Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha and rapper Stormzy are part of a consortium taking over non-league side AFC Croydon Athletic.
Zaha, Stormzy and Danny Young, the former head of player care at Palace, are close to completing a deal for the ninth-tier side in south London. All three have close personal ties to Croydon and are keen to help the club progress on and off the field.
AFC Croydon were founded in 2012 after Croydon Athletic folded. The Rams finished 15th in the Combined Counties League Premier Division South last season.
A statement read: “A three-person consortium comprised of Wilfried Zaha, Stormzy, and Danny Young has exchanged contracts with the existing ownership of AFC Croydon Athletic to acquire the assets of the club.
“The consortium will own, operate and develop their childhood hometown football club.
“Whilst completion is subject to legislative and governance procedures, the three consortium members are excited about developing a community asset in the borough that gave them their own opportunities. They hope to take the entire community on this exciting journey with them.
“There will be more updates to come from the consortium in due course on completion of the transaction. In the meantime there will be no further comment.”
Zaha tweeted the statement with the comment “May the journey begin”. The 30-year-old has made 458 appearances for Palace, is heavily involved in local community projects and runs the WZ Academy in London and the Espoir Club D’Abengourou in his native Ivory Coast.
Stormzy, 29, grew up in Thornton Heath and has frequently spoken about his desire to use his fame and wealth for community development in the area. He has previously donated £500,000, via his Merky Foundation, to fund educational scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Earlier this year he set up Merky FC which aims to increase the representation of black and ethnic minority people in the football industry.
Rumours of the takeover have circulated for some time. A video showing Zaha and his partner Paige being shown around Croydon Athletic’s Mayfield Stadium with the caption “welcome to our new project” was later deleted.
Zaha’s future at Palace is currently the subject of intense speculation. He will become a free agent in the coming days, having so far decided against signing a new £200,000-a-week deal with Palace.
He has been strongly linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, but has not yet agreed to move to Cristiano Ronaldo ’s club Al-Nassr. The club were reportedly willing to pay him £30million per year, while Zaha has also been linked with Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille.
