Palace boss: I was shocked at my senior lads
Man's bright idea to buy threatened lamppost
A HISTORY buff has offered to buy the antique lamppost outside his house in a bid to stop Croydon Council replacing it.
John Hickman, of Albert Road, South Norwood, is desperate to save the traditional light after spending thousands renovating his house.
He made the offer to the council about a decade ago but is now worried their streetlight overhaul could see his precious post taken.
Mr Hickman, a retired scientist, said: "I want to buy it because I don't want to see the council get rid of another part of South Norwood's heritage."
More than 50 houses in Albert Road have already seen their lampposts taken as part of the council's £49 million streetlight replacement programme. But Mr Hickman said the lamp dates back to the early 20th century and he cannot see the point of the programme.
He added: "It is in keeping with the area and a decent piece of street furniture. The lamppost is far better than these anodyne replacements we are getting.
"The council might make some money from the old ones in scrap iron but it doesn't need replacing. It works absolutely fine. I would even be willing to pay towards its maintenance."
The local historian, who regularly gives talks on South Norwood history, said the council was showing a stunning lack of respect for quality architecture.
He said: "They come and put a red cross on the ones they are getting rid of. It's like something from the great plague.
"They keep taking things of historic value away. If we aren't careful we'll become like a suburb of a third world country."
The controversial replacement scheme has met with stern opposition and last month police were called to Mowbray Road, in Upper Norwood, where angry workmen claimed they were being harassed by residents protesting against the lights' replacement.
Mr Hickman, who has lived in his house since the early 1970s, firmly supports the protest and first sent a letter to the council asking to purchase the post about eight years ago.
He claims he was told by a councillor it should be possible to buy the street furniture, which he would like to set up in his front garden.
Mr Hickman added: "It's a work of art and I am worried it will just be taken away from me one day when I'm not looking."
Mixed messages on Olympic legacy at Croydon sport clubs
THE likes of Bradley Wiggins, Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis briefly made Britain do collective cartwheels when the London Olympics sparked into life one year ago tomorrow.
The Games were an unequivocal success that bathed the country in a positive light and, in Croydon, brought everyone together in support of our athletes and torchbearers.
But, in a term often repeated by British Olympic Association bigwigs, the sporting 'legacy' of the Games was imperative.
The hundreds of sports clubs in Croydon suggest the borough is already hugely enthusiastic about its sport.
Mike Fleet, coaching secretary of Croydon Harriers, testified to this, saying: "If anyone is in doubt about the Olympic legacy, they should come down to a Harriers meeting on a Tuesday night.
"There is barely a spot on the track and the interest is phenomenal. A lot of parents of younger children have told me their kids were inspired to come and have a go because of the Games."
Mr Fleet also said the Olympics has had a positive effect on athletes already at the club.
He added: "If you look at people like Elliot Safo, he's pushed on after the Games. He's near the big boys already and he's only 19."
Long jumper Safo claimed World Junior Championship gold last week and greater things beckon.
But in other sports where Team GB was not as successful, post-Olympic participation levels have not been quite as high.
Tony Hilton, secretary of Addiscombe Hockey Club and chairman of Coulsdon and Purley Badminton Club, said: "I don't think we've really had the bounce from the Olympics we expected.
"We haven't seen it at the hockey club and although there was a surge of membership at the badminton club, I think that is as much down to a slight economic upturn as anything else.
"At the Olympics, the hockey was one of the easiest things to get tickets to and although you could watch it on the red button, it didn't have the same media interest as the sports that took place in the big stadiums."
However, another sport that did not take place in a big stadium, Beach Volleyball, was a hit with the crowds at the games.
And Crystal Palace Beach Volleyball Club owes its entire existence to the games.
Abdo Chamali, a club volunteer, said: "We've had big groups of people here this summer, six days a week. The whole success of the club is down to the Olympics."
Hospital to re-open after £11.1 million revamp
PURLEY War Memorial Hospital will open to the public next week after a £1.1 million revamp.
The finished building will allow for 90,000 outpatient appointments a year and will deal with 80 per cent of the south of the borough's healthcare needs – up from 40 per cent.
The new building will open in phases with the physiotherapy and diabetic retinopathy clinics opening on Monday. Other services will launch in stages through August.
The redevelopment has made the building a base for local GPs.
Since October, the only service on the site has been the nurse-led Urgent Care Centre (UCC) for minor injuries and conditions.
All the out-patient clinics, therapy services and diagnostic services were moved to other locations during building.
The new development has created new out-patient and diagnostic areas and brought disused wards back into use for clinics and GP practice.
However, residents are still concerned about a shortage of parking. Just 40 spaces are included in the plans, despite an estimated 3,000 visitors a week.
The spaces are reserved for patients and ambulances – staff will have to park elsewhere.
Although the council and the NHS are in talks to reserve part of the multi-storey car park for staff, a decision is yet to be made.
TRANSFER TALK: Palace linked with Arsenal flop Marouane Chamakh
VIDEO: Palace boss hoping to finalise deals this week
AFC Croydon Athletic boss: The aim this year is promotion
Croydon Juniors Football Club gets energy boost after town restaurant opening
CUT THE CRAP: Surrey Street Market is beating heart of borough
NO trip to Croydon would ever be complete without a stroll through Surrey Street market.
The market, which has been open six days a week since 1922, is home to all manner of traders and their wares.
Situated in the heart of Old Town, the street is set for a significant portion of a £100,000 investment from the Portas Pilot Town scheme.
The money could breathe even more life into the old market, which is still one of Croydon's most recognisable and lively spot.
Bill Holden, 80, is celebrating his 60th anniversary working at the market, and is affectionately known as "grandad" by the men who work in the basement of Surrey Street car park, where most of the market equipment is kept.
He has seen a lot of changes since starting out in the early 1950s, but still helps out in the basement.
Bill said: "It's been good to me. I'm looking forward to that money coming in but we do all right here. People from Croydon seem to like the place. We all help each other down here."
The narrow street is mainly home to fruit and vegetables sellers, but a variety of different stalls come and go on different days.
Roz, 60, works on a flower stall at the top of Surrey Street that has been in the Lovett family since 1897.
She thinks the secret behind the market's enduring success can be traced to the products it sells.
Roz said: "People will always want fruit, vegetables and flowers. That is how stalls like this are still here.
"You can come down here and buy as much or as little as you like. It's also got a great atmosphere.
"Even in the winter when it is cold, people still come here."
Phil Elton, 61, of Croydon, said he thought old-fashioned markets like Surrey Street should be cherished.
He added: "You can't beat the hustle and bustle of a nice summer's day on Surrey Street.
"The fruit and veg is all fantastically cheap, it's lively and then, to top it all off, you can go for a lovely pint in a pub like The Dog and Bull. Perfect."
James Scott powers Purley home to much-needed victory
Palace set to decide on Osman Sow and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie
AFC Croydon make three signings after impressive Redhill draw
Crawley Town rescind Prendergast ban following Holloway abuse
Cray Wanderers 0–3 Palace: Young Eagles include England U18 star in pre-season victory
Surrey draw Somerset in T20 quarter-final
Robertson alert to save podium place
QUICK-THINKING Charlie Robertson managed to salvage his sixth podium finish of the BRDC Formula 4 Championship season at Brands Hatch over the weekend, after a gear-shift problem robbed the youngster of victory in round 13.
For the second race meeting in succession, the Whyteleafe teenager encountered all sorts of misfortune.
Despite the rostrum finish in the opening race on Saturday afternoon, which he sealed even though stuck in fifth gear, the return to Robertson's 'home' venue wasn't an altogether happy one.
His pace was expectedly strong from the off, with the HHC Motorsport driver setting the second fastest time in free practice, then lapping third quickest in qualifying for the opening race – just a couple of hundredths of a second shy of the front row of the grid.
Making a terrific getaway from the inside of the second row, Robertson climbed into second place and ran close behind pole-qualifier Jake Hughes for the first three laps before then making his intentions clear with the fastest lap of the race on the fourth tour.
Into lap five, just 0.068 seconds split the pair across the line and Investigo-backed Robertson continued to apply pressure.
However, any hopes he had of challenging for the lead were thwarted when a recurring fault with the steering wheel-mounted paddle-shift resulted in Robertson being unable to shift up the box. Stuck in fifth gear, the 16-year-old wisely chose not to down-shift and instead nursed the car home to an eventual third place.
Early race leader Jake Hughes, also blighted with technical issues, finished fourth.
"Although taking another podium was good, it was really disappointing to have more problems," said Robertson.
"It's the second race weekend in succession we've lost crucial points due to car failures of some kind which is pretty frustrating. The team did a fantastic job with the set-up though and we definitely had the pace to win."
During the first of Sunday's two encounters, round 14, the MSA Academy driver lined-up in sixth place on the 'reverse' grid but a troublesome getaway meant he slipped to tenth position and faced a tough challenge thereafter.
On lap four though, an unfortunate excursion at Sheene Curve dropped him down to 19th place. He eventually ended in 18th.
As well as losing a potential win in Saturday's race, the knock-on effect of the troubles meant Robertson was unable to post quick lap times when the Yokohama tyres were at their best.
This impacted his starting position for race three of the weekend – round 15 – with the grid order for the final outing formed from each competitor's best race lap across the previous two encounters.
Robertson therefore started in fifth place and he quickly made progress into the top four part way around lap two. On the subsequent tour, however, he again ran off the circuit at Sheene, while chasing down a possible podium, but this time the excursion resulted in retirement.
"I've only got myself to blame really for the non-finish," he said. "The car did feel a bit loose at the rear but I made the mistake. It's been a bad weekend for the championship, we just need to put it behind us."
The results saw Robertson slip to fifth in the Championship ahead of the next three rounds at Silverstone (August 17-18).
Williams set to star for Leafe
JOHN FOWLER is hoping to have opposition defences shaking like a leaf after signing former Crystal Palace and Colchester United striker Gareth Williams.
Williams will join his former Eagles team-mate Roscoe Dsane up front for Whyteleafe, a partnership that will strike fear in defences across Kent.
"Steve Kember said that Gareth is one of the best finishers he's ever seen. I think he will be a real asset to us this season," Leafe boss Fowler said. "He was one of our main targets, and with keeping Roscoe as well, that looks to be a great strike force.
"Funnily enough, Gareth and Roscoe have played up front together before for Palace reserves for a few games."
Williams made eight first-team appearances for Palace, and has also had spells at AFC Bournemouth, Cambridge United, Blackpool, Bromley, Ebbsfleet and Croydon Athletic.
And Fowler admits having players with such experience as Williams and Dsane in the side makes his job easier.
"It's like having managers all over the pitch," Fowler said. "On the touchline you can't always get messages across but players like Gareth and Roscoe can spot what needs to be done."
And the new Leafe boss is confident the pair will cause Southern Counties East League defences problems.
"I've been to watch a few teams in our league play to get an idea," explained Fowler, who previously managed Croydon in the Combined Counties League.
"I've been mainly watching the teams who finished towards the top of the league, and I think with our two boys up front, their movement will make life difficult for those defences."
SANDERSTEAD SAILOR LANDS SENIOR DISABILITY SAILING ROLE
Wealden Sailability volunteer, Fleur Bryant, 30, has been appointed RYA's Sailability Regional Organiser for the South East, meaning she will work with target Sailability sites across the region in opening up even more opportunities for local people with disabilities to learn to sail and sail regularly. This includes co-ordinating activity between Sailability clubs and local special schools and youth and community groups.
RYA Sailability is the national programme, run by British sailing's national governing body, which encourages and supports people with disabilities to take up the sport and helps clubs to develop facilities to deal with a wide and diverse range of abilities.
Sailing is one of the few sports in which able-bodied sailors and disabled sailors can participate on equal terms, and Fleur is no stranger to working with Sailability, with her father, Brian Stanley, having originally set up the Wealden Sailability - previously Bough Beech Sailability - group, which is now based at Chipstead Sailing Club.
Working full-time limited Fleur's ability to volunteer regularly but after going on maternity leave in June 2012 she has become more and more hands-on at Wealden Sailability. Now she is relishing the prospect of helping to bring more involvement in sailing throughout the rest of the region.
Fleur said:"The whole ethos of Sailability focuses on the acceptance that everyone is different and it's what each individual can do, not what they can't, that can be nurtured into a lifelong involvement in sailing.
"Sailability becomes addictive as the benefit and enjoyment the sailors get is so clear for everyone to see, not to mention the enjoyment we all get as volunteers making that happen for them.
"There hasn't been a South East Regional Organiser for a while and I'm hoping I can move the region forwards. There has been tremendous success so far but I think we can go further.
"I also want to focus on Youth disabled sailing as I believe there is a wealth of experience and enjoyment to be gained by kids with a disability being included within Youth sailing sessions. I hope by promoting inclusivity at all sailing clubs that it becomes the norm to see a wheelchair user, a blind or deaf child etc integrated into training groups alongside able-bodied children."
One of the most recent success stories at Wealden Sailability is the group's new racing initiative that sees sailors racing every other Thursday lunchtime, which Fleur is heavily involved with. Fleur also helped prepared the Wealden entrants for the recent Access Class Association Traveller Trophy event held at Chipstead SC.
She added: "Sailing has the ability to level the playing field so much that it doesn't matter what your abilities are, everyone can race against each other. It's also been great to see the competitive spirit of the sailors and even better to hear they are having a post-race analysis afterwards! The sessions are becoming more and more popular and we're all really excited to see how it will all evolve."
For more information about RYA Sailability visit www.rya.org.uk/programmes/ryasailability or contact the Sailability team directly on 0844 556 9550 or at sailability@rya.org.uk
Surrey star relishes chance to take on former side in T20 quarter-final
U18s stroll to convincing win
CRYSTAL Palace U18s were comfortable 3-0 winners against Ryman League Premier Division side Cray Wanderers on Wednesday night.
No first-team players were included with a view to this weekend's trip to Ireland to face Waterford United, but fans got the chance to see Reise Allassani, who had trained with Ian Holloway's squad in Portugal a few weeks ago.
Also included in the Eagles' line-up was Jesse Starkey, an England U18 international recently released by Chelsea, and he took his place in the middle of the park alongside Jermaine Smith.
Cray were certainly up for the game in the opening stages, with much of the play coming down the left side to fire an early warning sign to the young Eagles.
Elliot Long managed to win Palace a penalty after he was tripped just inside the box following good hold-up play from Allassani. But Jake Grey saw the spot-kick saved with ease.
Starkey looked tidy and assured in the middle, spraying a number of passes from left to right.
Palace took the lead after 38 minutes when List burst through the middle, rounded the Cray goalkeeper and angled a shot home despite the best efforts of a back-tracking defender.
Palace doubled their lead on the hour-mark when substitute Ambrose made a good run down the middle, and despite Wanderers' best efforts to clear their lines, Grey was on hand to fire the loose ball into the empty net.
And two minutes later Palace grabbed their third thanks to Allassani, who tapped home.
Palace U18s: Gregory, Wright (Egbo), George (Berkeley), Khinda-John, O'Dwyer, Smith (Kennedy), List (Ambrose), Starkey (Hoare), Palmer (Mohammed), Grey, Allassani.