'Eagles' still soaring as takeover deal is agreed in principle !

Selhurst Park stadium - home of Crystal Palace Football Club

Crystal Palace Football Club have been saved from extinction after an agreement in principle was reached to enable the consortium 'CPFC 2010' to buy the club and Selhurst Park.

Administrator Brendan Guilfoyle gave them until 3pm today to reach agreement with Lloyds Bank or he would start to liquidate the club.
Hundreds of fans protested outside the bank's offices prior to the deadline.
But an 11th hour deal was reached with 'CPFC 2010' which is headed by Palace fans Steve Parish and Martin Long.

The headquarters of Lloyds Bank, who own Bank of Scotland, was the focus of a peaceful but vocal protest by Palace fans today.
This followed a demonstration by around 1,000 supporters outside Selhurst Park on Monday.

A statement from Lloyds said:

"PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP has reached an agreement in principle with CPFC 2010 in relation to the sale of Selhurst Park. This enables the consortium to go ahead with the purchase of both the Crystal Palace Football Club and Selhurst Park.

We have worked hard throughout this process to achieve a durable solution. We are pleased a successful conclusion has now been reached. We are also pleased that PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which acts on behalf of Selhurst Park, has publicly acknowledged today the ongoing support it has received from the Bank."

The 'CPFC 2010' consortium said:

"We can now confirm that there are no material differences between ourselves and Bank of Scotland regarding the sale of Selhurst Park.
Whilst its not 100% done we are confident that all the main barriers have been removed."

The next step in 'CPFC 2010's takeover is to agree the Company Voluntary Agreement – a process that is no formality, but one that has been eased by reports that both Agilo, the hedge fund that put the Club into administration in the first place, and ex-chairman Simon Jordan have agreed to do a deal.

If all goes well, a CVA meeting should be announced within the next few days (with the date set two weeks in advance) – and the club will then finally be able to step away from administration, and be able to look ahead with confidence, in the knowledge that the future of the club is finally secure.


Palace avoided relegation from the Championship under manager Paul Hart on the final day of the season with a 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday that condemned the Owls to League One.

It was just another twist in a turbulent year so far, after the club was docked 10 points for going into administration in January. Manager Neil Warnock then left to join London rivals QPR and star striker Victor Moses was sold to Premier League side Wigan Athletic..

They Think It's All Over - For Palace It Very Nearly Is !

Crystal Palace Football Club are on the brink of being wound-up, but its prospective owners have appealed to new British Prime Minister David Cameron to step in and stop the club's demise.

Consortium 'CPFC 2010,' a group headed by local businessmen who want to buy the Championship club said in a statement today (Monday) that unless they can complete a deal to buy the Club by 3pm on Tuesday, the club would go into liquidation and Agilo, the hedge fund which put Palace into administration in January will sell the players to get their money back.

The sticking point has been over the purchase of Selhurst Park which is under the control of separate administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers, who are selling the ground on behalf of Bank of Scotland.

There is an issue over a clause that would see the bank receive further money if the ground was sold on in the future for something like housing.

Although a deal had appeared to be imminent, a sticking point arose because one set of administrators are working with the consortium, and another are working on behalf of the Government-owned Bank of Scotland, who own the club's Selhurst Park ground, and are its major creditor.

'CPFC 2010' have appealed to the Prime Minister, whose new coalition government is committed to sport, to step in and prevent the Bank of Scotland overseeing its demise.

A statement from 'CPFC 2010' read:

"As we sit today the future of Crystal Palace hangs in the balance and is very much in the hands of a person in a bank whom we have never met and, it seems, we are not allowed to speak to.
We note the new government's commitment to sport, particularly sport in the community. Bank of Scotland is currently government owned.
As such we would urge the new Prime Minister to intervene personally to resolve the situation or see a club supported by many thousands, and with a 100-year history, consigned to the scrapheap."

Palace's administrator Brendan Guilfoyle told Sky Sports News:

"I'm millions of pounds behind, staff weren't paid on Friday and a number were made redundant, others were asked to carry on working for nothing and it's not a situation I can allow to continue for long. So I've got to start selling players, and if I do that the indications are that the consortium 'CPFC 2010' will withdraw.
Since they are the only party willing to acquire the club then there is a distinct possibility that once I've sold the players I'll have to walk away and let the liquidation process continue."

P.Diddy or The Diddymen - Panto At The Palace!

DIDDY TO BID-DY FOR PALACE ?

Cristal Palace's playas' lounge has moved one step closer to its unveiling at the Selhurst Park ground.

P.Diddy was locked in talks with Phil Alexander, chief executive of the footie club, on Thursday night - thrashing out a possible takeover.

The multi-millionaire U.S rapper now knows exactly how much the skint club in South-East London will cost and is in contact with their administrators.

Diddy - real name Sean Combs (below) - is expected to come back with an offer this weekend.


Palace face a tricky trip to Blackpool today, the first match since the Diddy story broke.

The Championship side are in serious danger of relegation, but the takeover does not hinge on their survival.

A source said: "Diddy wants to own Crystal Palace - no matter what division they might be in next season."

"He identifies with the club and feels they have real potential."

"If they go down to League One, he will ensure it's a brief stay."



Extract from: Gordon Smart's Bizarre column.
Published: Today by The Sun newspaper - News Group Newspapers Ltd

Ian Wright & The Club That Made Him – Crystal Palace

With Crystal Palace F.C currently in administration, times are tough for the South London Club at the moment, as the wait for a buyer goes on, and the future of the management team and players remains uncertain.

It has been 'reported' in the press that Ian Wright is interested in making a return to the club that gave him his first break - only this time in a coaching role.

Here we take a look at the man whose life changed forever when he pulled on the red and blue jersey of Crystal Palace, and triggered one of the most successful periods of time in the history of the Club.


Ian Edward Wright was born 3rd November 1963 in Woolwich, South London. He was the third son of Jamaican immigrants. His father Herbert left home when he was four, and he was brought up by his mother Nesta.

He trained as a bricklayer and plasterer when he left school at 16, and spent a week in Chelmsford Prison for not paying motoring fines.

Prison scared him sufficiently to put him on the straight and narrow, and he focused his energy on playing football for his local side 'Ten Em Bee.'

He was rejected by Brighton and Southend before Crystal Palace talent scout Pete Prentice happened to see Wright in a local Sunday-league match playing for Greenwich Borough and invited him to have a trial at Selhurst Park

He impressed then-manager Steve Coppell, and signed professional terms for Crystal Palace in August 1985, on an initial contract worth £100-a-week, just three months short of his 22nd birthday.

In his first game for Palace he came on as a substitute against Oldham Athletic and within minutes he scored.

In his first season, Wright scored nine times to finish as Palace's joint second-highest scorer with Phil Barber
When Mark Bright joined him at Palace two years later, the partnership clicked and Wright blossomed.

Their strike partnership was a major factor in taking the the club into the top flight via the playoffs in 1989.

Behind the scenes at Palace not everything was flowers and chocolates!

Wright and Palace's other young black players, Andy Gray and Tony Finnegan had been racially abused on the training ground by their team-mates, perhaps unsurprising given then chairman Ron Noades’s controversial statements about the make-up of his team, and coming to a head in 1991, when he said of the current crop of talented black players plying their trade at Palace that "the black players at this club lend the side a lot of skill and flair, but you also need white players in there to balance things up and give the team some brains and some common sense."

It was an astonishing things to say.......and Wright reported Noades to the Commission of Racial Equality.

Abused on his England B debut at Millwall and fined for spitting at racist fans at Oldham and QPR, Wright became an effective spokesperson against racial prejudice in football.

Ian Wright is probably best remembered for scoring two goals as a Crystal Palace substitute in the 1990 FA Cup Final against Manchester United at Wembley, having just recovered from a broken leg, sustained earlier in the season.
Wright equalized for Palace a few minutes after coming onto the field, then put Palace 3-2 ahead in extra-time before Mark Hughes’ equalizer seven minutes from time forced a replay, saved United’s blushes and many say the job of manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
It was rumored Ferguson was on the verge of dismissal if he didn’t deliver some silverware after several fruitless years as United manager. However United went on to win the replay, and the rest as they say is history.

In February 1991 Wright was handed his England debut by manager Graham Taylor.
He started in the 2-0 victory against Cameroon at Wembley.
Whilst a Palace player Wright made five appearances for the full England side.
Also in 1991 he completed his century of Palace goals to become only the fifth man to achieve that feat since the club's foundation in 1905.

In September 1991 Wright moved to Arsenal for £2.5m

In total Ian Wright played 227 games for Crystal Palace scoring 117 goals in a little over six seasons.

Crystal Palace Football Club Go Into Administration - 26th January 2010. Which Club Will Be Next?

OFFICIAL CLUB STATEMENT:

Following a 5pm meeting at the club the following statement was released.

Brendan Guilfoyle, Chris White and John Russell of the P & A Partnership have today been appointed administrators of Crystal Palace Football Club.

The administrators have been appointed to rescue the club and reconstruct its finances and will be urgently seeking buyers.

Brendan Guilfoyle said: "This club has been in the spotlight for some months with creditors pressing for payments and players anxious about their wages.

"Our role now is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the employees, players and fans for the future. We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers."

"Our role now is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the employees, players and fans for the future. We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers," he added in the statement.

Palace are ninth in the table, having been on the fringes of the promotion playoff places most of the season as they attempt to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2005.

However, administration leads to an automatic 10-point penalty which would leave them battling to avoid relegation.

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SKY SPORTS NEWS:

Crystal Palace have gone into administration and are facing an immediate 10-point deduction as a result.

The Football League is still to confirm the penalty as they are awaiting legal paperwork, but administrators have been appointed in a bid to rescue the Championship club.

The Selhurst Park outfit have been struggling financially for some time with chairman Simon Jordan actively seeking new investment.

Palace's players have seen their wages delayed this season, while the club have been forced to operate under a transfer embargo due to their plight.

The South London side have now been left with no option but to place the club into administration in the face of mounting debts.

Their 10-point deduction will see them plunge from ninth in the table and on the fringes of the play-off race to 20th, just four points above the drop zone.

Rescue.

A statement released to Sky Sports News read: "Brendan Guilfoyle, Chris White and John Russell of the P & A Partnership have today been appointed administrators of Crystal Palace Football Club.

"The administrators have been appointed to rescue the club and reconstruct its finances and will be urgently seeking buyers."

The administrators remain confident that they will soon be able to find a new buyer to save the ailing Eagles.

Guilfoyle said: "This club has been in the spotlight for some months with creditors pressing for payments and players anxious about their wages.

"Our role now is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the employees, players and fans for the future.

"We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers."

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THIS IS CROYDON TODAY.CO.UK - FROM A PALACE PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE - MATT LAWRENCE

Palace defender Matt Lawrence says the Eagles playing staff will be "bitterly disappointed" at the news that the club have been placed into administration.

Most of the club's players and coaching staff were in the air on a flight to Newcastle for tomorrow night's clash with the Championship league leaders as the news broke.

Lawrence, who had got the train up to the North East, was waiting for his team mates at the hotel as he spoke with the Advertiser.

"I think they are on the way here now so I'm sure most will have heard the news, I'm sure the texts will have been flying around," he said. "I would imagine that some of the staff and possibly Shaun [Derry - Palace's captain] may have been told before they got on the flight, but I don't know for sure.

"It's just bitterly disappointing that all the hard work done by the players and the manager so far this season to get us where we are in the league has disappeared.

"We were two points off the play-offs but now we are just four points above the relegation zone. So obviously the focus has changed."

Lawrence, who was been a peripheral figure at Palace for the majority of the campaign, insists the team will simply have to roll up their sleeves and get on with their job - just as they have done all season.

"We're in a relegation scrap now and rather than tomorrow night's game being a six pointer in terms of the play-offs, the games with Peterborough and Scunthorpe in the next two weeks are the six-pointers.

"I think the lads have shown that during these hard times they have been focussed on the football and I'm sure they will keep on doing the same thing now. The games we have got remaining have just taken on even more significance."

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BBC SPORT:

Championship side Crystal Palace have gone into administration, according to administrators P&A Partnership.
The Eagles twice failed to pay players this season and chairman Simon Jordan had been searching for new investors.

Clubs entering administration are automatically docked 10 points, which would see Palace drop from ninth place to two spots above the drop zone.
But the Football League has yet to receive formal confirmation from either the club or the administrators.

The Football League would need to see official documentation before applying the penalty.
"Our role is to find a buyer quickly to provide certainty for the future," said administrator Brendan Guilfoyle.

"This club has been in the spotlight with creditors pressing for payments and players anxious about wages.
"We are hoping our appointment will be short-lived as we understand there are many interested buyers."
Palace have reported debts of approximately £30m and are due in court on Wednesday to face a winding-up order from HM Revenue and Customs.

Despite their financial constraints - Warnock has at times not been able to name seven substitutes this season - Palace were lying two points off the play-offs ahead of Wednesday's trip to Newcastle.

Warnock will instead have a relegation fight on his hands, while the sale of his star players, such as teenage striker Victor Moses, now seems inevitable.
Jordan, who saved Palace from administration in 2000, last year announced his intention to sell the club.

The club has twice since been subject to a transfer embargo, with the Palace players first informed that Jordan had "cashflow" problems at the end of November.