Crystal Palace’s hopes of Europa League football have collapsed as the club is relegated to the Conference League next season, triggering a fresh wave of criticism from co-owner John Textor toward chairman Steve Parish.
Textor, who is selling his 43% stake in Palace to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, claims Parish’s lack of ambition has held the club back, accusing him of settling for Premier League survival rather than striving for greater success.
The club’s European spot fell through after French side Lyon, also owned by Textor, won an appeal to avoid relegation.
The ruling intensified UEFA’s scrutiny of multi-club ownership, ultimately costing Palace their Europa place.
Despite the FA Cup triumph last season, Textor insists Palace could have achieved more if he’d been allowed to expand his stake, telling TalkSport:
“I think his ambition every year is to avoid relegation. Our ambition is to climb the table.”
Textor says he has no day-to-day control at Selhurst Park and pushed responsibility away, adding:
“Ask the guy that drives the red Ferrari… I never want to be the man.”
Palace will now enter the Conference League, leaving fans frustrated and uncertain about the club’s European future.
