“Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur of what is known as … Park life”
Yes, that is the famous opening line to the popular track ‘Parklife‘ by Blur and it is no coincidence that they will be playing a rather large park this summer.
We are rather more attached to a much smaller park than that in central London but we love it all the same. However, are we about to see an end to park life in SE25?
There is a very strong feeling that the much talked about proposed takeover of the club by American Josh Harris is on the horizon, with many media outlets reporting that it will take place this week.
Josh Harris, as we have previously reported, is a man of the fans. It seems that he likes to provide the fan with the best experience possible. By that, I mean he looks at improving the experience with the surroundings even if he has little impact on the field, court of ice of play.
He currently has much more than a passing interest in both the NHL franchise New Jersey Devils as well as the NBA franchise Philadelphia 76ers. Neither are setting the world alight in their respective sports across the pond
Who Is Joshua Harris? was our article last October as writer Paul Darville had a chat with Tim Joyce, a fan of the New Jersey Devils. In was rather enlightening and reassuring to read by us here at TEB.
It is clear that any deal that is done will safeguard the future of the football club. A club that has come a long was in a short space of time. One that has managed to reap the rewards of two seasons in the Premier League and very close to achieving a third.
At the time of writing, the New Jersey Devils are not looking likely to make the NHL post season. In contrast, the Philadelphia 76ers are fairly worse off than that but there are suggestions that is all part of the master plan. They have no chance of making the post season with current statistics of 15 wins and 51 losses.
American sports are quite different as some of you will know. What the 76ers are currently doing is running a low budget squad with the aim of reaping the rewards of a financial windfall in a bid to make them competitive. I will not go into the reasons why or how this happens but essentially, there is likely to be an improvement on the court in the next couple of seasons.
Football is very different and will have no relation to what happens in the franchise world of American sport. What is clear however is that if this rich benefactor does takeover then for the reasons of Financial Fair Play he will not be able to pile money into the team for new signings.
It is much more likely that while there will be some changes in the outlook of the playing staff and the kind that we are likely to look at recruiting in the future, the very surroundings that we find ourselves in are likely to change significantly.
Whether that means a move to a brand new stadium or hefty renovations to our current Selhurst Park home remains to be seem. What is clear is that whatever life we currently enjoy in our park is likely to change, hopefully for the better.
There has to be some sense of reality by any potential new owners however. Fans are creatures of habit and habits die hard. I know only too well from speaking to fans of Manchester City and Leicester City that leaving their old grounds were a real wrench and they often miss the old places.
Change has to happy for the club to evolve but sometimes change that takes place too quickly can be detrimental.
Regardless what happens, that game at Wembley in May 2012 may well have changed the future of the club far more than we could ever imagined.
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