Will revival of Crystal Palace’s ‘hallowed turf’ create more athletics history?

“There were trees growing out of the main stand and on the indoor track and no one was doing anything about it,” says Jim Powell of the groundswell of despair at a crumbling Crystal Palace barely a couple of years after the Olympics were hosted to acclaim across the other side of London.

A month before Sir Mo Farah secured his second gold of London 2012 on Super Saturday, he had swept to victory in the 5,000m when Crystal Palace hosted its final London Grand Prix. But that summer’s Games appeared to signal the beginning of the end for the venue that had been the home of British athletics for the previous two decades.

It was not only the stadium where Dave Bedford set his 10,000m world record in 1973 and Steve Backley threw the javelin more than 90m in 1990 that had fallen into disrepair. Pretty much everyone who used the Grade II-listed sports centre that was built in 1964 was complaining it was in desperate need of renovation after years of neglect.

In May 2023 the mayor of London announced plans for a £130m redevelopment of the stadium as ‘a national asset’. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

“We were all sitting in different corners of the cafe in 2014 moaning about lack of investment,” Powell says. “It was total doom and gloom. That’s when the Crystal Palace Sports Partnership formed under my chair. And it’s been a rollercoaster …”

That ride, though, could be coming to a conclusion campaigners could scarcely have dreamed of with a decision due by late May, but possibly as soon as Friday on a planning application that would revitalise the venue. Approval would be vindication for those whose appeals for help fell on closed ears until the three swimming pools on site had to be closed when a leak was found in March 2020. It forced members of Team GB’s diving squad to find alternative venues to train for the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics and the partnership played a key role in publicising the outrage as 35,000 people signed a petition calling for them to be reopened.

But after three years of fearing the worst as the pools remained empty and the track had to be temporarily closed when the floodlights became a safety concern, the mayor of London finally answered Crystal Palace’s prayers in May 2023 when he announced plans for a £130m redevelopment of “a national asset”.

The planning application submitted in February includes a vastly upgraded 25,000-seat stadium that could open in 2030. Photograph: WOO Architects

Even then there was no guarantee the athletics stadium would be part of Sadiq Khan’s original proposals, with Powell and the rest of the partnership spending the next two years fighting their corner. It meant they were able to have a significant influence on the planning process with the developers, Morgan Sindell, who were appointed on behalf of the Greater London Authority (GLA) in 2024 and are expected to complete the sports centre by 2028.

The planning application submitted to Bromley council in February includes a vastly upgraded 25,000-seat stadium that could open in 2030, as well as a new 200m running track that is earmarked for community use.

“I needed smelling salts after I heard that one,” says Powell. “A U-turn doesn’t even come close – this is a different planet now. The whole thing is going to be absolutely wonderful for athletics and the local community. And fantastic for Crystal Palace itself because it will just rejuvenate everything that, quite frankly, has died over the last 10, 12 years.

“I think we’ve played a big part in it because every time a proposal has come up, we’ve stood up and said: ‘Hang on a minute, that won’t work’ or ‘what about this, that and the other?’ It’s been a continual battle, giving people a reality check, not least the mayor’s office.”

This week is the earliest a decision could be made on the application, but council documents indicate it is expected by 20 May. While it is understood the new sports centre that will also include a padel centre, basketball courts, football pitches and a full-size artificial multi-sports pitch is already fully funded, the search is on for commercial investment the mayor hopes can be used to complete the stadium bowl for the first time and boost its capacity from 16,000.

“This is a historic and much-loved national sporting and community facility, where many UK sporting stars have started their careers and trained, but it needs major investment and refurbishment and I am committed to supporting this,” said Khan when the application was submitted. “I am pleased with the positive progress that has been made so far and we look forward to working closely with partners and the local community to create an outstanding sporting venue as we work together to build a better, fairer London for all.”

For Powell, a former sprint coach who was given an MBE in 2013 in recognition of his service developing young talent and founding the Met-Track charity that gets young people off the streets and into athletics, it is far more than he could have dreamed of. But he remains hopeful big events like the Diamond League – which is held at the London Stadium under a 50-year agreement struck by UK Athletics with the GLA – will one day return to Crystal Palace.

“It used to be the hallowed turf or the hallowed tartan,” says Powell. “I remember training there with some youngsters a few years ago and they were saying, ‘Oh wow, can I tread on the track where Linford Christie used to run and all this sort of thing. To have pulled the plug on international days was just totally madness for me. But if this new stadium doesn’t give athletics a shot in the arm, nothing will.”