After months and months of hearing nothing from the orange one on the sale of the club, the Croydon Advertiser has sensationally revealed today that former Birmingham City chairman David Gold could very well be a surprise candidate to buy the Palace.
Gold, a one time enemy of Simon Jordan sold his shares in Birmingham City for £82.5 million recently and has been on the look out for a new club ever since. He was reportedly interested in buying a stake in the Hammers; his boy-hood club but was put off by the "massive debts".
Indeed Palace are not without their financial problems which have worsened since the recession took hold last year. Added to this is the age old ground issue which has been like a meal stone around the neck of Palace ever since the Goldberg takeover in 1998 and has been the biggest factor in restricting the growth of the club.
But David Gold can see a way around these issues, the source said: "Most teams in the Championship need a bit of work and Palace is no different.
"The fact that they don't own the ground isn't ideal but it is something David thinks could easily be resolved."
He may not be too far wrong with that assumption either with Selhurst Park currently under administrators PriceWaterHouse after the collapse of Paul Kelmsley's Rock Investments who had owned the ground previously. This could in theory reduce the asking price for the freehold although the administrators have come out this week stating that they expect alot of interest in the ground.
However the over-riding factor here is that Crystal Palace is in desperate need of financial investment and more importantly, stability. And while some long for a Middle-Eastern takeover a-la Notts County to take us to the top of the rich lists, I do not. All this would achieve is to rip the soul out of our club that is so rich with history. Selhurst would surely be ripped down and we'd move to one of those bowl stadiums that everyone has these days that all look the same (anyone who's been to Cardiff, Coventry and Southampton will know what I mean). I believe David Gold is exactly what we need, he would be a steady hand at the rudder investing wisely and taking his time in developing and taking this club that we all know has great potential, forward.
Gold also know's the area and lives just eight miles away in Caterham. The source in the Croydon Advertiser has claimed that this is a major factor for his interest: "He wants to stay involved in football and after years of travelling up and down the motorway he wants a club that is local.
"There is nowhere more local to him than Crystal Palace; he lives eight miles away from the ground."
Although it is currently paper talk and all the quotes are as yet un-substantiated, Palace fans around the world will be eager to see this deal go through as without it, I feel administration is the only possible outcome in the long-run.
Here's hoping!
Gold, a one time enemy of Simon Jordan sold his shares in Birmingham City for £82.5 million recently and has been on the look out for a new club ever since. He was reportedly interested in buying a stake in the Hammers; his boy-hood club but was put off by the "massive debts".
Indeed Palace are not without their financial problems which have worsened since the recession took hold last year. Added to this is the age old ground issue which has been like a meal stone around the neck of Palace ever since the Goldberg takeover in 1998 and has been the biggest factor in restricting the growth of the club.
But David Gold can see a way around these issues, the source said: "Most teams in the Championship need a bit of work and Palace is no different.
"The fact that they don't own the ground isn't ideal but it is something David thinks could easily be resolved."
He may not be too far wrong with that assumption either with Selhurst Park currently under administrators PriceWaterHouse after the collapse of Paul Kelmsley's Rock Investments who had owned the ground previously. This could in theory reduce the asking price for the freehold although the administrators have come out this week stating that they expect alot of interest in the ground.
However the over-riding factor here is that Crystal Palace is in desperate need of financial investment and more importantly, stability. And while some long for a Middle-Eastern takeover a-la Notts County to take us to the top of the rich lists, I do not. All this would achieve is to rip the soul out of our club that is so rich with history. Selhurst would surely be ripped down and we'd move to one of those bowl stadiums that everyone has these days that all look the same (anyone who's been to Cardiff, Coventry and Southampton will know what I mean). I believe David Gold is exactly what we need, he would be a steady hand at the rudder investing wisely and taking his time in developing and taking this club that we all know has great potential, forward.
Gold also know's the area and lives just eight miles away in Caterham. The source in the Croydon Advertiser has claimed that this is a major factor for his interest: "He wants to stay involved in football and after years of travelling up and down the motorway he wants a club that is local.
"There is nowhere more local to him than Crystal Palace; he lives eight miles away from the ground."
Although it is currently paper talk and all the quotes are as yet un-substantiated, Palace fans around the world will be eager to see this deal go through as without it, I feel administration is the only possible outcome in the long-run.
Here's hoping!
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