South Norwood - Sports and Leisure

Sports and Leisure

See also: List of parks and open spaces in Croydon

South Norwood F.C. were an amateur football club who were active in the 1870s and played their home matches at Portland Road. They have been described as "one of the best in England at that time".

Park Road, Holmesdale Road and Whitehourse Lane hold Selhurst Park where Crystal Palace FC plays. The ground was also home to Charlton Athletic FC as part of a ground sharing agreement between 1985 and 1991. It was also used by Wimbledon FC when they left Plough Lane until 2003.

South Norwood contains a leisure centre which is owned and maintained by Fusion on behalf of Sport Croydon. South Norwood Leisure Centre is situated on Portland Road and reopened in late 2007 after refurbishment. It was closed in early 2006 so that it would be knocked down and construction would start on a site next to the Croydon Sports Arena. This was so that it could be redesigned from scratch like the leisure centre in Thornton Heath, which would result in a cost of around £10 million.

In May 2006 the Conservatives gained control of Croydon and decided that doing this would cost too much money, so they decided to refurbish the centre instead, although this decision came with controversy. It now includes a 25m swimming pool and a gym.

South Norwood is also the home to South Norwood Country Park, a former sewage works which closed in 1966, and of a fireworks factory now converted into a nature reserve. Other parks in the local area are South Norwood Recreation Ground, Heavers Meadow, Brickfields Meadow, Beaulieu Heights, South Norwood Lake and Grounds, Woodside Green and Ashburton Park. During the 1960s, the height of the Cold War, several buildings on this site were used for mock atomic attacks to enable rescue workers to gain experience. Volunteers would use theatrical make-up and act out specific wounds while controlled fires would burn around them.