International athletics could be back at Crystal Palace in five years

Smaller-scale meets may take place beforehand but the current projection might see global events in 2028

Evolution, not revolution.

The plan to bring the glory days back to Crystal Palace is already underway and emphasis is on building what is already in place, not starting from scratch.

Next to the main sports centre lies the once state-of-the-art 16,500 capacity stadium that hosted world-class events for decades and, if everything goes to plan, there is now a real prospect of the best in the business returning to Crystal Palace once again.

Look at the stadium in its current state and that might be hard to believe. When AW visited in the summer, bird excrement covered both the indoor track and seats outside, the synthetic track was so worn away in places you could see the concrete and the floodlights had been taken away for safety reasons.

Rightfully, those who have an affinity with the venue aren’t always overly optimistic after a decade of broken promises and plans going back to the drawing board.

Ben Woods, who AW exclusively spoke to at Crystal Palace back in July, is the man aiming to break that cycle.

Part of the team that helped deliver the 2022 Commonwealth Games, he was chosen by Sadiq Khan to be Project Director at the Greater London Authority (GLA) for the redevelopment of Crystal Palace, a role that he has now been in since January 2023.

Since his induction, short-term work on the track has already started.

Last week (November 27), new temporary floodlights were installed, while the track has already been cleaned and refurbished.

“We’ve done the vast majority of the track repairs now,” Woods says. “There are a few bits of the inside lane that still needs doing. The final phase of that will be done in the spring and hopefully in March.

“At that time we’ll get all the equipment out and tested. That’s when we’ll get the UKA certification which will allow for certain lower level competitions. We’ve worked with UKA to get the right lux levels of lighting for competitions. I’d say by next summer that the track, lighting and equipment are all in place.”

Woods, who grew up in Upper Norwood and watched the likes of Steve Cram and Michael Johnson at the Grand Prix meets in the 1980s and 90s, states he understands the significance of athletics at Crystal Palace.

“We’ve got a magnificent stage,” Woods adds. “Where else do you get that bowl in a listed park? The name Crystal Palace is also world…