R1MFD8 LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 28: Roy Hodgson of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Arsenal FC at Selhurst Park on October 28, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (MB Media)
Crystal Palace have cleared most of the formal barriers to begin work on the redevelopment of Selhurst Park, but costs have ballooned to around £150million ($184m).
The start of work to build a new 13,500-capacity Main Stand and improve other areas of the ground, which celebrates its 100th anniversary next year, has moved significantly closer after the relocation of nearby residents was completed.
The redevelopment of the stadium is seen as being crucial to Palace’s ability to compete in the Premier League, with chairman Steve Parish saying it would provide an extra £20m-£30m each season.
Palace have begun their search for a main contractor, having put other contracts out for tender. Exploratory work commenced this year in the car park at Selhurst to establish the ground conditions and prepare for the laying of the foundations for the new stand, with holes drilled down to 35 metres.
Since the redevelopment was proposed in 2017, with a budget of around £100million, costs have risen sharply and the expectation is that the project will now cost closer to £150million, a 50 per cent increase, primarily due to inflation. The intention is to fund these costs through loans from Palace’s shareholders.
Adding to the overall cost was the multi-million-pound deal agreed with Sainsbury’s, reached last year, to purchase a small piece of land in the supermarket’s car park. In 2010, the CPFC2010 consortium, led by Parish, paid £4million for the stadium, when the stadium and, separately, the club were bought out of administration.
Reaching an agreement with Sainsbury’s over that land was a requirement for any stadium redevelopment. This had long been a point of contention and the agreement was the product of lengthy negotiations.
Sainsbury’s raised no objections in principle to the redevelopment plans but highlighted several concerns, including that they had “not been sufficiently engaged on the application” and that plans failed “to create a safe and secure environment for our colleagues and customers”.
Work is expected to take between 27 and 30 months. Discussions would need to be held with the Premier League (or EFL should Palace be relegated before completion) to ensure Palace play the closing games of the the 2025-26 season and opening games of the 2026-27 season away from home to allow for contingencies. Liverpool and West Ham United have had similar requests accepted by the Premier League in recent seasons.
