything. With the plan we have got, it will be straight out of the dressing rooms and there will be rows people doing interviews for television, then on to the written press.

"It will all be covered, as it will wrap around to the Holmesdale."