Woosie's Words - Crystal Palace now own the training ground and stadium - what does it mean for the football

Woosie's Words - Crystal Palace now own the training ground and stadium - what does it mean for the football

8:00am Tuesday 16th July 2013 in Sport

By Matt Woosnam

Crystal Palace FC completed the purchase of its Beckenham training ground at auction last week.

Far be it from the farce under previous chairman Simon Jordan, who claimed to have reunited Palace with Selhurst Park, this ensures that the club owns both the stadium and the training ground under the ownership of one company.

But what does it mean for the football side of the club?

The training ground has previously been dismissed as too small to be home for a club the size of Palace looking to expand and improve its facilities, but it would appear that following a meeting over the weekend, the owners and management team had a change of heart.

It may be that the opportunity to purchase the training ground was too good to miss, as it is highly unlikely that any loss would be incurred should the club seek to sell it on.

Steve Parish suggested on one of the fans? forums that the club would need to either relocate or find a second site to increase the size of the training ground should it achieve prolonged success in the Premier League.

The purchase of the land in Copers Cope Road will allow the club to improve the facilities which are in place, at least for the short term.

Previously this was difficult due to the club only holding a lease.

Benefits would inevitably follow as a result of this, but whether this includes category 1 academy status is unclear should the club even decide to apply.

This is due to the relatively small size of the training ground preventing all age groups from training in the same location.

There is little doubt that this acquisition is a shrewd one, which enables investment into the facilities as well as perhaps improving the standard of the pitches, consequently helping player development and preventing injury.

It could be especially important for those youth players who have travelled to Portugal with the first team squad.

Among them are Hiram Boateng and Reise Allassani, both 17-year-olds who are highly regarded by the management.

The better the facilities are for players at a younger age, the better their chances of fulfilling their potential.

Finally, any possible development of the training ground and its facilities could assist greatly in attracting players to the club.

While Palace can boast a strong youth policy, it is not so attractive for established Premier League players who have offers from elsewhere.

When they are presented with a plan of what facilities will be available to them, this may have a significant impact on their decision of whether to join the club or not.

Source: http://www.streathamguardian.co.uk/sport/10548033.Woosie_s_Words___Crystal_Palace_now_own_the_training_ground_and_stadium___what_does_it_mean_for_the_football/?ref=rss

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