Crystal Palace National Sports Centre facts for kids
The National Athletics Stadium
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| Location | Crystal Palace London, SE19 England |
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| Coordinates | 51°25′08.7″N 0°04′07.7″W / 51.419083°N 0.068806°W |
| Public transit |   Crystal Palace |
| Operator | Greenwich Leisure Limited |
| Capacity | 16,000 (24,000 With Temporary Seating) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1964 |
| Opened | 1964 |
| Tenants | |
| AC London (2015–16) England Monarchs (NFL Europe) (1998) London City Royals London Lions (2012–13) London Olympians London Towers (1998–2006) Croydon F.C. (2019-) |
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The National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace in south London, England, is a huge sports complex and athletics stadium. It opened in 1964 in Crystal Palace Park. This park is near where the famous Crystal Palace exhibition building once stood before it was destroyed by fire in 1936. The sports centre is also on the same spot where the FA Cup Final football matches were played from 1895 to 1914.
This centre was one of five special National Sports Centres in the UK. It is now managed by Greenwich Leisure Limited under their "Better" brand.
The athletics stadium can hold 15,500 people. It can even be made bigger to fit 24,000 people with extra seats. It often hosts big international athletics events. Besides sports, the stadium has also held many outdoor concerts. Famous artists like Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen have performed here.
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Cool Building Design
The sports centre building was designed a long time ago, between 1953 and 1954. It is considered a very important building and is protected because of its special design. Inside, it has a really interesting look. There's a main hallway with a cool concrete frame that holds up the roof. This roof is lined with folded teak wood. On one side, there are several pools, including a large 50-meter swimming pool and a diving pool with a dramatic concrete diving platform. On the other side, there's a smaller sports area.
Sports You Can Play Here
Athletics
The athletics stadium you see today was built in 1964. It has 15,500 seats. From 1999 to 2012, it was home to the London Grand Prix, a major athletics event. The stadium can be made bigger to hold 24,000 people if needed for special events.
Beach Volleyball
After the London 2012 Games, the sand from the Beach Volleyball Courts at Horse Guards Parade was given to the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in 2012. Now, you can play beach volleyball here too!
Football
The current athletics stadium is built on the same land where an old football ground used to be. This old ground hosted the FA Cup final every year from 1895 to 1914. In 1905, the owners of the venue decided to start their own football club, which became Crystal Palace F.C.. The club had to leave in 1915 because of the military. They now play at Selhurst Park.
The biggest crowd ever at the old stadium for a 'domestic' football match was in the 1913 FA Cup Final. An amazing 121,919 fans watched Aston Villa play Sunderland. Before that, the world record was set in the 1901 Cup Final, when 114,815 people came to watch Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United.
Crystal Palace F.C. has sometimes played reserve team matches at the centre. The club's owners once planned to move the team back to this site. They wanted to build a new 40,000-seat football stadium here. Tottenham Hotspur F.C. also had plans to redevelop the centre. However, both plans were eventually cancelled.
Here are some international football matches that have been played at Crystal Palace:
- 3 April 1897 – England 1–2 Scotland
- 30 March 1901 – England 2–2 Scotland
- 1 April 1905 – England 1–0 Scotland
- 3 April 1909 – England 2–0 Scotland
- 4 March 1911 – England Amateurs 4–0 Belgium
FA Cup Finals (1895–1914)
Twenty FA Cup Finals were held at Crystal Palace. Ten different teams won the cup here. Newcastle United played in the most finals at the ground, five times, but never won the cup there. Aston Villa won all four of their games played at the stadium.
| 4 | Aston Villa |
| 2 | Bury, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday |
| 1 | Burnley, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 5 | Newcastle United |
| 4 | Aston Villa |
| 3 | Derby County, Everton, Sheffield United |
| 2 | Barnsley, Bury, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers |
| 1 | Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Bristol City, Burnley, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur |
Rugby
On December 2, 1905, the ground hosted the first England rugby union international match against New Zealand in England. New Zealand won the game 15–0.
The stadium also hosted a rugby league match in 1965. The Commonwealth XIII team played against New Zealand, with New Zealand winning 15–7.
Cricket
The London County Cricket Club was a cricket team that played here for a short time. It was started in 1898. They asked W. G. Grace, a very famous cricketer, to help them form a top-level club. Grace agreed and became the club's manager and captain. The club played important matches from 1900 to 1904. Some of the best players of that time played for the club. However, the games were mostly for show and to make money, so the club soon lost its top status and closed in 1908.
Basketball
The indoor Arena at the National Sports Centre can hold 2,000 people. It used to be the home of two British Basketball League teams: Crystal Palace and London Towers. The London Towers team had a lot of success but later faced money problems and stopped playing professionally in 2006.
From 2012 to 2013, the London Lions played their home games here. They later moved to a new arena called the Copper Box. Since 2018, the Arena has once again been a home for a BBL team, the new London City Royals.
American Football
The stadium has hosted important American Football championship games. In 1989, the Manchester Spartans won the Great Britain National Championship here. This game was even shown on TV! The NFL (National Football League) supported these games, and their leaders attended. Players and cheerleaders from NFL teams like the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles also came to watch.
The Manchester Spartans won their second championship here in 1990. This win came just one week after they had won the European Club Championship in Italy. The Spartans' coach, Terry Smith, also coached the Great Britain National Team. With his help, Great Britain won the European Nations Championship in 1989.
The Sports Arena was also used by the London Monarchs, an American football team. They played some games here before the team stopped playing. The main stadium pitch is currently used by the London Olympians and is the home of the Great Britain Lions, which is the national American football team. The stadium also hosted the 2011 Britbowl, which is the championship game for British American Football.
Motor Racing
The Crystal Palace race circuit was a motor racing track located in Crystal Palace Park. You can still see the outline of the track on maps today.
The circuit opened in 1927, and the first race was for motorcycles. The track was about 1 mile long and used existing paths in the park. In 1936, improvements were made, making the circuit 2 miles long. In 1937, the first London Grand Prix was held here. Later that year, the BBC even broadcast the first ever televised motor racing from this circuit!
During World War II, the park was used by the military. Racing didn't start again until 1953. The track was made shorter, and due to local residents, motor sports were limited to only five days a year. Different types of races took place here, including sports cars and Formula Three races.
The last big international race meeting was in May 1972. The final race meeting was held on September 23, 1972. Even though the circuit no longer exists, you can still experience it in some old racing video games! Next to the Olympic swimming pool, there's a small race track for radio-controlled cars. This is home to the London Radio Car Club.
The very first British Motor Show (then called the 'London Motor Show') was held at Crystal Palace in 1903. It was one of the first car shows of its kind in the world.
Circuit Reuse (1997–)
In 1997, a motor club started holding sprint events using parts of the old track. These events ran for three years. After some talks with the local council, sprint racing started again in 2010. These events happened every year until 2017. They were paused in 2018 but returned in May 2019. The events planned for 2020 and 2021 were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Crystal Palace Sports Arena (Proposed)
| Owner | Crystal Palace F.C. |
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| Operator | Crystal Palace F.C. |
| Capacity | 25,000 (Initial) 40,000 (Proposed) |
| Surface | Desso GrassMaster |
| Construction | |
| Construction cost | £50,000,000 to £70,000,000 |
| Tenants | |
| Crystal Palace F.C. | |
The Crystal Palace Sports Arena was a proposed new football stadium. It was planned to be built in Crystal Palace Park to become the new home for Crystal Palace Football Club, replacing their old stadium, Selhurst Park. The plans were announced in January 2011. The idea was to rebuild the current National Sports Centre into a 40,000-seat football stadium without a running track. It would also include a new indoor swimming and sports centre. There were even plans for a new tram line to the area.
However, in December 2017, Crystal Palace F.C. announced new plans to improve their current stadium, Selhurst Park. This meant they had decided not to build the new stadium at the National Sports Centre after all.
Images for kids
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The central concourse with slender concrete supports
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Sky lights
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Centre and Crystal Palace transmitting station
See also
In Spanish: Crystal Palace National Sports Centre para niños
