Crystal Palace fans protested at Lloyds Bank on 1 June
The sporting headlines on June 1 were dominated by Fabio Capello’s final cut on the England squad for the 2010 World Cup.
For some, though, the day will always be remembered as that on which their club almost died.
Crystal Palace were hours from liquidation as the desperate search for a buyer seemed to be fruitless.
After months of negotiations, the fan-led CPFC 2010 consortium managed to agree a deal in principle and finally completed the deal on June 7.
But where does the club go from here?
Chris Waters, a board member of the Crystal Palace Supporters Trust, spoke to Half Volley about the future of the club.
Half Volley: Who or what do Palace fans blame for the current troubled situation?
Chris Waters: “That’s the million dollar question! There are so many thing you can point to.
“I think the initial separation of the ground and club by [former chairman] Ron Noades was very significant.
He will say that it ultimately saved the club as [subsequent chairman] Mark Goldberg couldn’t buy it. Then, when we subsequently went in to administration, it meant that the ground was protected as he didn’t own it and therefore couldn’t be sold.
“Others point to Simon Jordan: after all, he held a press conference and had T-shirts printed announcing the reuniting of ground and club, yet it turned out that he hadn’t really bought it after all.
“In some ways he was a victim of circumstance as, at the last minute, he wasn’t able to raise the money required due to the downturn and thus it remained under Rock Investments.
“Unfortunately, the rent he agreed went from £300,000 to £1.2m a year, which was clearly unsustainable.
“Jordan chased the dream and paid the ultimate price; clearly going to an aggressive hedge fund for money was the straw that broke the camel’s back as Agilo were the ones who put us into admin.
“Lastly you have to point to the industry as a whole.
“Stacking so much wealth in to the Premier League has made many clubs overstretch themselves trying to get there – we certainly won’t be the last to suffer troubles like this.”
HV:Is there faith that the CPFC2010 consortium will be able to rejuvenate the club?
CW:“There is a great deal of support for the consortium. They are good business people who want the club to run the club by at least breaking even.
“They recognised that the club had to be reunited with the ground and have done this.
“They also appear very willing to engage with fans – something Simon Jordan did not do.”
HV: What has the reaction been from within the Crystal Palace fans community?
CW:“Administration galvanised the fanbase.
“Atmosphere at games became a lot better, support actually increased, and the protests against Lloyds were powerful reminders of the support the club has.
“Hopefully we can keep that enthusiasm going as we look forward to a new season.”
Fans will no doubt be delighted that the deal has been concluded and they can rest safe in the knowledge that they will have a team to support next season.
Crystal Palace might be out of the woods for the time being, but a long period of reassessing and rebuilding will have to be undertaken before the club will be able to challenge at the right end of the table.
