Palace avoid extinction

THE consortium attempting to buy Crystal Palace are confident they can proceed with their takeover after the Championship club dramatically avoided extinction yesterday.

The administrator in charge of the Eagles, who have debts of £30 million (€35m), gave the CPFC 2010 group a 3pm deadline yesterday to reach an agreement with Bank of Scotland over the purchase of the club’s Selhurst Park ground before the liquidation process was due to begin.

Hundreds of Palace fans who had gathered outside the headquarters of Lloyds Bank in London and at Selhurst Park were fearing the worst when that deadline passed.

But a deal was eventually agreed in principle to haul the 105-year old club back from the brink of going bust.

A statement from CPFC 2010 read: “We can now confirm that there are no material differences between ourselves and Bank of Scotland regarding the sale of Selhurst Park.

“While it is not 100% done we are confident that all the main barriers have been removed.”

Palace, who overcame a 10-point deduction to avoid relegation to League One on the final day of the season, now appear to have won an even bigger battle.