Worst Place to Sit at Selhurst Park

If seeing the whole match clearly is your priority, the worst place to sit at Selhurst Park is towards the back of the Arthur Wait Stand, particularly the rear rows of AW-T and AW-S where the away fans can have a rough time seeing the action.

This is where several of Selhurst Park's old-school quirks come into effect. The low roof and television gantry can cut out large areas of the pitch, while a badly aligned support pillar can remove a goal or another big slice of the action.

In the worst cases, supporters describe watching the match through a narrow letterbox.

That does not make every seat in the Arthur Wait Stand poor. Sightlines can change dramatically according to the exact seat number, and even some high-row seats receive perfectly respectable reviews.

When choosing Selhurst Park tickets, the exact row counts much more than the block name alone.

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What Is the Worst Place to Sit at Selhurst Park?

If we rank Selhurst Park seats according to how much of the football can genuinely disappear from view, this is the clearest hierarchy.

Seat or area	Main problem	How serious is it?
AW-R, AW-S, AW-T, AW-U, AW-V, AW-W, AW-X, AW-Y, AW-Z, roughly rows 42–50	Low gantry/roof plus possible pillar obstruction	Strongest candidate for worst overall area
Arthur Wait seats aligned with pillars	Structural column can hide a goal or large pitch area	Objectively problematic
Old Main Stand seats behind columns	Pillars, low roof and tight spacing	Seat-specific rather than stand-wide
Holmesdale Upper restricted-view seats	Safety railings can enter the sightline	Usually relatively minor
Lower Holmesdale central areas	Persistent standing	Important if you need to remain seated
Low Whitehorse Lane / front Arthur Wait	Shallow angle and weaker far-end perspective	Mostly personal preference

Naturally we want to distinguish between an obstruction physically preventing you from seeing the match and a seat whose angle, distance or atmosphere simply does not suit you.

By that standard, the Arthur Wait Stand dominates the discussion.

Arthur Wait Stand: Selhurst Park's Biggest Sightline Risk

There are two different problems in the Arthur Wait Stand noted in our article on the worst place to sit at a football stadium. The first is structural:

Large roof-support columns remain capable of sitting directly between a spectator and the pitch.

The second becomes progressively worse as you move backwards:

The roof and television/commentary gantry hang low over the rear rows. From some seats they crop the far touchline, a goal or a substantial part of the playing surface. High balls can disappear as well.

Add the stand's relatively shallow rake and people standing in front of you, and a poor rear seat can become considerably worse.

AW-T: the best candidate for the worst seats

AW-T contains some of the most severe individual sightline reports we found anywhere in Selhurst Park.

Row 48 Seat 53 has been reported with roughly half of the pitch obscured by the television gantry. Two seats away, Row 48 Seat 55 combines the overhead obstruction with a pillar interfering with the view towards one goal.

Other poorly reviewed positions include Row 49 Seat 71, Row 46 Seat 58 and Row 42 Seat 69.

That makes the high 40s of AW-T the strongest general answer to the question of where Selhurst Park's worst seats are found.

There is an important qualification. A positive report exists for Row 50 Seat 55, while Row 40 Seat 51 has also been regarded much more favourably. The obstruction is therefore not a simple horizontal line stretching evenly across the block.

Rear AW-T is a high-risk zone, not a guarantee of a bad view.

AW-S: Where the View Becomes a Letterbox

AW-S follows much the same pattern, with particularly persuasive evidence once you move into the 40s.

A supporter in Row 41 Seat 41 compared the view to watching through a letterbox. The same seat number in Row 44 received an extremely poor rating, despite the spectator reporting that the ticket itself had not been designated as restricted view.

Row 50 Seat 36 has also been identified as a severely restricted position, while a report from Row 42 judged the seat just about acceptable and warned that moving farther backwards would make matters considerably worse.

The useful rule is not that row 41 suddenly becomes bad. It is that the risk increases sharply through the low 40s and towards the rear of the stand.

Anyone selecting between two otherwise similar AW-S tickets would have a strong reason to favour the lower one.

AW-R: The Rear of the Away End Can Lose the Far Side

AW-R sits towards the corner of the away allocation, adding a more oblique viewing angle to the Arthur Wait's existing roof problem.

One visiting Nottingham Forest supporter reported from Row 47 that the gantry prevented them from seeing the opposite side of the pitch. Moving several rows forward improved matters, although the remaining view was still compared to looking through a narrow opening.

This first-hand discussion gives a useful sense of the problem:

Just how bad is Selhurst row 49 by in nffc

That is one supporter's experience rather than proof that every Row 47–49 seat is equally poor. It does fit the broader photographic and supporter evidence showing that high AW-R rows carry a substantial risk of losing the far side beneath the gantry.

Going right to the front does not automatically solve everything either. A 2026 report from Row 6 praised the proximity to the pitch while finding the opposite end difficult to follow because of the shallow corner angle.

Home Arthur Wait Blocks Are Not Immune

The away section generates many of the best-known Selhurst Park restricted-view complaints. But of course, the roof does not suddenly change shape once you cross into the home blocks.

In AW-U, Row 48 Seat 96, one spectator reported that the overhang interfered with both ends of the pitch and completely removed high balls from sight. Standing spectators in front made matters worse.

AW-W produces more mixed evidence around rows 47 and 48, ranging from seriously compromised views to seats where most of the action remains visible. AW-Y has produced the same familiar description of watching through a narrow slot from the mid-40s.

For home supporters, the lesson is essentially the same as for away fans: a central Arthur Wait block is not enough by itself to guarantee a good view. Lower-to-middle rows are much safer if an uninterrupted sightline is the priority.

Arthur Wait Stand Pillars: A Different Restricted-View Problem

A pillar can interfere with a seat much farther forward because what matters is whether the column lines up between that particular spectator and an important part of the pitch.

There are three pillars in total in the Arthur Wait Stand. They are located in rows 11 and 12 in the middle of the following blocks:

AW-T
AW-V
AW-X

The seats directly behind and those at a diagonal angle to the pillars are the worst affected, and there’s an increasing number of seats from row 14 up suffer from the obstruction.

So there are really two questions to ask in Arthur Wait:

Am I far enough back for the roof or gantry to become intrusive?
Does my seat line up with a support pillar?

Unfortunately, the worst seats at the very back can answer ‘yes’ to both.

Cramped Seats and Limited Legroom Are also an Issue in the Arthur Wait Stand

The Arthur Wait can also feel particularly cramped, with recent supporters flagging limited legroom and very little space around some seats. For taller supporters especially, that can make an otherwise clear seat uncomfortable.

Limited legroom is a comfort issue rather than a restricted view, but combined with the stand's pillars, shallow rake and low gantry, it adds another drawback to some of the Arthur Wait Stand's poorer seats.

Main Stand: Pillars Again a Problem

One easy mistake is to assume that construction of Crystal Palace's new Main Stand means the old seating discussed in previous Selhurst Park guides has already disappeared. It has not.

The new stand is being constructed around the existing structure, with the main seating area intended to remain operational during the build. For supporters attending during the current redevelopment phase, the familiar old Main Stand is therefore still the relevant seating area.

Its drawbacks remain much as before. There are six roof columns that can interfere with particular sightlines here.

Set on row 7, the pillars in the Main Stand can be found in the following blocks:

MS-B
Steps between MS-C and MS-D
MS-E
MS-F
Steps between MS-G and MS-H
MS-J

While not quite as broad and intrusive as the pillars in the Arthur Wait Stand, the pillars in the Main Stand do affect sightlines throughout the stand.

They are a problem for fans directly behind a pillar, but will affect all views from around Row 10 upwards.

Main Stand Additional Issues

Some rear positions feel enclosed beneath the overhang, and legroom has long been one of the stand's less forgiving characteristics.

At the same time, the evidence does not support writing off whole central Main Stand blocks. Clear seats around the middle of the pitch can offer an excellent conventional longside perspective.

The redevelopment creates a different problem in 2026/27. Movement around the stand, temporary facilities and matchday access are changing while construction progresses. That may make the experience less convenient, yet it does not create a new set of seating sightlines.

For now, choose Main Stand tickets according to the old stand that is actually there, rather than the 13,500-seat replacement that is being built around it.

Holmesdale Road and Whitehorse Lane: Mostly Preference Rather Than Obstruction

Once Arthur Wait and the Main Stand pillars are removed from the equation, Selhurst Park's other supposed bad seats become much more dependent on what you personally need.

The Holmesdale Upper has a strong reputation for its elevated overview of the pitch. There are isolated restricted-view seats where safety railings enter the sightline, including an example in Section S, Row 3B. Supporter feedback suggests this is more of a persistent irritation than anything comparable with the worst Arthur Wait seats.

The bigger consideration in the Lower Holmesdale is standing. Central areas, including C and D, are popular precisely because of their atmosphere, and many supporters remain on their feet for long periods.

That can make them an excellent choice for one person and completely unsuitable for somebody who needs to watch the match while seated. It is an accessibility and preference issue rather than a fault in the underlying sightline.

Whitehorse Lane has a similar set of details to consider. The low behind-goal position can make play at the far end harder to judge and some seats lose sight of the stadium screen. A current WHL-2 Row O example still received a strong overall rating despite the screen not being visible.

None of those drawbacks approaches losing half of the playing surface behind the Arthur Wait gantry.

How We Judged the Worst Seats at Selhurst Park

Our ranking gives the most weight to how much football you physically cannot see.

Structural obstructions come first: a pillar, roof, gantry or railing hiding meaningful parts of the pitch.

Next come practical sightline problems, including a spectator being unable to follow high balls or the far touchline even though most of the playing surface remains visible.

Distance, atmosphere, low viewing angles and persistent standing come afterwards because different supporters can reasonably feel very differently about them.

That is why a rear AW-T seat with both gantry and pillar interference ranks much worse than a front-row seat where the only drawback is a shallow angle.

How to Avoid a Poor Seat at Selhurst Park

If you have a choice of seats in the Arthur Wait Stand, avoid assuming that farther back means a better overall perspective. Once you reach the 40s, the extra elevation can be outweighed by what hangs above you.

Check the exact seat wherever possible. A Selhurst Park seating plan is much more useful here than simply deciding that one entire block is good or bad.

If official availability has become limited, Crystal Palace tickets can also be compared through Ticket-Compare.com. Ticket-Compare.com is a comparison platform rather than a ticket seller: it brings listings from pre-vetted resale sites and official ticketing partners into one place before you click through to buy from the respective site.

Worst Place to Sit at Selhurst Park | Frequently Asked Questions

Are there restricted-view seats at Selhurst Park?

Yes. Restricted-view seats remain part of current Selhurst Park ticketing. Palace confirmed in 2026 that their presence is one reason supporters still need to select their own seats. They are particularly relevant in the Arthur Wait Stand, where pillars, the low roof and the gantry can affect different seats in different ways.

Which rows should I avoid in the Arthur Wait Stand?

There is no universal cut-off, although the evidence becomes much more concerning from roughly the low 40s backwards, especially in AW-S and AW-T. Rows 46–50 contain several of the poorest documented views. Pillar alignment means an individual seat farther forward can still be restricted.

What is the worst individual seat at Selhurst Park?

There is not enough evidence to identify one seat beyond dispute. AW-T Row 48 Seats 53 and 55 are among the strongest candidates because reports describe severe gantry interference, with Seat 55 also affected by a pillar towards one goal. Nearby seats can still produce significantly different views.

Do away fans get restricted-view seats at Selhurst Park?

Yes. The Arthur Wait away allocation contains restricted-view inventory. For West Ham's April 2026 visit, so many restricted-view tickets remained within the allocation that the final 10% ballot consisted of those seats.

The exact number and locations available can vary from one fixture to another.

Is the Main Stand still open during the redevelopment?

Yes. Palace's construction plan keeps the existing Main Stand's principal seating area in use while the new structure is built around it.

Supporters should therefore still account for the old stand's pillars, tight spacing and roof when selecting seats during the current construction phase.

Is the Holmesdale Road Stand a bad place to sit?

Not because of its basic sightlines. Upper Holmesdale is widely regarded as one of Selhurst Park's clearer elevated views. In the Lower Holmesdale, the more important consideration is persistent standing in atmospheric central sections. That matters greatly for supporters who need to remain seated, rather than making those blocks objectively poor seats.

So, Where Is the Worst Place to Sit at Selhurst Park?

The worst examples can be found at the back of AW-T and AW-S in the Arthur Wait Stand, particularly from the low 40s into the high 40s.

These are the areas where the evidence most consistently shows the roof and television gantry cutting into the actual football, sometimes dramatically. Add an unfortunately positioned pillar and you can end up with one of the few Selhurst Park seats where several different structural problems affect the same view.

The rear home blocks along Arthur Wait deserve similar caution, while the Main Stand comes next because of its legacy pillars and old structure.

Holmesdale and Whitehorse Lane are different propositions. Their drawbacks tend to involve standing, distance, viewing angle or an occasional railing rather than having a major portion of the pitch physically removed from sight.

The most useful Selhurst Park rule is simple:

In the Arthur Wait Stand, check the exact block, row and seat, because the roof or pillars may affect your viewing experience. A move of only a few rows or several seats sideways can turn an extremely compromised view into one from which you can properly watch the match.

Right now there are 104,698 Crystal Palace tickets currently on sale, starting from $59. One match attracting a lot of buyers on Ticket-Compare.com today is Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest at $70.

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