The takeover of AFC Croydon Athletic by rapper Stormzy and Crystal Palace player Wilfried Zaha was today hailed as “a really exciting opportunity” for the whole community.
The club, known as the Rams, was set up in 2012. The team play in the ninth tier of the game at their 3,000-capacity Mayfield Stadium.
Its new owners, a three-man consortium which also includes former Crystal Palace head of player care, Danny Young, said they want to “develop” their hometown team and “hope to take the entire community on this exciting journey with them”.
The club’s chairman Paul Smith said: “We are fully embedded within our community, we have more than 200 young boys and girls playing for us through the season... yes, we have a first team and we want them to be successful but it’s about building the club as a whole.”
He said the takeover trio’s “passion for the local community” matched the club’s aims, adding: “It absolutely resonates with what we are trying to do and we hope with their involvement it will take us on to a new level to be a real centre for the community. We want the club to be somewhere local boys and girls can be proud of, can play their football and enjoy it most importantly and progress as individuals. It’s a really exciting opportunity.”
He added that the club will “establish something for generations to come.”
A tweet from fellow south London team Raynes Park Vale FC revealed the reality of non-league grassroots football by saying the trio’s first job is fixing the potholed road into the ground.
Fans went online to celebrate the news with one, Rob Norwood, saying: “Brilliant news. A group who are Croydon through and through investing in their community club. Good luck to all concerned.”
The club, which plays in the Combined Counties Football League Premier Division South, said the takeover was “a pivotal moment” in its future.
All three men in the takeover are from Croydon and Stormzy has a long-standing friendship with Zaha.
Last year, the 29-year-old grime star launched a football programme with Adidas to improve diversity in the sport by helping young black people secure roles off the pitch.
Zaha was brought up in Croydon and is already involved in charitable projects in the area. The trio may be hoping to emulate the success of US actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who completed a takeover of Wrexham in 2021. The Welsh side were promoted to League Two as National League champions last season.
