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Crystal Palace Ground Name: Selhurst
Park |
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What's The Ground Like? |
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| What's The Ground Like? | |
| Both ends of the ground have had new stands constructed in recent years, much improving the overall look of the ground. The two tiered Holmesdale Road Stand is at one end, and is where the bulk of home supporters congregate. This stand has a large lower tier, with a smaller upper tier that overhangs it. The stand looks impressive and has a large curved roof, as well as windshields on either side of the upper tier. Opposite is the Whitehorse Lane Stand. This is unusual in having a single tier of seating, with a double row of executive boxes above them. A video screen perches on the roof, which somehow doesn't look as if it was meant originally to be fitted there. This stand has now been renamed the 'Croydon Advertiser Family Stand'. One side is the large, covered, single tiered Arthur Wait stand, while on the other side the Main Stand is also single tiered. Both stands are now beginning to show their age; for example both have wooden seating and the Main Stand has a row of small floodlights perched on its roof and both have a number of supporting pillars. The Arthur Wait Stand has a TV gantry suspended beneath its roof. Michael Clement adds; 'To add a bit of razzmatazz to the beginning of games, the club now play a programme of loud music, as the teams emerge onto the pitch'. This includes playing 'Glad All Over' by the Dave Clarke Five, which is enthusiastically joined in to by the Palace fans. | |
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Looking Towards The Holmesdale Road Stand | |
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Thanks to Owen Pavey for supplying the photos for this page. | |
| What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? | |
| On the whole
Crystal Palace is a fairly relaxed ground to visit and you are
unlikely to encounter any problems, except perhaps getting stuck in
the traffic on the way to the game! Away fans are located in one
side of the Arthur Wait Stand near to the
Holmesdale Road End, where just over 2,000 away supporters can be
accommodated. Nikita a visiting Gillingham fan informs me; 'If you
are seated towards the rear of the stand then you will find that you
are sitting on old wooden seats and there is very little leg
room'. Plus the views of the playing action are not
particularly great from the back of the stand, due to the overhang
of the roof. And if that is not enough then there is the odd
supporting pillar to contend with too! Whilst Alex Jones adds; 'If
you sit in the bottom half of the stand for an afternoon kick off,
in the earlier part of the season, then don't be surprised if you
end up trying to keep the sun out of eyes'. On my last visit there was a particularly good atmosphere within the ground, especially from the home fans in the Holmesdale Road End, which is situated to the left of the away section. I was impressed with the Palace fans, who clearly were passionate about their Club, but in a non-intimidatory manner, towards away fans. In fact there was plenty of good banter going on between the two sets of supporters. Within the Arthur Wait Stand, there are plenty of refreshments available, including burgers (£2) and chips (£1). However, if you if there is a sizeable away support, then getting food and drink could be a problem, as there is only one small refreshment area to cater for the whole away support. Plus as there is no formal queuing system, then joining the scrum that inevitably ensues at the counter, is not for the faint hearted so you may consider getting something outside of the ground before the game starts .... Also if you do happen to visit the Gents, watch out for the small downward flight of steps to the toilets. I almost went flying! | |
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| Where To Drink? | |
| Opposite Thornton
Heath Railway Station there is a Wetherspoons pub, popular with both
home and away supporters. It is about a 15 minute walk from here to
the ground (as you come out of the pub turn right and follow
the other fans). There are plenty of Kebab & Chip shops
available on the route to the ground. Phil Moore recommends the following pubs around Selhurst Park, where on the whole, away fans are tolerated: As Phil says; 'Good news for real ale lovers is that Palace is surrounded by more CAMRA listed pubs than ever, I think there are 4-5 in the CAMRA Good Beer G uide. Not to mention the two Wetherspoon outlets' Around Selhurst Railway
Station: Clifton Arms Clifton Road Around Thornton Heath Railway
Station: | |
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Main Stand | |
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| How To Get There By Car & Where To Park | |
| Leave the M25 at
Junction 7 and follow the signs for the A23 to Croydon. At Purley
bear left onto the A23 at its junction with the A 235 (to Croydon).
You will pass roundabouts and junctions with the A232 and A236 as
you pass Croydon, after which the A23 bears left at Thornton
Heath (at the Horseshoe pub roundabout).
Here you must go straight over, into Brigstock Road (B266), passing
Thornton Heath Station on your left and bearing right on to the High
Street. At the next mini roundabout, (Whitehorse Road/Grange Road)
go left into Whitehorse Lane. The ground is on your right.
Richard Down informs
me; 'An alternative route for fans coming from the North, is to
leave the M25 at Junction 10 and follow the
A3 towards London. After about ten miles you
will reach the Tolworth roundabout at which
you turn right onto the A240 towards Epsom.
After about three miles turn onto the A232
towards Sutton. Follow the A232 through Sutton and Carshalton
and just before reaching Croydon, turn left
onto the A23 north towards Thornton
Heath'. Where the
A23 bears left at Thornton Heath (at the
Horsehoe pub roundabout). Here you must go straight over,
into Brigstock Road (B266), passing Thornton Heath Station on your
left and bearing right on to the High Street. At the next mini
roundabout, (Whitehorse Road/Grange Road) go left into Whitehorse
Lane. The ground is on your right.
Thanks to Richard Down for supplying the alternative directions. Most streets around
the ground are either designated residents only parking on matchdays or are pay and
display with a four hour limit. So please take note of any street
signs advising of parking restrictions, or else you win run the risk
of being towed away. Please note that the traffic can be
pretty bad on Saturdays even without football
traffic, so make sure you allow yourself some extra time to
make the journey. | |
|
Whitehorse Lane Stand | |
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| By Train | |
| The nearest
railway stations are Selhurst or Thornton Heath which are served by
London Victoria main line station, Clapham Junction, London Bridge
(every 30 mins) and East Croydon (every 15 mins). You can also use
Norwood Junction station which is also served by Victoria, but is a
little further away. It is then a 10-15 minute walk to ground.
Please note that Crystal Palace station is nowhere near the
ground. If you are coming from outside London, it may be an idea to purchase a 'Travelcard' at the first tube station you encounter (or some train operators also allow you to add this onto your train ticket) and tell the clerk that you want a 'Travelcard' that will cover you as far as Selhurst or Thornton Heath. The card then allows you unlimited travel on the tube and trains within the London travel zone and avoids having to buy a ticket for each leg of the journey. | |
| Local Rivals | |
| Charlton Athletic, Millwall (and a little further away) Brighton & Hove Albion. | |
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| Admission Prices | |
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Common with most Clubs, Crystal Palace operate a category system (A, B & C) for matches
whereby tickets cost more for the most popular matches (category
A). | |
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| Fixtures 2009-2010 | |
| For the Crystal Palace fixture list click here (to take you to the BBC Sports Website). | |
| Programme Price | |
| Official Programme: £3. | |
| Disabled Facilities | |
| For details of disabled facilities at the
ground please visit the relevant page on the National Association Of
Disabled Supporters (NADS) website. Trevor Elias a visiting Fulham supporter, provides me with the following update; 'We parked in the Sainsburys car park next to the ground, show your orange badge to the steward. Be warned, the access roads to the car park have cobbled speed ramps & to avoid this means using the pavement which runs by the ticket office window & queue. Away fans were in the Arthur Wait stand with dedicated stewards to help. The view can be poor as fans stand up in front of you, however, it's still possible to see 95% of the game. Another downside is the toilets, there are 2 disabled loos but these were being used by anyone & it was hard to get to the entrance so be ready to shout at people. The admission fee was £9.00 for a helper & free for the wheelchair user. | |
| Record & Average Attendance | |
| Record
Attendance: 51,482 v Burnley Division 2, May 11th, 1979. Modern All Seated Attendance Record: 26,193 v Arsenal Premier League, November 6th, 2004. Average Attendance: | |
| Fans Reviews Of Selhurst Park | |
| Lee Jones (Swansea City)
13/09/08 John Bray (Cardiff City) 4/02/06 Susan Bowen (Leicester City) 2/01/06 Paul O'Hagan (Neutral) 22/01/05 | |
| Hotel Accommodation | |
| If you require hotel accommodation in the area then first try a hotel booking service provided by Football Hotels who are powered by Activehotels, who specialise in locating accommodation near or within a short travelling distance of the football ground. They also have the added advantage over some other hotel booking services that you pay on departure. Yes this site will earn a small commission if you book through them, but it will go to help with the running costs of keeping the Guide going. To access their Crystal Palace and general London page click here. | |
| Feedback | |
| If anything
is incorrect or you have something to add, please e-mail
me and I'll update the guide. | |
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