It has finally started: bulldozers moved in last week, in the biggest sign yet that the £150m-plus project is really, finally, under way
Almost nine years since the proposal was first aired to build a modern main stand and increase home capacity for Crystal Palace games to 34,000, physical, visible works have begun in and around Selhurst Park on a project that may now end up costing close to £200million.
Bulldozers were sent in last week to begin the demolition of the six houses on Wooderson Close, with a video of the work posted by the club as its latest “update” on the long-awaited development – only the second official update from Palace in two years.
News update: Crystal Palace used video of the demolition work as their latest update on the scheme
Works, with Lendlease contracted as the developer, were due to have started in 2025, but there were further delays in securing the former council houses on Wooderson Close, which provides land for the expansion around the expansive, 8,000 seat new stand.
Back in 2018, when the scheme was first proposed, the costs were estimated at little more than the transfer value of Wilfried Zaha… but that estimate is long gone, together with the star forward on a free transfer.
Selhurst Park has been Crystal Palace’s home since 1924.
Over the past 18 months, much work has been conducted behind the scenes to prepare for the new build, but this week’s demolition is probably the most tangible sign of the project being finally underway.
Your helpful guide to the Selhurst Park redevelopment: to include works on the Holmesdale Stand, works won’t be completed until January 2029
The club has said in the past that, “The construction of the new stand will look to be built around the existing structure, with the aim of keeping the stadium fully operational throughout the build.
“A development of this magnitude and complexity, particularly with the need to keep the existing stand open, requires reconfiguration of areas of the ground and careful chronological organisation of the process.”
A rather helpful “Main Stand Phasing Strategy” has found its way on to social media in the past week, which confirms that this initial phase of enabling works – including the demolition of Wooderson Close – should be completed by August, while the whole project, including some works on the Holmesdale Stand, is due to finish in January 2029.
Croydon Council is set to receive £3.5million in phased Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payments from the works over the next two and a half years.
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If the project is not due for completion for two and a half years (in Jan 2029), it doesn’t much matter that they have wasted one month since the football season ended to begin work. Demolishing a few houses next to the stadium won’t affect the capacity of Selhurst Park, but once they have demolished the stand they are replacing, the crowd size will surely have to fall, as Health & Safety rules will prevent people climbing the scaffolding to see matches ?!