Crystal Palace Supporters' Trust

Dougie's Testimonial Programme

Posted by Alan Palmer

We are pleased to be able to pass on the following message from the Dougie Freedman Testimonial Committee: -

"The Dougie Freedman Testimonial Committee are pleased to announce that even if you are unable to attend the match on July 29th against Fulham, you can still show your support for Dougie.

We are preparing a special souvenir match programme and for those who are unable to attend Selhurst that night, you can subscribe to the programme. In addition we will print for you a brief message to Dougie, in this special souvenir publication. All subscribed copies will be autographed by Dougie and will be dispatched to you by post.

This offer is also available for those supporters who are able to attend the match. Your name and message will also appear in the programme and your signed copy will also be posted to you. However signed copies of the programme will not be available on the night of the match at Selhurst Park. This offer is only available on subscription. All signed copies will be posted to you.

Please send a cheque for £6.00 payable to “The Dougie Freedman Testimonial Programme” to:

The Dougie Freedman Testimonial Programme
Europa Quality Print Ltd
Europa House
44 the I O Centre
Armstrong Road
Royal Arsenal
London SE18 6RS

Please state your name or if you prefer an alternative name as a surprise gift for a family member or friend. Your name or the alternative name will be printed in the subscriptions section of the programme, with your brief message for Dougie, up to a maximum 25 words. Please make certain that you include the address you wish the programme to be posted to.

Please allow up to 21 days for the receipt of the programme. We will aim to post as many copies ahead of the testimonial as possible. However as the publication will not be printed until a few days before the match, we are unable to guarantee that it will be received before July 29th.

Thank you for your support."

Membership Renewals

Posted by Alan Palmer

We'd like to thank the members who have already renewed their memberships.

We are aware that some members are experiencing problems when attempting to renew online. The problems are being looked at and should be resolved shortly.

Thanks again to all Trust members for your continued support. 

Selhurst Park

Posted by Alan Palmer

The Crystal Palace Supporters' Trust congratulates Simon Jordan for securing the Club's tenure at Selhurst Park with a 25 year lease agreement.

The agreement with Paul Kemsley, the owner of Selhurst Park, gives Simon Jordan the option of purchasing the freehold during the term of the lease.

This agreement will alleviate the concerns of many Palace fans with regard to the Club's long-term future at Selhurst Park.

Selhurst Park

Posted by Alan Palmer

In light of speculation regarding the ownership of Selhurst Park, the Crystal Palace Supporters' Trust would like to confirm the following.

As previously stated we have actively sought clarification of the position in respect of the ownership of the Selhurst Park freehold. We believe we have an understanding of the issues and they have given us some cause for concern.

We have communicated our concerns to Simon Jordan, the Owner and Chairman of Crystal Palace FC, and to Paul Kemsley, the Owner of Selhurst Park. We respect the need for commercial sensitivity and recognise that both principals will not want to publicise the progress of any discussions to resolve outstanding matters.

The Trust wishes to reiterate its willingness to meet with the Club to determine if there's a role for the supporters to play in assisting the Club to secure the Selhurst Park freehold.  

Presentation to Clinton

Posted by Alan Palmer

A presentation of a silver salver was made on 23 January, on behalf of all Crystal Palace supporters, to Clinton Morrison.

The salver was presented to mark Clinton's achievement of scoring a century of goals for the club.

The presentation party consisted of representatives from the Fans Centenary Project (Don Madgwick - far left), PISA 's Keith Powell (second from right), and the Crystal Palace Supporters' Trust (Mervyn Pierce - far right).

Congratulations to Clinton

Posted by Alan Palmer

The Trust joins all Palace fans in congratulating Clinton Morrison on completing his century of goals for CPFC.

Fans may recall that the Trust and PISA made a presentation of a silver salver, on behalf of all supporters, to Dougie Freedman when he achieved the milestone of 100 goals for Palace.

The Trust and PISA will be making arrangements for a similar presentation to Clinton to mark his achievement.

Further details will follow.

Shop and Search and raise funds for CPST

Posted by Alan Palmer

Visitors to our new website will find the facility to shop online by clicking on the link to easyfundraising.org. easyfundraising is a shopping directory listing most of the major online stores including Amazon, NEXT, Debenhams, John Lewis, HMV and over 400 over top retail names. Whenever you shop online with any of them using the links provided on the easyfundraising site, CPST will receive a donation of up to 15% of the purchase price every time.

It won’t cost you anything extra to shop and raise funds in this way. In fact you can even SAVE MONEY as many retailers give exclusive discounts, special offers and even ‘e-vouchers’ when you shop through the easyfundraising site.

All you need to do is register for free at easyfundraising. Click on the link on this page.

When you register with easyfundraising, you’ll also be able to raise funds when you search the web with easysearch, a search engine with a difference. Powered by Yahoo! easysearch works just like any other search engine, giving you fast, accurate results time after time. But the difference is, easysearch gives something back. When you search with easysearch, you’ll raise money for CPST with every search you make.

Just like easyfundrasising, it is completely free to register and use. Check out our unique easysearch page by clicking on the link on this page.

Trust Letter to Simon Jordan

Posted by Alan Palmer

The Trust wrote the following letter to Simon Jordan, dated 28/01/07. To date, Mr Jordan has not replied.

Dear Mr Jordan

We are writing with regard to the Football Paper’s story, on 21st January, about your intention to raise £15M of finance to support the acquisition of Selhurst Park.

The Trust welcomed the news of your purchase of the Selhurst Park freehold on the 10th October 2006. Like all Palace fans we were delighted that years of uncertainty had ended and club and ground were reunited under your ownership. However, the Football Paper’s report raises issues that now give the Trust cause for concern.

While we understand the need for financing and the necessary structures to be put in place, we are concerned with the level of rent the club will be required to pay under the terms of the proposed 25-year lease.

From our understanding of the lease in place when Altonwood held the freehold, it appears that the new lease will result in the club paying higher levels of rent, particularly after the first three years, than it did under the lease with Altonwood.

The terms of the borrowing require full repayment within 7-10 years, either by refinancing or through the sale of Selhurst Park. While we accept that the former will be the ideal and preferred option, the idea that Selhurst Park could be sold to repay a loan will concern many supporters, especially as we are unaware of any firm proposals to relocate the club.

The funding document referred to in the Football Paper report, seems to highlight the value of Selhurst Park as a potential property development. Although this emphasis is due to the need to attract finance it still creates a feeling of unease among supporters.

The Football Paper also raises the issue of long-term season tickets. Undoubtedly the deals on offer are financially advantageous to supporters. Our concern is that the club’s generosity could backfire in future years. If a substantial number of long-term season tickets are sold, at today’s prices, it could lead to a shortfall of income in future years coinciding with the club’s rent increases.

With these concerns in mind, we would ask for your response to the following questions.

1. Is it correct that the club will be paying higher rent under the terms of the new lease than under the previous lease with Altonwood?
2. In the event that repayment of the borrowing can only be achieved by the sale of Selhurst Park, is there a covenant in the lease that protects the club’s tenancy and prevents Selhurst Park being sold for alternative use?
3. Is it your intention to redevelop the stadium or have you plans to relocate the club?
4. Have potential shortfalls in future income been taken into consideration with regard to the sale of long-term season tickets, and how would such shortfalls be made up?

In finishing, the Trust wishes to reiterate that we share your desire to see Crystal Palace back in the Premiership and established as a top-flight club. It’s fair to say, that in the event that promotion to the Premiership is achieved, the massive financial rewards would remove many of the concerns we have raised in this letter.

For the present, Crystal Palace is a Championship club and while that remains so, we believe our concerns have validity.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Alan Palmer
On behalf of the Trust Board

Statement by Trust Board

Posted by Alan Palmer

The Crystal Palace Supporters’ Trust notes with interest the story in the latest issue of the Football Paper, reporting Simon Jordan’s intention to raise £15M of finance to support the acquisition of Selhurst Park.

When Simon Jordan’s purchase of the Selhurst Park freehold was announced on the 10th October 2006, we, together with all Palace supporters, welcomed the news. The Football Paper’s report raises some issues that now give the Trust cause for concern.

The document referred to in the report indicates that a 25 year lease of Selhurst Park will be put in place, requiring the football club to pay a fixed level of rent for the first three years with annual increases thereafter. These terms appear less favourable than the rent applicable under the club’s former lease with Ron Noades’ company, Altonwood. Our concern is that the level of rent proposed will place an increasing burden upon the club, especially if promotion to the Premiership is not achieved in the short term. Additionally, the club’s policy of selling long-term season tickets at today’s prices, although financially advantageous to supporters, could result in a shortfall of income in coming seasons coinciding with the club’s rent increases.

The reported terms of the financing proposals show that the £15M of borrowing requires repayment in 7-10 years. This will be done either by further refinancing or through the sale of Selhurst Park. Although we accept that the former is the more likely and preferred option, the idea of Selhurst Park being sold to repay a loan will cause concern to many supporters, particularly as we are unaware of any firm proposals to relocate the football club.

We share Simon Jordan’s desire for Crystal Palace to achieve promotion to the Premiership and establish itself in the top flight. If that aim is achieved then the resulting increase in club revenue will remove many of the concerns raised by this report. However, promotion cannot be guaranteed and in the event that Crystal Palace remains a Championship club then the financial pressures on the club are likely to grow.

We will be writing to Simon Jordan to raise our concerns. We also hope to learn more of his future plans for Selhurst Park.

-Statement ends-

Selhurst Park Freehold - statement by the Trust Board

Posted by Alan Palmer

The Trust welcomes the news that Simon Jordan has purchased Selhurst Park from Ron Noades. We congratulate Simon on securing the freehold and look forward to hearing more of his plans to develop Selhurst Park to the standard required to support the club's development and progression.

We are now able to disclose that the Trust, for the last few months, has been in discussions with Ron Noades and Altonwood about a possible purchase of the freehold. We talked to various parties who shared our goal of finding a way to reunite the stadium freehold with the club ownership. Various options for financing the considerable sums involved were considered. In the end we struggled to come up with a suitable funding scheme in the time available to us.

Any questions about the above statement can be submitted to the Trust Board by way of the 'contact us' link on this website.