• Chairman Steve Parish wants setup to increase first-team squad• South
London produces a high number of leading players
Crystal Palace have revealed plans for a £20m academy centre they hope will make them the destination of choice for talent in the most fertile of breeding grounds for
Premier League footballers, south London.
Sometimes called the
Football Factory (or a “concrete Catalonia”), south London produced more than 14% of the English footballers in the Premier League last season. Others from the area – such as Jadon Sancho and Ademola Lookman – are forging impressive careers abroad. Palace consider themselves the “Pride of south London” but have yet to make the most of the diverse and hungry talent on their doorstep. This new facility is an attempt to change that.