Official Site of Crystal Palace · Apr 1, 2020
When Selhurst Park hosted England's grandest prank
In its near-100 years of existence, Selhurst Park has hosted quite a collection of the weird and the wonderful.
It's played home to an elephant, Status Quo and Malcolm Allison's fedora, but perhaps the most unique item to be housed in SE25 came on April 1st, 1989.
When Richard Branson caught the nation's attention by flying a supposed UFO over London in an April Fool's Day prank taken to the extreme, he used Selhurst Park as the base from which he launched his 'Virgin Galactic Airways' balloon into the atmosphere.