August 22, 2024
Statement regarding Premier League Ownership Intentions
In light of recent reports, which we believe may be well intended, but are still inaccurate or imprecise, we feel compelled to clarify our intentions as current owners of Crystal Palace Football Club, for the benefit of its community, and for the benefit of the Everton community which may be affected by these reports.
We can confirm that we are interested in selling our interest in Crystal Palace, largely so that we can pursue a relationship with the Everton club and community. Several months ago, we hired Raine Group to begin the process of evaluating alternatives, as we were considering two very different alternatives, at that time, either a purchase of a majority interest in Palace or an outright sale.
Since the beginning of our investment in 2021, and our initial 40% purchase, it had always been my intent to purchase a majority interest in the Club. I was invited to buy a majority interest, at that time, and I have often regretted not doing so previously. We have continued to be the lead investor in the Club, with significant investments being made in the Spring of 2023, and again in the summer of 2024. Though we have been able to increase our percentage ownership of the club, and we remain the largest shareholder of the Club, we still have yet to acquire a majority interest. The Club remains governed in the same fashion today, as it was in 2021. We are one of four principal partners of the club, and we all have equal rights of management, control and governance.
As we now look to another adventure, we remain proud of our contributions to the Crystal Palace club and community. Our capital and our daily contributions helped to repay the debts that amassed during COVID, to complete key milestones of Academy improvements, to reduce the average age of the squad, and to recruit many of today’s most impactful players. We even helped to establish and build a relationship with our impressive new coach. In short, while we do not enjoy the same level of collaboration that we have with our other Eagle Football clubs, we are proud of Crystal Palace as an example of the positive contribution that we can make to a football club and community.
So, as I am now being asked to explain our view of continued ownership, and our contemplation of both 'buy' and 'sell' scenarios, I can only say that the decision has been as confusing for us, as it must be for the fans to decipher the limited and inaccurate press reports. It’s confusing, because it’s emotional. How could anyone not love Palace? I showed up in 2021, as a private investor, with only my wife and kids as partners. We attended games as a family, home and away. We enjoyed some great wins, against some big teams, and watched some great wins slip away at the death…and along the way, even though I wasn’t able to hit the pubs with fans, as much as my two boys did, I always looked forward to hearing their stories of the ‘away days’ (like nearly getting thrown off of a bridge for wearing Palace colors away at Forest, before getting dragged up by the neck by three older Palace fans). We have enjoyed every last moment as Palace fans.
…and long before our multi-club collaborative model began to develop, and we started to develop relationships with other communities, we were already enjoying our heavy contribution to a partnership that worked well enough together to preside over significant improvements and heightened ambitions. So, what started as a ‘pretty neat thing to do in retirement’ became an overwhelming passion for a club and a community that my family (and ultimately my new partners) grew to love, a community that really deserves to raise a Cup.
Ultimately it became obvious that our model of collaboration was working well. If we believe that each of the communities within our family deserve to win championships, then it is clear that we are having success. In Belgium, we quickly achieved success (probably too quickly), raising a Cup, achieving promotion into the 1stdivision, where we hope to return again soon. In Brazil, we acquired a bankrupt club, emerging from Serie B in 2022, and we are now on top of Serie A, and beating the greatest clubs of Brazil in our main competition and in Copa Libertadores. In France, we assumed roster control in the summer of 2022, suffered for 15 weeks in ‘dead last’ of Ligue 1. We were given no chance of avoiding relegation, but we improved our chances in one collaborative transfer window, becoming the #1 team in France during the last half of the 2022/23 season. Even more surprising, to others, is that no team in history, in France, had ever escaped relegation with only 7 points after 14 games – but we finished in 6th place and qualified directly for Europa League. Collaboration works, for all of the clubs and communities in our family.
This brings me to the point, as it seems well past time for me to clarify our intentions, as real people in real communities are impacted by misinformation. Yes, we have been evaluating alternative relationships in football to complete our family, to include a strong and collaborative UK community - but before we decided to leave one family, to join another, we did try to do everything possible to stay connected with the club and community of Crystal Palace. If supporters don't switch allegiances easily, owners shouldn't either.
It is true that we made an offer to buy the remaining shares of Crystal Palace, at a valuation that far exceeds levels of prior investment. We did so with a strong belief that Palace has become a much more valuable club, since 2021, and we respected our partners enough to offer fair value, regardless of circumstances. It is also true that our offer did not induce a response, and we believe that our Palace partners have the same desire to remain in ownership as we once did…so our Raine Group efforts to sell our interests resumed. We have a significant number of parties active in our process, we have received strong indications from qualified buyers, and we believe strongly that we can complete a sale of our interests to continue moving forward with the next community we hope to serve, embrace and enjoy.
We have no expectation of immediate acceptance as we show up in a new town, with Palace gear stored in our trunks, and memories that we will cherish forever (though May 19, 2022 will just have to be one of those memories that now can go both ways!). Trust is not earned quickly with supporters, but I do believe that we are uniquely qualified to serve and deliver results, and I do believe that it is more likely, than not, that I will be referring to a new club and community as ‘my club’, sometime soon. Only time will tell.
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May 24, 2024
To the supporters of Crystal Palace Football Club,
Eagle Football Holdings today announced its engagement of Raine Group to solicit and interview prospective buyers of Eagle Football’s interest in Crystal Palace Football Club.
I am extremely proud of our contribution to Crystal Palace…and am overjoyed with the improved form and heightened ambitions of the club. As a lover of pure football, at the academy level, I am also delighted to have been able to support Steve Parish’s vision for the completion of the Palace academy. The academy is so important to the future of South London and to the club. I am also proud to have supported the multi-year transformation of the squad, invited by Dougie and Steve to share ideas as this current squad was built, player by player. Finally, in this last year, I was pleased to see total unity in ownership as we transitioned in coaching leadership that brought a new style of play that fits perfectly with the power and pace that we are known for at Palace.
So, why would we sell, just when things are getting so good? Well, Eagle Football is known to employ a highly integrated sporting model across its football clubs, with an unprecedented amount of scouting collaboration and player movement within the family of clubs. Our model of collaboration has led to considerable turn-around success at Olympique Lyonnais in France, where we quickly have returned to Europa League competition, and at Botafogo in Brazil, where we have resurrected a historic club from bankruptcy in the 2nd division to fight for championships at the top of Serie A. We are also excited about our work-in-progress in Belgium, which resulted in a quick championship and historic promotion in our first year, which we must fight again to reclaim next year.
As proud as we are to have been a part of the resurgence of Crystal Palace, it remains true that Crystal Palace is an independent club, run by a man with a steady hand, who has achieved a level of sustainability that is incredibly uncommon in today’s Premier League. An integrated sporting model, such as ours at Eagle, is simply not a perfect fit for Crystal Palace.
Simply based on early reaction to the process we have begun with Raine Group, it’s obvious that the momentum at Crystal Palace has not gone unnoticed. I feel extremely confident that a good number of prospective partners will jump at the chance to be a part of this promising future. Of course, these processes do take time, however we believe the summer of 2024 is the right time to run such a process, with a goal to identify a successful bidder and future Palace supporter before our focus returns to football games in the Fall.
We will keep you posted. Until then, Up the Palace!