Crystal Palace to undergo expensive redevelopment after big news - Wyness

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness believes it will be an expensive development for Crystal Palace to add more than 8,000 new seats at Selhurst Park. 

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – suggested Palace need to potentially redevelop two more stands at they look to bring the stadium up to modern-day standards.

Croydon Council confirmed on 16 August it has granted the south London club planning permission to build a new glass-fronted Main Stand at Selhurst Park. 

The development will take the number of seats in the stand from 5,200 to 13,500, ensuring the stadium’s capacity will rise to more than 34,000.

Crystal Palace need to add up to 20,000 new seats

Although Wyness believes it is a positive step, he suggested Palace may need to add another 15,000-20,000 seats.

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “The worry with Selhurst Park is that it’s in such a closed area. 

“The increase they have got is only for 8,000 seats and that’s a lot of work. 

“The facade that they have managed to plan for looks fantastic. 

“But when you look at the aerial view of Selhurst Park, you can see very clearly that at least two of the four sides need to be redeveloped as well.

“I know it’s going to be a tricky area around there to be able to acquire the land and that’s always been the blockage as I understand it so far. 

“But they need to do more than getting the 8,000 extra seats. They need to do those other two sides and potentially get another 15,000-20,000 if they can do. 

“But it’s a positive sign and they are doing the right thing. It’s going to make Selhurst Park look more identifiable and give it a more iconic look in terms of the new structure.

“I don’t know how the engineering work is going to work and it will be quite costly for 8,000 seats. But it was still the right first move to do.” 

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