Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish reveals club have taken out a loan to help battle coronavirus costs

Crystal Palace have taken out a loan to help guide them through the coronavirus crisis, chairman Steve Parish has revealed.

Writing in the club’s annual review, which saw Palace post a profit of £5.4million — up from a loss of £35.5m — for the year to June, 2019, Parish said that despite the club going into the crisis in “excellent shape”, no one can provide “complete assurances” over their future.

“Due to Covid-19, the outlook for every business is uncertain and football clubs are no different,” Parish wrote. “Our club went into this in excellent shape financially.

"During the current financial year 2019/20 we had used the proceeds of the Aaron Wan-Bissaka sale (to Manchester United for £45m) to comply with FFP (Financial Fair Play) and pay down our bank debt, leaving only some relatively small deferred transfer payments outstanding (£17m).

“Whilst no one can give complete assurances about the future, we are committed to bringing the club out of this crisis in as strong a state as possible in order that we can build on the success of the past 10 years.

"Last month, the club took on some new external debt so that we have as much liquidity as possible to see us through this period.”

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