London City Lionesses in talks with Mayor of London over National Sports Centre move | OneFootball

According to NY Times, London City Lionesses have held talks with the Mayor of London’s office about staging matches at the National Sports Centre in Crystal Palace Park.

No agreement is in place and discussions are at an early stage. The club have not confirmed the talks and say they have no knowledge of them.

A move could more than double capacity, the NSC seats around 15,500 compared with Hayes Lane’s roughly 6,000. Their biggest crowd in their maiden Women’s Super League season was 5,414 for a 2-0 defeat by Arsenal, with an average of 3,000 after moving to Hayes Lane before 2024-25.

Backed by businesswoman Michele Kang, the club formed in 2019 after splitting from Millwall Lionesses and was bought by Kang in December 2023. Plans for a new training base in Ditton, Kent, were approved in September last year, outlining a performance campus intended to rival a men’s Premier League set-up and tailored to women.

Opened in 1964, the NSC has deteriorated since losing prominence to the London Stadium after the 2012 Olympics. It hosted the first women’s FA Cup final in 1971, when Southampton beat Stewarton Thistle 4-1.

Crystal Palace’s modern-day team first played there and explored returns, including in 2020, before committing to redevelop Selhurst Park, now under way. A planning application to regenerate the NSC and its facilities was submitted in March, with a decision expected soon.

Source: NY Times