Crystal Palace FC and Sainsbury’s reach agreement over stadium expansion

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

Crystal Palace Football Club has reached an agreement with Sainsbury’s over a patch of land needed for its Selhurst Park expansion, it has been reported.

This should be the final piece in the puzzle for work to start before the end of 2023.

A story in The Athletic, published on Monday, appears to confirm a deal with the supermarket has finally been made.

A small part of the shop’s car park in Whitehorse Lane is needed for the main stand expansion.

In October, when the club got permission from Croydon council for the work, chairman Steve Parish admitted to the planning committee that negotiations between the two parties had been “difficult,” adding the club was at “contract stage” to buy the land.

It was the second time the plans to increase capacity from 26,000 to more than 34,000, came in front of Croydon council.

The club was first given the green light by the council’s planning committee in 2018.

However, the club never signed a legal agreement related to the 2018 planning application meaning permission was never formally granted. The application was, once again, voted through unanimously in 2022.

At the meeting this year, Mr Parish said he hoped the club would “break ground” by the end of 2023.

He added: “We wish we’d finished this by now and I am determined to see it through and finish it.”

It was originally thought the revamped stadium would be ready for the 2021-22 season, but the club turned its attention towards redeveloping its academy in Beckenham.

The latest plans were essentially the same as those approved in 2018 but included a series of new documents including travel plans and minor internal changes for fire safety.

Pictured top: Selhurst Park (Picture: CPFC)