Parish Is Right On Selhurst Park

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has said he believes that fans would understand a naming rights deal on Selhurst Park to help us redevelop the stadium.

With Palace Revealing Development Plans For Selhurst back in December, Parish has this week been speaking to the Evening Standard about those plans and having admitted we were looking into the potential of a naming right’s deal previously, he added that he wasn’t naturally against it but the obvious caveat was it would need to be the ‘right number’ for the club.

Croydon council will consider our planning application for the new main stand on April 19 and should it pass the plans will raise capacity from 26,000 to 34,000.

‘If it was the right number and something that helped us build it better or faster then it is something we would look at it. Selhurst Park is a nice name…probably I would not personally mind as much because my goal is improving the club. My primary focus is to make the club better. But all of these things have to be weighed up. We are not going to give them up easily. I think people would understand if it is the right answer for the club and if it is a good association as well. That matters.’

He added.

‘It might make the difference between doing it exactly how we want and making some compromises. It is not a decision that we would definitely do it. We would look at all options.’

The alternative plan obviously would be doing a deal for a less lucrative sum of money but keeping the name, or even the potential for individual stand sponsorship.

In any event, apart from the hard core traditionalists, I think Parish is right in his outlook. It’s about driving the club on and improving and putting ourselves in a better position financially to compete and more consistently move up the table.

The sponsor itself is the crucial thing, the company associated, their line of work and most importantly the name – the McDonald’s Bowl would have it’s own critics as would the LoveHoney Arena for example.

But in either case it remains Selhurst Park; that’s what the fans will continue to call it.