Crystal Palace National Sports Centre revival is the best possible answer for London athletics
The site of the athletics track at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre was home to the FA Cup final from 1895 to 1914. For its penultimate edition as host, more than 120,000 people flocked there to watch Aston Villa beat Sunderland.
The venue was the backdrop to the first rugby meeting between England and the All Blacks — a 15-0 defeat for the hosts — and W G Grace even set up a cricket team in the wider area.
Icons of athletics have Marathon, broke the 10,000-metre world record on it, while the boss of World Athletics Seb Coe and his great rival Steve Ovett had countless duels at Crystal Palace.
