“You the fans are the best fans in the world – there’s no doubt about it,” said Steve Parish as he took to the pitch after Crystal Palace’s final match of the season last May. A smiling Roy Hodgson listened on after a successful return to his boyhood club to replace his successor, Patrick Vieira, had inspired an 11th-placed finish. “We’re going to take this club to the next level,” promised the Palace chairman.
It wasn’t the first time Parish, who helped to save Palace from administration in 2010, had used the phrase to describe his ambitions for a team he has supported since attending his first match in March 1973 – a 2-0 win over Chelsea in the old First Division. “We still got relegated that season,” said the former advertising executive. Malcolm Allison’s side made it successive relegations in 1974, underlining the point that supporting Palace has always been about not expecting too much.
However, after an era of unprecedented success during which the club has maintained its status in the Premier League for more than a decade, the reaction of supporters who held up banners criticising Palace’s direction during the 5-0 defeat at Arsenal on Saturday will have hurt Parish in particular. “Wasted potential on and off the pitch. Weak decisions taking us backwards,” stated one banner, aimed at the chairman, who was shown on television sitting next to the former Palace striker and now loans manager Mark Bright, although it was Hodgson who had to answer the barrage of questions about his own future after the match.
It remains to be seen whether Palace pull the lever on the manager Parish had to persuade to carry on for another year. Julen Lopetegui and Steve Cooper remain Hodgson’s most likely replacements, even though Graham Potter – who was spotted at the Arsenal game – was sounded out together with Cooper for the post in the summer before they turned to Hodgson again. Hodgson seemed ready to accept his fate if a change is made but insisted he had never felt a lack of support from above.
“I think they’ve been good, but I mean now in [the] situation that you’re obviously discussing, in this scenario you’re envisaging, that’s going to be a question for them,” he said. “When a team isn’t doing as well as it should be doing, someone needs to be held responsible, and that’s the manager.”
Yet as the pressure mounts on the 76-year-old, another banner at the Emirates also took aim at his superiors: “No shared vision. No structured plan. Parish out. Yanks out.” It has been eight years since Parish sold 18% stakes in the club to US investors David Blitzer and Josh Harris, having told the Guardian in an interview that year: “These are shark-infested waters, and I won’t be left in a situation where I can’t make the decisions.”
In August 2021, John Textor was announced as “as an investor, director and fourth partner”, having invested £86m for a 40% stake. That was extended to 45% last year when he took over Lyon. The American’s holding company, Eagle Football Holdings, also owns the Brazilian side Botafogo and RWD Molenbeek in Belgium. Textor was at the Emirates on Saturday despite being understood to have grown increasingly frustrated over his investment at Palace.
Last year he and Parish were barely on speaking terms when Textor faced significant delays in completing the £800m Lyon takeover after Parish initially refused to allow him to switch his shares in Palace to Eagle Football Holdings. Their relationship is believed to have improved slightly since, even if Textor is understood to be unhappy with an ownership structure at Palace that effectively hands Parish control despite owning less than 10%, with about another 10% in the hands of minor shareholders.
Parish remains the executive chairman of the managing company in charge of the club, with the four partners – including Harris and Blitzer, who also own several sports franchises in the US and a network of clubs in Europe – having equal voting rights on the board. Crucially, however, Parish retains the deciding vote.
So although Textor is understood to have been firmly against reappointing Hodgson in the summer, Parish went with the manager who had provided such stability over four previous seasons at the helm. This month Textor was reported to be considering selling his stake in Palace as he prepares to press ahead with plans to float Eagle Football Holdings on the US stock market and is believed to be concerned about the club’s lack of investment on the pitch.
The chairman is desperate to complete the £150m main stand that would become his legacy if completed. Injuries to key players such as Michael Olise and Cheick Doucouré, who is out for the season, have laid bare the lack of investment in the past few seasons and supporters have also been frustrated by Hodgson’s reluctance to play the Brazilian teenager Matheus França, who was signed from Flamengo for an initial £17m after a collaborative effort between Textor and Palace’s sporting director, Dougie Freedman.
Parish, who used to accompany his father to the picket line when his dad was a senior negotiator for the print union Slade during the Wapping dispute against Rupert Murdoch in 1986, will know that his next move will be crucial.
