Everything about Crystal Palace National Sports Centre totally explained
The
National Sports Centre at
Crystal Palace in south
London,
England is a large
sports centre and
athletics track. It was opened in
1964 in Crystal Palace Park, close to the site of the former
Crystal Palace, in the former parkland and also usurping part of the former grand prix circuit.
It was one of the five
National Sports Centres, run on behalf of
Sport England, but responsibility has been transferred to the
London Development Agency and is managed by
Greenwich Leisure Limited.
The athletics stadium has a capacity of 15,500, which can be increased up to 24,000 with temporary seating. It has hosted international athletics meetings and is the home of an annual event on the athletics Grand Prix circuit. The complex also hosts a 50m
swimming pool. However both the athletics stadium and the aquatics centre will be superseded as London's main facilities for their sports by the
Olympic Stadium and the
Aquatics Centre which will be constructed in
Stratford in
East London for the
2012 Summer Olympics.
Sports
Football
The current athletics stadium is on the same land as a previous
football ground
(External Link
), home of the original
Crystal Palace football club from 1861. It also hosted the
FA Cup final from 1895 to 1914 as well as other sports. In 1905, the owners wanted a professional club to play at the venue, so a new
Crystal Palace F.C., was formed. They were forced to leave by the military, in 1915, and now play at nearby
Selhurst Park, though the Reserve side did play at the NSC in the 2000-01 season. The largest 'domestic' attendance ever at the stadium was in the 1913 Cup final between Aston Villa and Sunderland, when 121,919 spectators squeezed into the stands. The previous world record had been the 1901 Cup Final, when 114,815 amassed to watch Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United draw 2-2, (Spurs won the replay at
Burnden Park).
There were suggestions that current Palace chairman
Simon Jordan would look to purchase the National Sports Centre, if he couldn't purchase
Selhurst Park from former chairman
Ron Noades, who was leasing the ground to the club, a lease that was set to expire in 2010. In April 2006, the possibility looked more likely, after Noades announced that no offers had been made to buy Selhurst Park, and that he's no interest in selling the stadium to Jordan or anyone else. However the
London Development Agency rejected the proposed move
(External Link), leading Jordan to use an investment mechanism that kept his identity secret, and buy the freehold of the ground from Noades. It now seems highly unlikely that Palace will make any move away from Selhurst Park.
The following international matches have been played at Crystal Palace:
Crystal Palace FA Cup Finals 1895-1914
Twenty-one teams competed in the twenty FA Cup Finals staged at Crystal Palace, with ten different winners. Four more teams won the FA Cup during this time, after replays at other grounds. Interestingly, all but two of the finalists from that era a century ago are still playing in either the Premier League or the Football League Championship; the exceptions being Bradford City and Bury. Newcastle United appeared in the most finals at the ground, five, bur never lifted the cup there, whilst Aston Villa won all four of their games there.
Results of Finals at Crystal Palace
| Year |
Attendance |
Winner |
|
Runner-up |
|
Notes |
| 1895 |
42,560 |
Aston Villa |
1 |
West Bromwich Albion |
0 |
| 1896 |
48,036 |
Sheffield Wednesday |
2 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
1 |
| 1897 |
65,891 |
Aston Villa |
3 |
Everton |
2 |
| 1898 |
62,017 |
Nottingham Forest |
3 |
Derby County |
1 |
| 1899 |
73,833 |
Sheffield United |
4 |
Derby County |
1 |
| 1900 |
68,945 |
Bury |
4 |
Southampton |
0 |
| 1901 |
110,802 |
Tottenham Hotspur |
2 |
Sheffield United |
2 |
3-1 in replay at Burnden Park, Bolton |
| 1902 |
76,914 |
Sheffield United |
1 |
Southampton |
1 |
| Replay |
33,050 |
Sheffield United |
2 |
Southampton |
0 |
| 1903 |
64,000 |
Bury |
6 |
Derby County |
0 |
Largest ever cup final victory |
| 1904 |
61,734 |
Manchester City |
1 |
Bolton Wanderers |
0 |
| 1905 |
101,117 |
Aston Villa |
2 |
Newcastle United |
0 |
| 1906 |
75,609 |
Everton |
1 |
Newcastle United |
0 |
| 1907 |
84,584 |
Sheffield Wednesday |
2 |
Everton |
1 |
| 1908 |
74,967 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
3 |
Newcastle United |
1 |
| 1909 |
67,651 |
Manchester United |
1 |
Bristol City |
0 |
| 1910 |
76,980 |
Newcastle United |
1 |
Barnsley |
1 |
2-0 in replay at Goodison Park, Liverpool |
| 1911 |
69,098 |
Bradford City |
0 |
Newcastle United |
0 |
1-0 in replay at Old Trafford, Manchester |
| 1912 |
54,434 |
Barnsley |
0 |
West Bromwich Albion |
0 |
1-0 in replay at Bramall Lane, Sheffield |
| 1913 |
120,028 |
Aston Villa |
1 |
Sunderland |
0 |
| 1914 |
72,778 |
Burnley |
1 |
Liverpool |
0 |
FA Cup Wins at Crystal Palace
| 4 |
Aston Villa |
| 2 |
Bury, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday |
| 1 |
Burnley, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
Crystal Palace FA Cup Final Appearances
| 5 |
Newcastle United |
| 4 |
Aston Villa |
| 3 |
Derby County, Everton, Sheffield United |
| 2 |
Barnsley, Bury, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 1 |
Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Bristol City, Burnley, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur |
Goals Scored in F.A. Cup Finals at Crystal Palace
| 10 |
Bury |
| 9 |
Sheffield United |
| 7 |
Aston Villa |
| 4 |
Everton, Sheffield Wednesday, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 3 |
Nottingham Forest; 2 Derby County, Newcastle United, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur |
| 1 |
Barnsley, Burnley, Manchester City, Manchester United |
| 0 |
Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Bristol City, Liverpool, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion |
Goals Conceded in F.A. Cup Finals at Crystal Palace
| 13 |
Derby County |
| 7 |
Newcastle United, Southampton |
| 5 |
Everton, Sheffield United |
| 3 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 2 |
Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur |
| 1 |
Barnsley, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion |
| 0 |
Bradford City, Burnley, Bury, Manchester City, Manchester United |
Rugby
On
December 2 1905, the ground also held the first
England Rugby Union international match against
New Zealand in England, New Zealand winning 15-0.
It also played host to
Fulham Rugby League F.C. in the mid 1980's for a couple of seasons, after they were forced to leave their previous ground of
Craven Cottage.
Cricket
London County Cricket Club was a short-lived cricket club founded by the
Crystal Palace Company. In 1898 they invited
W. G. Grace to help them form a
first-class cricket club. Grace accepted the offer and became the club's secretary, manager and captain. As a result, he severed his connection with
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club during the
1899 season. The club played first-class matches from 1900 to 1904. Some of the best players of the time played some matches for the club while continuing to play for their usual teams, among them
C. B. Fry,
Johnny Douglas and
K S Ranjitsinhji. However, the games were little more than exhibition games — and money-making exercises for Dr Grace — and so it quickly lost its first-class status, and with that the ability to attract the top players. It folded in 1908.
Basketball
The 3,500 capacity indoor Arena at the National Sports Centre is also home to the first team of former
BBL team
London Towers, who currently compete in the
EBL Division 3 (South).
American Football
The Sports Arena was used by the England Monarchs before the team went defunct. The Monarchs were a very successful team that competed at the top of their league. It's still a mystery why they went defunct. The main stadium pitch is currently used by the London Warriors Youth A.F.C.
Motor Racing
Crystal Palace race circuit was located in
Crystal Palace park, the outline of the track can still be seen on maps providing access to the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre that's also located in the park.
The circuit opened in 1927 and the first race, for motorcycles, was on May 21, 1927. The circuit was 1 mile long, and ran on pre-existing paths through the park, including a loop past the lake. The surface had tarmac-covered bends, but the straights only had hard-packed gravel.
Improvements begun in December 1936 increased the circuit to 2 miles, and tarmac-covered the entire length. 20 cars entered the first
London Grand Prix on 17 July 1937, a race eventually won by
Prince Bira in his
ERA R2B Romulus at an average speed of 56.5mph. Later that year, during the
International Imperial Trophy meeting also won by Bira, the
BBC broadcast the first ever
televised motor racing.
With the outbreak of
World War II, the park was taken over by the
Ministry of Defence, and it wouldn't be until 1953 that race meetings could take place again. The circuit had been reduced in length to 1.39 miles, bypassing the loop past the lake, and pressure from the local residents reduced motor sport in the park to five days a year. A variety of races took place at the circuit including
sports cars,
Formula 3, the
London Trophy for
Formula 2, and even non-championship
Formula 1 races.
The last International meeting was in May 1972, the final lap record going to
Mike Hailwood at an average speed of 103.39 mph. The final meeting was held on September 23, 1972, but club events continued until 1974. Although the circuit no longer exists, it can be driven in the
Grand Prix Legends historical motor racing simulation, for which it was recreated in detail. It was later converted to several other racing simulation programs. Adjacent to the Olympic swimming pool exists a small race circuit for
go-karts and mainly
radio-controlled cars.
The first
British Motor Show (then known as the 'London Motor Show', which was one of the first of it's kind in the world), was held at
Crystal Palace in 1903. Organised by the
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) it subsequently moved to
Olympia for the next 32 years.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Crystal Palace National Sports Centre'.
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