Crystal Palace Football Club (CPFC) has announced plans to transform the National Sports Centre (NSC) as part of a new stadium development at Crystal Palace Park, London.

The npower Championship club - in partnership with CB Richard Ellis and AFL Architects - is proposing to move back to its original home with a new 40,000-seat venue. A new indoor aquatic centre; a reconfigured indoor complex for the NSC; and a community athletics facility are also being proposed as part of the scheme.

CPFC said that the aquatic facility would remove a need for the swimming pool to remain as part of the listed NSC structure and help reduce its running costs. The scheme would also enable the current space to be redeployed to cater for a wider range of community and elite athletic sports.

CPFC co-chair Steve Parish said: "We believe a stadium at Crystal Palace park can help create a bright new future for the club as well as helping it to breathe new life into both the sports centre and the park." The plans could also threaten Tottenham Hotspur's bid to take over the Olympic Stadium, which included an overhaul of the NSC to fulfil legacy requirements for athletics.

It is reported that Tottenham Hotspur would demolish the Olympic Stadium and rebuild a new venue on the site without an athletics track. A rival bid put forward by West Ham United is proposing to retain the athletics track.