Crystal Palace complete their incredible journey

Administrator Brendan Guilfoyle was charged with the arduous task of finding a buyer, and what a task it was. What made the deal so complicated was that not only were the club in administration but the company who owned the stadium were in administration too. Guilfoyle allegedly got up to thirty enquiries about the Palace but, due to the enormity of trying to acquire two separate entities from two separate administrators, only a consortium of wealthy fans under the name of CPFC 2010, headed by Steve Parish (owner of Tag Advertising), were willing to go any further. The consortium made it clear very early on that they were unwilling to buy the club without the stadium, and so their journey began.

However, before any takeover could happen what was so critical for Palace to stay in existence was the team maintaining its Championship status. The football league finance distribution is structured so that the clubs in the Championship receive 80% of total revenue generated through TV and sponsorship whilst League 1 clubs receive just 12%.  This drop in income would have been too much for CPFC 2010 to manage and if Palace had got relegated they would have definitely gone under. However, thanks to the work of caretaker manager Paul Hart, Palace stayed up with a heroic final day performance at Sheffield Wednesday. The first hurdle was cleared but there was a much higher one looming just around the corner.

After weeks of negotiations the consortium and Brendan Guilfoyle worked out a way to pay back Agilo in full whilst also putting together and offer to all the other unsecured creditors, including Jordan. A deal to buy the club was in place however issues with the purchase of the stadium arose. Lloyds Bank, who were now in control of the stadium since it went into administration, offered it to Parish at a price he could afford but attached an anti-embarrassment clause to the deal which made it impossible for CPFC 2010 to make any money from the stadium in the future- making it a pointless business deal for them and for the club. On top of this Agilo very hastily gave Palace a 24 hour deadline to complete the entire purchase and to deliver them their money back- otherwise they would call in the liquidators.

Cue outrage from the Palace faithful. The consortium posted an open letter on the fans chat site explaining the severity of the situation, and then let the passion of the club’s supporters do the work. Palace fans held two protests within the space of 24 hours, one outside Selhurst Park and one outside Lloyds HQ in London. Under severe public pressure Lloyds offered CPFC 2010 a fairer deal and the future of Crystal Palace Football Club was secured. New owner Steve Parish has openly stated that it was the protests that finally made the difference- one must think that the banking industry’s reputation had taken such a battering over the past two years that surely it couldn’t afford to do the unthinkable and put a football club out of business.

As of the creditors meeting on Friday the full takeover is now complete, the nightmare is over and Palace can surely look forward to a brighter future. The question now turns to wanting to know how this time around will be any different under CPFC 2010. Well, where do you want to start?

The biggest difference that simply cannot be overlooked is that Palace now own Selhurst Park. At Championship level the stadium is the club’s only capital asset, bringing in around 80% of the revenue, and without being in control of it Palace were always were destined to end up in administration. On top of this the club now has a group of highly rational thinkers in charge. The simple fact that CPFC 2010 wouldn’t buy the club without Selhurst Park, unlike the two chairmen before him, speaks volumes.

However, if you truly want to know where a man’s mind is then you must listen intently to his words under pressure. Despite all that has happened before there is one quote from Steve Parish in his news conference to unveil George Burley as manager that should give the fans the most hope of all. When asked about the choice of his first managerial appointment Parish stated: “We lack experience. Martin (new co chairman Martin Long of Churchill insurance) and I have never been in and around football to this extent so we very much wanted to choose someone with a track record.” The reason Palace fans should be so delirious to hear this is that it demonstrates that Steve Parish and CPFC 2010 realise, unlike many other club owners, that football is a business that must be learned and managed progressively. The football chairman graveyard is full of dreamers who wanted to reach the Premiership within two seasons without bringing any business logic to the operation- but what this statement shows is that the new owners of Crystal Palace will never take risks that could lead to them to being buried in the same spot.

As Palace fans look to the future excitement should consume them for they now have a club with a proven manager, a productive youth academy and, most importantly of all, a decent sized stadium that they actually own. This is a proven and straightforward equation for success that Palace haven’t had in years. However, under the guidance of Steve Parish, Steven Browett, Jeremy Hosking, Martin Long and everyone else involved with the CPFC 2010 consortium, this historic club now truly does have a platform to exploit their undoubted strengths for all they are worth.

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Written By Kieran Lovelock

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