The Financial Times may not have a sport section, but in the near future Crystal Palace fans may not have a team, so anything is worth trying. Readers of the newspaper may have spotted an unusual advertisement in its pages today: the chance to buy a football club.

Palace's administrators, P&A Partnership, have been trying to sell the club since it went into administration two weeks ago, prompting a ten-point deduction that sent Neil Warnock's side tumbling down the Coca-Cola Championship.

In what might be viewed in some quarters as an act of desperation, since anyone who is interested in football must surely be aware of Palace's plight, the administrators have placed a notice in the FT advising readers of the "opportunity to acquire a long-established South London club" that is "currently enjoying success in the FA Cup".

The "well established and highly reputable academy" is cited as a key asset and apparently the club "offers many benefits for an investor".

The projected revenue for the season ending in May is quoted at £13.8 million, though there's the small matter of a £30-odd million debt to take into consideration. And isn't "stadium freehold available" just a nice way of saying that the club doesn't own its ground?

The administrators might be better off placing advertisements in the Russian or Middle Eastern media in the hope of catching the eye of a benevolent billionaire. But there is a certain cachet at least to being listed in the FT's pink pages. Last July, Tranmere Rovers were put up for sale on eBay.

The advertisement:

On instructions of the Joint Administrators, B Guilfoyle, C White and J Russell:

FOOTBALL CLUB FOR SALE

Crystal Palace F.C. (2000) Limited

The sale of the football club and its associated assets presents an opportunity to acquire a long established South London club (founded in 1905) currently playing in the Championship division of the Football League and currently enjoying success in the FA Cup (next match against Aston Villa in the fifth round).

The Club offers many benefits for an investor with a key asset being the well established and highly reputable academy. Prinicipal points of this opportunity are:

• Established and well known brand;

• 26,300 capacity stadium at Selhurst Park held by way of a 25 year lease from April 2008;

• Stadium FREEHOLD available;

• Training ground and academy, in Beckenham, Kent, with 4 full size pitches, junior size pitches, state of the art gymnasium and physiotherapy facilities, held by way of a 15 year lease from August 2003

• In addition to 26 players on professional contracts, there are 16 junior players held on scholarships;

• Revenue streams including commercial sponsorship, Football League payments and television rights, in addition to ticket sales and stadium sub-leases;

• Further revenue streams from player contracts “sell-on” clauses;

• Projected revenue for season ending May 2010 - £13.8million.

An information memorandum is in the course of production and should be available during the week commencing 8 February 2010, which will comprise a synopsis of the salient points of the opportunity and will be available to interested parties following the signing of a confidentiality agreement.

Confidentiality agreements can be obtained from the Joint Administrators c/o The P&A Partnership, 93 Queen Street, Sheffield, S1 1WF TEL: 01142 755033.