Crystal Palace join Villarreal, AZ, Melbourne Victory in new Global Football Alliance | OneFootball

Crystal Palace have announced they've joined the 'Global Football Alliance'.

In a statement today, Palace confirmed:

"Crystal Palace Football Club has today joined the Global Football Alliance, a network of 16 clubs from six continents who have united to share ideas and expertise.

"The Global Football Alliance is a strategic partnership between clubs in 16 different countries, who are not directly in competition with each other. They will establish an international scouting and recruitment network, optimize training and sports performance, increase revenue and promote digital innovation through regular communication, meetings and conferences.

"Crystal Palace will be the only English Club in the Global Football Alliance, which will ultimately consist of 25 clubs from 25 countries. It will focus on research and development, using technology and data to give member clubs a competitive advantage on and off the field."

The 15 other members of the Global Football Alliance are:

AS Saint Etienne, France

Associacao Chapeconese De Futebol, Brazil

Athletic Club Paradou, Algeria

AZ Alkmaar, Netherlands

Club Estudiantes De La Plaza, Argentina

Deportivo Independiente Medellin, Colombia

Deportivo Toulca FC, Mexico

FK Krasnodar, Russia

Kawaski Frontale, Japan

Melbourne Victory, Australia

New England Revolution, USA

Standard De Liege, Belgium

Villarreal, Spain

VFL Wolfsburg, Germany

Wadi Delga, Egypt

Palace chairman Steve Parish said: "We are delighted to be joining the Global Football Alliance. Whilst we are proud of our status as a community football club, we are ambitious about extending our global footprint.

"Sharing resources and information from like-minded clubs around the world will ensure we benefit from the best ideas in global football and help us to forge invaluable new relationships."