Crisis club Palace set to avoid liquidation

Cash-strapped Crystal Palace look set to avoid extinction after a consortium attempting to buy the Championship club agreed a deal to secure the team’s Selhurst Park stadium moments before the deadline that would have forced them out of business.

Palace are in administration with debts of around 30 million pounds and were in danger of liquidation after the CPFC 2010 consortium hinted on Monday that talks with Lloyds Bank to buy Selhurst Park had collapsed.

Brendan Guilfoyle, the Eagles’ administrator, had set up a 1400GMT deadline on Tuesday for both parties to resolve the situation as he had run out of money to pay staff wages.

Guilfoyle had already made 29 non-playing staff redundant last week and it was feared CPFC 2010 would pull out if the administrator started to sell key players like Darren Ambrose to keep the club alive.

Hundreds of Palace fans who had gathered outside Lloyds headquarters in the City of London to demonstrate as they suspected the worst.

But negotiations were continuing behind closed doors and a deal to save the 105-year-old club was announced soon after the deadline.

A statement from Lloyds Bank read: “(Stadium administrator) PricewaterhouseCoopers has reached an agreement in principle with CPFC 2010 in relation to the sale of Selhurst Park.

“This enables the consortium to go ahead with the purchase of both the Crystal Palace Football Club and Selhurst Park.

“Lloyds Banking Group has worked hard throughout this process to achieve a durable solution. We are pleased a successful conclusion has now been reached.

“We are also pleased that PwC, which acts on behalf of Selhurst Park, has publicly acknowledged today the ongoing support it has received from Lloyds Banking Group.”

The CPFC 2010 takeover stalled over a clause in the contract which would see the bank receive further money if the ground was sold on in the future.

The group, fronted by local businessmen Steve Parish and Martin Long, even called on British Prime Minister David Cameron to intervene.

But the Lloyds announcement should secure Palace’s future three weeks after they overcame a 10-point deduction to avoid relegation to League One thanks to a draw at Sheffield Wednesday on the last day of the season.