Parish: Palace hopeful of securing US investment

The owners of Crystal Palace are hoping to seal a deal with US investors to help improve the financial future of the Premier League outfit.

Co-chairman Steve Parish has revealed the club are in negotiations with David Blitzer and Josh Harris – co-owners of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers – to take an equal 18 per cent overall share of the south London club.

The three other Palace co-owners – Martin Long, Jeremy Hoskings and Stephen Browett – will all see their club shares reduce to 15.33 per cent.

Parish, who believes the investment will make Palace “as strong as it has been for 100 years”, will remain in control of the day-to-day running of the club and said improvements to Selhurst Park will be a priority.

“I think this club can be massive and it’s a great opportunity,” he told the BBC.

“I want to move fast and to do that you need big funds. I’m prepared to do my bit, the three boys who are involved with me are prepared to do their bit.

“But we need to bring some new people in to accelerate it and make sure we’ve got everything we need. If I was a Palace fan, and I am, I’d be fantastically excited about the future.”

Parish, speaking at an event in New York, added: “If this deal doesn’t happen the team will be fine.

“But I really want to see the club fulfil the potential it should have fulfilled. We’ve had our share of bad luck: it’s time we put the record straight.”

The co-owner, who saved the Eagles from bankruptcy in 2010, is eager for the club to tap into the US market.

“The world began here in football three years ago, so to everybody here we’re just a Premier League club – we’ve managed to erase the rest of our history,” Parish joked.

“There is a real buzz about soccer, football, in the US and we need to capitalise on it. So we’ll be back and forth here as much as we can trying to grab our fair share of support.”