September 5 2018

Wilfried Zaha

Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha has made a generous contribution to the club's ladies team.

The Guardian this week reported that members of the reserve side had to stump up £250 each in annual fees in order to play matches and many couldn't afford it.

A source said the players were told the news in the same week that Palace renewed Zaha's contract which is worth a reported £130,000 a week.

But since publication, Zaha has made a significant contribution to the Palace Ladies and the club is grateful after what they say has been "inaccurate media reports".

Zaha has for many years donated 10 per cent of his monthly salary to charities in the UK and Ivory Coast.

A statement on the Palace website read: "You may have seen inaccurate media reports about the funding of Palace Ladies, so we thought it would be helpful to set the record straight:

"Our senior squad currently consists of 21 players, all of whom are contracted to Palace Ladies and either receive a wage or are paid expenses.

"This is made possible by the substantial financial support we receive from Crystal Palace Football Club and our principal sponsor, Utilita Energy, who are committed supporters of the women’s game and are backing Palace Ladies for the third consecutive season.

No problem happy to help ???????? #CPFCFamily https://t.co/zXj2tPXvgS

— Wilfried Zaha (@wilfriedzaha) September 5, 2018

"Our budget and business and marketing plans were clearly set out in our application to join the FA Women’s Championship; in common with many other clubs, we encourage players to seek personal sponsorship to help raise the club’s profile and build links with the business community, but it is not a condition of playing for Palace Ladies.

"All our other teams operate on an amateur basis and, as with any grass-roots membership club, players pay an annual subscription fee. To help the development of our reserve team players, we have heavily subsidised their annual membership fees.

"We are delighted to announce that Wilf Zaha has contacted the club to make a substantial financial contribution to support the development of our amateur players.

"Everyone knows what Crystal Palace means to Wilf and he wants to give the same opportunities to the next generation of aspiring players at Palace Ladies that he enjoyed when coming up through junior teams.

"We are grateful for Wilf’s support and for the ongoing support of Crystal Palace Football Club and Utilita Energy, which enables our senior team to play in the FA Women’s Championship."