Soccer-New York Jets co-owner Johnson buys stake in Crystal Palace

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By Shifa Jahan

(Reuters) -New York Jets co-owner Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson has signed a legally binding agreement to buy Eagle Football Holding’s stake in Crystal Palace, the Premier League club said on Monday

The deal is subject to approval from the Premier League and the Women’s Super League with British media reporting it to be worth close to 190 million pounds ($254.39 million).

“Whilst the completion is pending approval from the Premier League and Women’s Super League, we do not envisage any issues and look forward to welcoming Woody as a partner and director of the club,” Palace said in a statement.

Johnson, former U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom, is set to become a partner and director at Palace. The 78-year-old is one of the heirs of the Johnson family that founded the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical company.

British media reported that Johnson purchased a 43% stake in Palace from Eagle Football Holdings, the multi-club company led by American businessman John Textor, who also has stakes in Ligue 1’s Olympique Lyonnais and Brazil’s Botafogo.

Palace, who qualified for the Europa League by winning last season’s FA Cup, have now addressed the risk of losing their spot due to former stakeholder Textor’s ties to Lyon, another qualifier, as European soccer’s governing body UEFA bars clubs under the same ownership from competing in the same competition.

“We would like to go on record to thank John Textor for his contribution over the past four years and wish him every success for the future,” the south London-based club said.

Textor bought the stake for about 90 million pounds in August 2021.

($1 = 0.7468 pounds)

(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)