27th January 2010: Crystal Palace lost 2-0 away at Newcastle leaving them 4 points off the playoff places. However this paled in comparison to the news that for the second time in 12 years the club had been placed into administration. With debts totalling around £30million, the club automatically incurred the 10 point penalty for entering administration.
In the following days administrator Brendan Guilfoyle raised funds by selling star player Victor Moses to Wigan for £2.5 Million. Manager Neil Warnock (in his first spell in charge) then compounded matters in March by leaving for London rivals Queens Park Rangers, being replaced by Paul Hart with former striker Dougie Freedman as his assistant. At the time of Warnock’s departure Palace had fallen to 21st place and were only kept out of the relegation zone by the fact they had a greater goal difference than Sheffield Wednesday.
On the Brink Crystal Palace 2009/10
By the start of April, Palace had slipped into the relegation zone. However good results in the next five games gave them a final day challenge away at fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday, with Palace needing only a draw to survive. Lose and Wednesday would leapfrog them and consign Palace to relegation. Still in administration and without any certainty over a buyer, the stakes could not have been higher as relegation would in all likelihood lead to liquidation and the end of Crystal Palace FC. The final game was a rollercoaster with Palace twice taking the lead only to be pegged back, the second equalizer coming in the 87th minute. For the final 3 minutes and injury time Wednesday threw everything they had at Palace looking for a winner and almost paid for it as Stern John had a breakaway chance to make Palace’s safety assured but hit the post. The final whistle went with the score 2-2 and Palace had escaped relegation but the greater battle was yet to come.
After the season finished Crystal Palace still faced a battle to stay in business. Consortium CPFC 2010, made up of local businessmen Steve Browett, Steve Parish, Martin Long and Jeremy Hosking were in negotiations to buy the club but only if they could purchase the Selhurst Park stadium as well. Selhurst Park and Crystal Palace had been separated when previous owner Ron Noades sold the club to Mark Goldberg with Noades keeping the ground and renting it to the club. After Palace went into administration in 1999 and were subsequently purchased by Simon Jordan attempts were made by Jordan to purchase the stadium but relations between Noades and Jordan were less than cordial. In October 2006 Jordan claimed that he had purchased the freehold from Noades, but in reality it had been bought by Selhurst Park Limited owned by the Rock Group and HBOS. At the same time as Crystal Palace, The Rock Group had entered administration, and with HBOS now owned by Lloyds, it meant the Lloyds Group had both the club and stadium as assets. With administrator Guilfoyle setting a deadline of 1500 on June 1st for a deal to be done before he liquidated the club, the deal went right down to the 11th hour. Against the backdrop of hundreds of Palace fans protesting outside Lloyds London headquarters CPFC 2010 purchased both Crystal Palace and Selhurst Park, reuniting club and ground for the first time since 1998, and securing the immediate future for Crystal Palace.
Under the stewardship of CPFC 2010 the club not only consolidated their position in the Championship, but only three years after almost going out of existence Crystal Palace fans had a day out at Wembley and watched their team reach the Premier League beating Watford in the Championship playoff final. Things have continued to get better for Palace as they again beat the relegation odds to survive in the Premier League for the first time, at their 5th attempt.
Crystal Palace overcame all the odds in 2010 not only to beat the drop but to survive. A 10 point deduction, the sale of their star player, the loss of their manager and the threat of liquidation hanging over the club, these events should have conspired to drag Palace down to a relegation which could have quite literally killed the club. However a club spirit carried them through. That team spirit carried the players through on the pitch and the supporters who refused to let their club die without a fight. In addition to the number of fans that turned up to Lloyds HQ over 1000 supporters had protested outside the clubs ground the day before to make sure everything was being done to save their club. In the end it was four fans that saved the club and have enacted a most extraordinary turnaround, from the brink of extinction to a mid table Premier League finish in just four years.
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