Less than 24 hours after defeating Liverpool to lift the Community Shield, Palace were informed on Monday that their appeal against demotion from the Europa League to the Europa Conference League had been rejected.
The Court of Arbitration in Sport sided with UEFA over their multi-club ownership rule, with Lyon also qualifying for the Europa League at a time when John Textor held interest in both clubs. The American has since sold his 43 per cent shareholding in Palace to Woody Johnson, but for UEFA that move came too late.
Ambrose told Tribalfootball.com: "Yeah, I think it's going to affect the preparations for the season of course. There’s nothing happening at Crystal Palace in terms of transfers. They’ve got the left back in Borna Sosa; he’s the only one so far. There’s obviously a lot of speculation regarding the players in terms of who’s going to be there next season.
"Whether Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze are still going to be there remains to be seen.
"I think that dictates the budgets, but I’m disappointed with what is happening. Nothing will take that moment of winning the FA Cup away from Palace, or the joy of their supporters. But it’s disappointing what this is leading to.
"But I do think this will affect their preparations for the new season, and it needs to be sorted as soon as possible."
Winning the Conference?
On the prospect of winning the Conference League, Ambrose believes Palace have a great chance.
He continued: "Yes, I do. I think any team from the Premier League should have a realistic chance of going far in that competition, if not winning it. Yes, there are other good clubs in it, but Premier League clubs have the pedigree to go on and win this competition.
"It will be a disappointment to be out of the Europa League because I think if you give Crystal Palace a choice – and if you give those Palace fans a choice as well – they would pick Europa League all day long. But then they could get back in the Europa League on merit by winning the Europa Conference League.
"It's going to be one hell of a European tour for those fans because I know what they're like to travel. I know what it’s like under the lights at Selhurst Park, it's going to be rocking, so I'm really pleased for them, and I hope they can go far in the competition."
- Darren Ambrose was speaking to Tribalfootball on behalf of Betway