Ten Classic Football Quotations made by Football Chairmen

I've still got my old school report. It says I was dyslexic, backward, mentally deficient and illiterate - all the qualifications needed to be a football club chairman - GEORGE REYNOLDS, Darlington chairman, 2000.

If anyone thinks we're going to give away a company that we've built up over six years at a personal loss in order to satisfy the whims of some Indian with a curry shop, they had better get real - JIM OLIVER, Partick Thistle chairman, spurning takeover interest from a group of Asian businessmen, 1995.

We'll deal with anyone, whether they are Asian, Eskimo or a one-eyed black lesbian saxophone player - JIM OLIVER, Partick Thistle chairman, denying allegations of racism, 1995.

We will serve sheep's testicles as a delicacy in the boardroom. There are plenty of sheep in Wales so it's right that they should make some representation at Ninian Park - SAM HAMMAM, having left Wimbledon and taken over as chairman at Cardiff City, 2000.

I'm off to my 300-acre farm. You lot can bugger off to your council houses - KEN BATES, Chelsea chairman, to the press after Chelsea's relegation, 1998.

At other clubs the directors probably get worried if things aren't going well, and they don't like people coming up to them criticising in pubs and at parties. That doesn't influence me at all. If people start telling me what's wrong with the team, I just say:
'Look why don't you f--- awff ??' - PATRICK COBBOLD, Ipswich chairman, 1981.

The lowest point of the year was hearing Nick Barmby had used the five worst words in the English language: 'I want to join Liverpool.' - BILL KENWRIGHT, after taking over at Everton, 2000.

The Super League idea has about as much chance of getting through as there is of Arthur Scargill admitting he needs a wig - ERNIE CLAY, Fulham chairman, a decade before the launch of the Premier League, 1992.

I'm just a frustrated would-be professional player who in the end wasn't good enough. Today you have prima donnas and they are highly paid. Their intelligence, across the board, is a lot higher than in my day. Comic Cuts was the typical newspaper of the dressing-room in my day whereas now it's the serious papers. We actually got complaints that there was only one public phone in the changing rooms because they wanted to ring their stockbrokers after training - DOUG ELLIS, Aston Villa chairman, 2000.

I don’t give a f*** about football protocol and the other club owners. They want me to sit and have lunch before the games. F*** that. I don’t go to football to drink chardonnay in the boardrooms with those tossers. I go to win games. I don’t have anything in common with 90% of football club chairmen. They don't interest me - SIMON JORDAN, Crystal Palace chairman, 2004.

SIMON JORDAN on the state of our game, the Bostock fable, an array of his Infamous Quotes from over the years.....along with my own thoughts!

SIMON JORDAN has delivered the most damning verdict ever on the crumbling state of the beautiful game.

Jordan, the flamboyant Crystal Palace chairman has finally decided to walk out on football as the game descends into a bickering war over players’ inflated contracts, lack of loyalty, greed, corruption and arrogance.

The final straw came after seeing Tottenham run off with the Eagles' Academy gem John Bostock for the price of “a packet of crisps,” and culminating in Manchester United superstar Ronaldo’s absurd claim that he is being treated 'like a slave'.

Jordan admits to being disillusioned with the game even before he was pushed over the edge by an FA tribunal’s decision to award Palace just £700,000 compensation, (rising to £1.25 million with add-ons), for youth player John Bostock following his controversial transfer to Tottenham last month.

Jordan, who has run the show at Selhurst Park since 2000, is so dispirited by big clubs stockpiling all the best young talent that he is on the verge of quitting.

Palace, who lost in the Championship play-off semi-finals two months ago, handed Bostock his League debut at the age of 15 last season.

But their far-sighted investment in youth merely alerted big clubs to his potential, and Jordan felt bitter when Spurs manager Juande Ramos snatched the teenager.

Eagles manager Neil Warnock revealed: 'I’ve never seen Simon as disillusioned as I did over the Bostock affair. He’s still enthusiastic about Palace, but he feels utterly saddened by the way football is heading.'

He was devastated, absolutely rock-bottom, because he loves the academy and he knows how important it is to the club.

Jordan was so upset that he went back into the tribunal and told them, 'I don’t know what clubs like Palace can do to keep our brightest youngsters. Big clubs can tap up all the best 14 to 16-year-olds and we haven’t got a cat in hell’s chance of signing them now. We’ve nurtured Bostock since he was seven years old, we put him in the first team when he was still only 15 and we’ve done all the hard work.'

'And all we get for it is a tribunal fobbing us off by saying it’s a record fee for a player of his age - but they are out of date because really it’s peanuts.
Look at Aaron Ramsey - he’s only 18, but he’s just gone to Arsenal for £5 million, and we only get £700,000 for Bostock. It’s crackers.’

Warnock has warned Bostock that, for all the glamour of a Premier League club’s payroll, his talent could wither on the vine at Tottenham.


Certainly the youngster is unlikely to dislodge £16 million Croatian Luca Modric from the first team, and Warnock fears Bostock (right) may join the forgotten generation of home-grown prospects whose path to regular football is blocked by big-money foreign signings.

‘If anybody thinks the big clubs don’t go around tapping these kids up, they are going soft. They are living in cloud cuckoo land.’

‘I think Bostock would have broken into our first team next season and played regularly in the Championship. The only reason he didn’t play more often after Christmas was that he had ten O'level exams coming up.’
I was dead straight with him and told him that I had lined up this Australian lad (Nick Carle from Bristol City for £1 million), but I wouldn’t sign him if Bostock wanted to stay because I didn’t want to block his progress.’

So I asked him and his dad if they were going to sign for us, and they were adamant, ‘Yes, we’re definitely going to sign for Palace.’ Next thing I know, he’s off to Tottenham.

‘Is he going to get in their team ahead of Modric? There’s no way he’ll get in the side at Spurs for three or four years - he would have been better off getting 50 to 100 games under his belt with us.’

‘We need new legislation to stop big clubs tapping up all the best kids before they are 16 because, at the moment, there is nothing we can do to stop it.
It’s a sad day for football when you spend nine years cultivating talent in your academy system so the big clubs can just come along and pick them off.’

We all know Simon has his critics, but I think a lot of neutrals will look at this particular case and feel sorry for him because it’s just not right.

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Jordan has become one of the most outspoken personalities in football since buying Palace out of administration eight years ago at the age of 32, which made him the youngest chairman in the Football League.

He made around £40m after selling his firm The Pocket Phone Shop to the Carphone Warehouse and immediately pledged to have the South London club back in the Premier League within five years. He achieved his goal of seeing his boyhood club play in the top flight - albeit for just one season as Palace were relegated in dramatic style on the final day of the 2004/05 season.

But it did not take long for him to grow tired of the way football is run.

If Jordan, who used to step out with underwear model Sophie Anderton (below), does leave the game, football will be a duller place.


As the 40-year-old multi-millionaire businessmen prepares to sell his Championship club to the highest bidder, love him or loathe him, Simon Jordan always has something interesting to say:



Never short of an opinion, here are some of Simon Jordan's best lines.

1/ “You read on the front pages of newspapers about people unable to sell their homes and heading for the bread line - but you read on the back pages about footballers turning down £150,000-a-week offers!"

2/ “Footballers live on an island called ‘Football World’ where everything they do is right and everything that is said about them is wrong.”

Jordan is also disgusted that Chelsea’s England midfield star Lampard, 30, is continuing to hold out for a mammoth £150,000-a-week deal at Chelsea.

3/ “There is not a footballer or any kind of sportsman on the planet worth £150,000-a-week,” he said. “I can tell you a few surgeons who are - but no sportsman."

4/ “The more I watch this ‘Planet Football’ and see the back pages dominate the front pages and people like Coleen McLoughlin - who is just a plain little girl from Liverpool - set up as role models," I think to myself: "What the hell is going on?"

5/ “The moment the door of Selhurst Park hits me on the a***, I will not be coming back.”


He directed plenty of his venom at players’ agents, who he believes are responsible for many of the ills of the modern game.

6/ “Agents are nasty scum,” he said. “They’re evil and divisive and pointless."

7/ “They only survive because the rest of the sport is so corrupt and because leading football club people employ their sons in the job.”

8/ “In my opinion, no owner in their right mind would willingly invite an average agent into his academy, any more than a brothel owner would let a syphilitic nutter into his whorehouse."


But, amazingly, Jordan also took a pop at the long-suffering fans who have to dip further into their deep pockets every time a player agrees a new contract.
He insists the fans’ expectations increase the pressure on clubs to go after the best players and that in turn, hands all the power to the men in the dressing room.

9/ “If you get 60,000 people singing your name every week, you lose touch with reality.”

10/ “Fans wonder why they have to pay £50 for a kit for their son - but the price is that because they’ve been clamoring for better players.”

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Other off-the-cuff classic Jordan quotes include:


11/ "I had an Aston Martin phone worth £15,000 given to me as a present. I dropped it in a gin and tonic about 15 seconds after opening it."

12/ "I'd rather support Millwall than sell Andy Johnson."

13/ "What does Everton chairman Bill Kenwright think he will get for £6m? Andy Johnson's trainers."

14/ "Even if I built a 50,000 seat stadium and bought Ronaldinho there'd still be complaints about crap hot dogs."

15/ "In retrospect, of course I regret calling them (Charlton fans) morons. Imbeciles would have been more appropriate."

16/ "Charlton have a cheap matchday coach service that goes out into Kent to nick Gillingham fans - that's pretty clever. We might start sending a coach to Brighton."

17/ "In terms of the credibility the papers have in dressing rooms, I've had players arguing their worth based on the marks out of 10 they get in The Sun."

18/ "I don’t give a f*** about football protocol and the other club owners. They want me to sit and have lunch before the games. F*** that. I don’t go to football to drink chardonnay in the boardrooms with those tossers. I go to win games. I don’t have anything in common with 90% of football club chairmen. They don't interest me."

19/ "Without being arrogant, I am probably the highest-profile club chairman in the country. Whether it is because I am young or I fight causes or I have a big mouth or I date silly girls, I don’t know."

20/ "In some ways I admire football fans because in what other business can you serve up crap and then have people come back for more?"

My problems with Birmingham started when I went into the boardroom at St Andrew’s and David Sullivan (the co- owner of the then Coca-Cola Championship leaders) came up to me and said: ‘Simon, I have known you for a few years but you keep yourself to yourself. Are you gay?’

21/ (On Birmingham's David Sullivan and David Gold) "I think they are disingenuous. The ethics with which they do business, I don't appreciate. I have had enough dealings with them to be able to have that view. Am I surprised? They sell dildos for a living. That gives you a judgement on what they may or may not be."

22/ "If I see another David Gold interview on the poor East End Jewish boy done good I'll impale myself on one of his dildos."

23/ "I think in life you get what you deserve. Despite my distaste for the owners, I don't wish any club bad luck. If Birmingham go down, am I going to shed a tear? No. Because the best thing about Birmingham is the road out."

24/ (On suing Iain Dowie) "I would not issue a writ through my lawyers on a point of principle, I will issue it on a point of law because a point of principle is expensive, as Iain will find out."

25/ (On how he would deal with then Newcastle bad boy Craig Bellamy) "I'd strangle him with his own tongue."

26/ (When West Ham beat Man Utd in the first game after Alan Pardew had gone) "If I'd have been him, I'd have gone down the training ground, said ‘thanks lads' and pulled out an AK-47. They hadn't done it for him, but they could beat the champions for Alan Curbishley. F****** unbelievable."

27/ "At the end of the day, I have a certain hairstyle. Whether I'm too old to carry it off now, I'm not sure. But it's a subject for discussion, and there's only one thing worse than people talking about you - and that's people not talking about you!"

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In my opinion: Football needs more people like Simon Jordan not less - heart on his sleeve, money where his mouth is, and a true appreciation of what football means to its community.
He is simply saying what we all know to be true.

Simon Jordan’s comments capture what lots of football fans in general think today. The game has lost its way with inflated wages, huge transfer fees, spoilt egotistical footballers and their wags, and corrupt agents and foreign owners who have no idea what our game is all about.
Football is big business, with the sporting element now of secondary importance!

Those who are saying Jordan is only speaking out now he's going are wrong. Remember the stand he took over Steve Bruce going to Birmingham, Iain Dowie getting out of his contract to go to Charlton, or his refusal to pay Tim Cahill's agent a fee when Palace were trying to sign him from Millwall.

Jordan rescued Crystal Palace from going under. He rescued a club that he loves. He has put his money where his mouth his. He has supported his managers to the hilt. Jordan is a Palace fan, one of us and has the club and its supporters at heart. He wants the best for the club and the Bostock affair has left a foul taste in the mouths of all those involved with CPFC.

He may be disillusioned, as all true fans must be with the way football is going, but his stand over the Bostock affair has at least brought the matter of Academy development to the attention of UEFA. Whatever else Platini has said, surely it is no coincidence that he has since put forward proposals for the protection of Clubs who produce young local talent?

Fans must shoulder some of the responsibility. Surely they realize that each and everytime they put their hand in their pocket and spend their hard earned money on 'their' team, that all they are doing is simply continuing to feed greedy players, agents and owners.
Footballers have been treating supporters like mugs for years, and we fall for it every time. You can't moan about footballer’s earnings and then happily hand over the likes of 50 quid for a match ticket or an acrylic club shirt.

Sooner or later though the long suffering fan is going to say enough is enough and they are going to stop going to matches, stop purchasing merchandise and start cancelling their Sky Sports subscriptions.

I agree with the fans who now go to watch lower-league football - you'll see guys giving their all at a reasonable price.

As a Palace fan, I have great respect for Simon Jordan. He took a club he loves and I love out of the hands of the administrators, turned them around and did as he promised, took us to the promised land - the Premiership (albeit for one season). This man has always spoken his mind. So to all those who disagree with Jordan’s comments about football and want to slag him off – could it be because he is a successful businessman and a self made millionaire, and therefore you might be a tad bitter and jealous?

Good luck Simon Jordan in whatever you do next. Your chairmanship and loyalty will be sadly missed when you sell up.

Why Agents Cruise Jordan, & Can Afford To Drink Cristal Champagne, Care Of The Palace!

While it gives me absolutely no pleasure in reading the latest report regarding the fees paid to football agents, I would think it will leave Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan in particular, absolutely seething!
Anyone who follows 'The Eagles' or reads the national press knows his stance and feelings of superciliousness concerning the behaviour of Players’s Agents.

After all they are simply ‘advisors’ and advise they indeed do, but in many cases pretty badly. They habitually prey on naive young professionals, extorting outrageous sums of money, they describe as ‘fees’ for doing quite often very little, in an effort to further line their already opulent pockets.
Surely parents, fellow professionals, managers and chairman alike can see this!

Greed is their food of love. It’s a set menu.

In a previous life they were probably all failed insurance salesman, who drove bottom of the range company four door saloons, with their fibre mix jackets hanging up in the back whilst listening to dolphin music.

Their idea of an evening out is meeting up in a once fashionable now re-furbished wine bar and drinking non-vintage champagne straight from the neck of the bottle.
I digress, and bad taste is not an excuse to abuse, just one to avoid.
However this does not change the fact that morally they are evil self centred individuals, whatever their taste!

The Football League's annual report into payments to these so called 'middlemen' reveals agent's fees paid by clubs outside the Premiership rose by nearly £1 million last season.

The report exposes an outlay of £8,584,321 - compared to £7,660,028 in 2005/06, a rise of over 12% on the previous 12 months!

Championship winners Sunderland topped the table with £881,594 spent on agents.

As if to emphasise Jordan's previous disquiet on the matter, it has been revealed that his own club were in fact, 'major victims' of these unscrupulous rogues.
Crystal Palace were London's biggest spenders, forking out £433,818 in fees, followed by QPR (£192,340), Millwall (£111,140) and Leyton Orient (£53,000).

'Whipped Cream'

The 21st June 2007 had the outward appearance of something resembling 'Black Thursday.'

The day in question resembled a cross between The Madhatter's Tea Party and an Ann Summers shindig, somewhere en route between 'The High Court' in London & 'Royal Ascot' in Berkshire.

Was their a full moon on Wednesday night?

It was certainly an atrocious day for Iain 'Coco the Clown' Dowie at The High Court, and in part for the bookmaker Paddy Power at Royal Ascot on Gold Cup and Ladies Day.

As it is Dowie is now facing the biggest blow to his morale, as well as to the lining of his pockets, since he last looked at his own reflection in the mirror!

He was 'taken to the cleaners' by Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan.
Jordan has shown in the past that he cannot stand managers/players that do NOT honour their contracts, and quite rightly so!
(In 2001 he put Steve Bruce on 'gardening leave' at the Palace after refusing to allow him to leave his contractual managerial post with Palace, after being linked to a role with another football club). I must take this opportunity to thank Brucie for all the weeding he did that year. The pitch has never looked in such tip-top condition since!

Dowie should have gone to see a therapist NOT a solicitor before deciding to take on Jordan in court, particularly as it has subsequently been proven that he was indeed knowingly lying, and made 'fraudulent misrepresentations' on leaving the club in May last year.
Dowie had foolishly hoped that somehow he would NOT get caught, a bit like a naughty little school-kid!
Dowie in fact may as well have turned up at court in a school blazer, knee length trousers with a plimsoll bag over his shoulder, lent over some court apparatus and allowed himself be thrashed with a whip, for he was always onto a good hiding, from the first moment he decided to take on his ex-boss, a serial High Court winner!

Now having lost, he has to foot the entire bill. He has to pay HIS own costs, Jordan's and Palace's costs.....along with any compensation awarded to Palace.
Mr. Justice Tugendhat ordered Dowie to pay £150,000 within the next six weeks, but warned Dowie that Palace's bill could total £400,000 in legal costs alone.

There will be another hearing towards the end of the year to decide how much in 'damages and other financial relief' Dowie must pay Palace. Ouch!!!

Jordan said on Friday he had no sympathy for Dowie and went on to say: 'This is a resounding, overwhelming judgement of Dowie's deceit and guilt.'

No Xmas card from Dowie then this Yuletide. He'll probably be so skint by then that he'll have to send home-made cards to his remaining friends and relatives!


Interestingly but of less financial clout, bookies Paddy Power were hit by a flurry of bets on Thursday on what colour hat the Queen would be wearing on Gold Cup Day at Royal Ascot.
Suggestions in previous years that inside information might have been used went down like a lead balloon at the Palace.
So without wishing to stir up any more bad feeling nobody was pointing any fingers on Thursday, despite a rush of money that saw the winning 'beige/cream' colour cut from odds of a rather tasty 6/1 to a miserly 1/25.

Claiming to have lost around £15,000, bookie Paddy Power said, 'We got creamed.'

DowieGateDisgrace.........Jordan Decree Corroborates Dowie Deceit!

Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan scored a legal victory today when a High Court judge upheld his claim that he was "deceived" by manager Iain Dowie over his reasons for leaving the club.

Mr Justice Tugendhat ruled that Palace entered into a compromise agreement, freeing Dowie from his contract, on the basis of "fraudulent representations" by the manager to the effect that he had NOT contacted Charlton and had NO present intention of joining them.

Flamboyant multi-millionaire Jordan asserted that, as a gesture of goodwill, he agreed to waive the compensation clause because Dowie had stated he wanted to move nearer to his wife and family in Bolton - which was true when he made the statement.

But within days of leaving, Dowie was appointed manager of Charlton - just a few miles from Selhurst Park.
In the event, Dowie left Charlton in November after only 12 league matches and is now in charge at Coventry.

Dowie, 42, had a clause in his contract to the effect that, if he left to join another club, Palace would receive £1million compensation.

Jordan told the judge he would never have reached the compromise had he known he was planning to move to The Valley.

Jordan, who made his millions from the sale of his mobile phone shop chain, Pocket Phone Shop, seven years ago, challenged Dowie's claim that there was a lack of investment in Crystal Palace.

He said he put £30million of his own money into the club in his first three years as chairman.

The question of whether Palace is now entitled to £1million, or some other amount, on the basis that it lost the chance to benefit under that clause will be decided at a further court hearing.

Bring on Dowie & Coventry this season...........I'm sure Dowie will get a truely red hot reception, one that normally befits that buffoon Brucie.

Palace fans put these dates in your diary for the forthcoming season!

Palace .v. Coventry & Dowie at Selhurst Park:- 18th September 2007.
Coventry & Dowie .v. Palace at The Rioch Arena:- 26th December 2007.


See you all there!

DowieGateDisgrace.........The Very Latest!

Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan must wait to see if he has won his bitter legal row with former manager Iain Dowie.

Their eight-day High Court battle ended on Tuesday - but the judge has withheld his decision over Dowie being sued for alleged "fraudulent misrepresentations".


Dowie's barrister Michael McParland this week dismissed claims that his client had discussed the Charlton job before he left Palace.

*However two days before he left he had talked to Charlton chairman Richard Murray, but Mr McParland said that did not mean Dowie had been spoken to about taking charge of the club.

*Mr McParland added that Preston boss Billy Davies had already been lined up for the Charlton hotseat, although he later declined the move.

*The barrister said Murray had phoned about possible player signings for Charlton.

*He said Dowie could NOT afford to "offend" a Premiership chairman by NOT taking the call.

*It was also revealed that Dowie had started writing a document called "Advancing the Addicks" - before he left Palace.

But the barrister said this did NOT mean he had talked about getting a job at the club.


John Davies QC,for Jordan, said there had been "five representations" that caused his client to waive the clause that required compensation should Dowie leave:

1/ He said Palace's line had been "consistent" from May 10 last year onwards when Jordan made it clear that Dowie could go,but only on the basis he was returning to the north.

2/ Mr Davies also disagreed with Mr McParland's claim that Charlton had lined up Billy Davies as manager when there was initial contact between Dowie and Murray.

3/ The court was also told that Dowie had been "mis-taken" when he said in a press conference to announce he would be joining Charlton that there had been no contact about the job when he was still at Palace.

4/ The court was also told that, on May 16 last year, Dowie considered himself "free" to talk about becoming Derby County manager, even though the agreement to terminate his contract at Palace had NOT been signed off.

5/ Mr Davies said the fact Dowie was talking to Derby at that early stage made it more likely that he had also spoken to Charlton about the managerial position at The Valley.



Mr Justice Tugendhat said he would reserve his decision in the case until a later, unspecified date.

DowieGateDisgrace.........Court Day Eight

Round Eight - Day Eight - Tuesday 22nd May 2007

In Court today...

Former Eagles boss Iain Dowie could not have spoken to Charlton about becoming their manager when he left Crystal Palace because someone else was poised to get the job, the High Court heard today.

As those following the case will be aware, Dowie had a clause in his contract to the effect that if he left to join another club, Palace would be due £1million compensation.

Palace chairman Simon Jordan says he agreed to waive the clause when Mr Dowie left because he had stated he wanted to move nearer to his family in Bolton.

Within days Mr Dowie had joined Charlton.

Today, as both sides began their final submissions, Mr Dowie's barrister, Michael McParland, dismissed claims that his client had discussed the Charlton job before he left Palace.

The court heard Mr Dowie had spoken to Charlton chairman, Richard Murray, two days before leaving Palace, NOT about taking charge of the Addicks but about players.

Mr McParland said that was because Mr Murray already had another man lined up for the job - former Preston North End manager Billy Davies.

In the end, Mr Davies changed his mind, but Mr McParland said that would NOT have been known to Mr Murray at the time he spoke to Mr Dowie.

Mr McParland also said Mr Murray phoned Mr Dowie on May 22 last year - the day he left Palace - to find out the time of the press conference announcing his departure as he was keen to watch it on TV.

And the judge heard from Mr McParland that, just because Mr Dowie had started writing a document called "Advancing the Addicks" before he left Palace, it did NOT mean he had talked about getting a job at the club.



Tale of the Tape: Dowie 6, Jordan 7
Temperature: Sticky with varying winds. Outlook uncertain but cloudy with plenty of mist & haze in the atmosphere 23*C


We await the outcome...

DowieGateDisgrace.........Court Day Seven

Round Seven - Day Seven - Friday 18th May 2007

In Court today...

The final witness in Crystal Palace's marathon legal battle has denied approaching their former manager Iain Dowie before he had formally left the club.

Taking the stand today, Charlton Athletic chairman Richard Murray denied approaching Mr Dowie for an interview before he left Palace on May 22 last year.

Mr Dowie is being sued by Palace for alleged 'fraudulent misrepresentation' when he left the club last summer and joined bitter rivals Charlton Athletic.

However, Mr Murray said he had phoned Mr Dowie before he left Palace and suggested meeting up after a press conference announcing he would be leaving Selhurst Park, although he insisted he had not made any mention of him becoming Charlton's manager.

Mr Dowie says he thought Mr Murray wanted to talk about Palace players who would be of interest to Charlton.

At the time, the Addicks were looking for a replacement for long-term boss Alan Curbishley, but Mr Murray said that then Preston North End manager Billy Davies was in the frame.

"I did want to meet him," said Mr Murray, who admitted his call could have been viewed as a "nod and wink" to Mr Dowie that he would be considered for Charlton.

But he added: "As I have said many times, he was not my first choice. Billy Davies was. But I was not going to say, 'You are totally ruled out'."
Mr Dowie had a clause in his contract to the effect that if he left to join another club, Palace would be due £1million compensation.

Palace chairman Simon Jordan says that, as a gesture of good will, he agreed to waive that clause when Mr Dowie left because he had stated he wanted to move nearer to his wife and family in Bolton.

Within days, Mr Dowie had joined Charlton.

Mr Dowie says the compromise agreement was a "clean break" under which Palace dispensed with his services and avoided having to pay him substantial contractual entitlements.

Mr Justice Tugendhat adjourned proceedings until Tuesday. He is expected to reserve his judgment in the case after he has heard closing arguments.



Tale of the Tape: Dowie 6, Jordan 6
Temperature: Rather a lot of cloud & a plenty of 'hot air' 20*C


The case continues on Tuesday 22nd May...

DowieGateDisgrace...........Court Day Six

Round Six - Day Six - Wednesday 16th May 2007

In Court today...

Iain Dowie claimed his bitter £2 million High Court wrangle with Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has destroyed his managerial reputation.

The former Crystal Palace manager spoke of the "very abusive, ultra-aggressive, demeaning and angry" telephone call with chairman Simon Jordan that signalled the end of his time at the club.

He told a top judge that he was prepared for Mr Jordan to be "upset" after the club failed to win promotion to the Premiership in May 2006.

And, from past experience, he also said he knew that the club chairman "would be aggressive and outspoken".

But Dowie told the High Court: "I was not prepared for the way that Simon spoke to me on the telephone and the very abusive, ultra-aggressive, demeaning and angry nature of the call."

"Simon shouted and swore at me constantly."

"I was used to Simon being aggressive and swearing, but this was by far the worst I had ever experienced either by Simon or generally in my time in football."

Dowie is being sued by Palace for alleged 'fraudulent misrepresentations' when he left the club last summer and joined Charlton Athletic.

He told the court: "The litany of personal abuse didn't help my chances of finding work after I left Charlton."



Tale of the Tape: Dowie 7, Jordan 6
Temperature: Damp start but brighter with sunny spells by mid-afternoon 21*C


The case continues on Friday 18th May...

DowieGateDisgrace...........Court Day Five

Round Five - Day Five - Tuesday 15th May 2007

In Court today...

Former Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie told a court there was nothing in the agreement he had with the club that prevented him moving to Charlton.

Giving evidence at the High Court Mr Dowie said the "compromise agreement" under which he left the club meant he gave up his claim to "a potentially large sum of money" by foregoing bonuses on player transfer profits and any claim for compensation over the ending of his contract.

He also told the court his reputation had been severely damaged by Palace chairman Simon Jordan repeatedly calling him a liar in the media.

Mr Dowie is being sued by Crystal Palace who say he made "fraudulent misrepresentations" when he left the side last summer and joined rivals Charlton Athletic.

The 42-year-old had a clause in his contract which stated if he left to join another club his new bosses would pay Palace £1million in compensation.

Palace chairman Simon Jordan said he waived the clause as a gesture of good will because Mr Dowie said he wanted to move closer to his family in Bolton.

Within days of leaving Palace he was appointed as Charlton manager, but was dismissed after just 12 matches in charge. He is now at Coventry City.

But Mr Dowie insists he never said he would be "moving back up north" nor was there any limitation in his contract on him working for any other club in the future, including Charlton.

Mr Dowie said the "new regime" he introduced after taking charge at Palace had reversed the decline in player performances and team morale, culminating in the club's promotion to the Premiership for the 2004/2005 season.

Palace were relegated on the last day of the season - after drawing 2-2 with Charlton - and, in the 2005/06 season the club almost made it back into the Premiership after qualifying for the play-off semi-finals, before losing out to Watford.

Mr Dowie said the club had benefited financially since his arrival, including an extra £25million in TV revenues and about £7million in "parachute" payments from the Premiership.
He also said "he had improved player performance, making them more valuable."

Mr Dowie claims he was contacted by Charlton chairman, Richard Murray, on May 17 last year but he did NOT believe it was until May 22 - after he had signed the compromise agreement to leave Palace - that they had "contact regarding the Charlton Athletic job".

Mr Dowie told the court: "I believe that I have acted properly and honestly at all times. I entered a compromise agreement and waived very significant salary, bonuses and benefits under my contract in return for Crystal Palace waiving a compensation clause payable if I joined another club."

"There were no restrictions in that compromise agreement on where I could work and I found a new job at Charlton Athletic. I did not make any representations to Simon Jordan, false or otherwise, that I would only work in the north of England, or that that was the only reason why I was leaving Crystal Palace."

"He knew this was not the case."



Tale of the Tape: Dowie 6, Jordan 6
Temperature: Dull but getting progressively warmer 20*C


The case continues...

DowieGateDisgrace...........Court Day Four

Round Four - Day Four - Monday 14th May 2007

In Court today...

Former Crystal Palace manager Iain Dowie entered the witness box in the High Court today (Monday) to deny suggestions that he set out to 'concoct a false story' about his reasons for leaving the club.

Dowie, contesting Palace's £1million compensation claim over his move to rivals Charlton, was challenged by Palace's barrister to explain discrepancies in his account of what happened.

John Davies QC pointed out that he (Dowie) had initially stated at a press conference that he had "no contact whatsoever" with Charlton before his departure from Selhurst Park on May 22 last year and that the first conversation he had with them was two days later.

That was not true, as was evident from subsequent disclosure of his mobile phone bills.
Dowie, 42, admitted he made factual mistakes at a press conference days after he left the club.
He told Mr Justice Tugendhat his initial recollection was incorrect, but his prior contact with Charlton was NOT about the managership.

His first call from Charlton regarding the manager's job was in fact on the evening of May 22.

Asked why he got his dates wrong, he replied: "We all make mistakes."

Mr Davies said: "Or was it because it was your first attempt to concoct a false story?"
Dowie replied: "No, there was no attempt to concoct a story. I got the dates wrong. It was a mistake. I have nothing to cover up."

Palace chairman Simon Jordan has accused Dowie of lying when he said his reason for leaving the club was to be nearer his family in the north of England.

Jordan says he would never have waived Palace's contractual right to £1 million compensation if he had known the manager was planning to move to The Valley a few miles away.

Dowie, whose home is in Bolton, is now in charge at Coventry.

Dowie said his relationship with Jordan was very good, although he agreed with Mr Davies that, when two strong characters clashed, sparks could fly.

But he denied the suggestion that his reason for negotiating his way out of the £1 million clause in his employment contract was to make himself more attractive to another club.

He said he had many "vitriolic" conversations with Jordan during his time with Palace, and was "used to it."

But their final telephone conversation, which led to his leaving, was "much worse".
He denied that his reason for negotiating his way out of the clause was to make himself more attractive to another club.

The court also heard how Dowie insisted he was entitled to a five per cent transfer fee of Palace players Andy Johnson and Wayne Routledge although both had been signed before he joined.

Mr Dowie argued he had helped 'develop' both players.



Tale of the Tape: Dowie 6, Jordan 7
Temperature: Liar, liar pants on fire! 23*C


The case continues...

'Legal Eagles'.............DowieGateDisgrace. Court Days One, Two & Three

Simon 'Robert Redford' Jordan Versus Iain 'Debra Winger' Dowie


Presiding is:- Justice Tugendhat.

Venue - Court 16 of the High Court.

In the Dock - Simon 'Bob' Jordan - Crystal Palace Football Club chairman & owner and Iain 'Debra' Dowie - Former Palace manager and now current manager of Coventry City F.C.

Mr Dowie's barrister:- Michael McParland.
Crystal Palace's barrister:- John Davies QC

Witness - Peter 'Reg' Varney - Charlton Athletic chief-executive
Witness - Richard 'Dicky' Murray Charlton Athletic chairman


The details outlining the case:

Crystal Palace's £1million legal battle against former manager Iain Dowie started in the High Court today.

Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has accused Dowie of "fraudulent misrepresentation" when he negotiated his departure from the club a year ago and is suing Dowie for damages in excess of £1million.


Round One - Day One - Wednesday 9th May 2007

In Court today...

Jordan's evidence was that that Dowie (the manager) was released from his contract and as a gesture of goodwill, Jordan (the chairman) agreed to waive the clause in Dowie's contract to the effect that, if he left to join another club, his new bosses would pay Palace £1million in compensation, purely and simply because Dowie was homesick and wanted to move closer to his family in Bolton.
But eight days later, Dowie was appointed manager of Charlton - just a few miles down the road in South London.
In addition it is being alleged that Dowie in his senior position at Selhurst Park, owed the club a "fiduciary duty", or the highest duty of care, which ranked above his own interests.

Jordan admitted in evidence he fell out with Charlton over Addicks vice-chairman Richard Murray's comments, "enjoy the Championship, tosser" and "do you want a fight" when their 2-2 draw at The Valley in 2005 sealed Palace's relegation.

Jordan said: "As a result I would NOT do anything knowingly to assist Charlton."
But he added: "I assure the court I commenced this litigation intending to pursue it for proper purposes to recover compensation."

Dowie's lawyers claimed the Palace owner bought the case just to get back at Charlton.
Dowie himself denied he intended to join fierce rivals Charlton when he departed and has insisted he never publicly stated he wanted to leave the club to be nearer his family, and that he was in fact hounded out by Jordan.

In a show of yet more vintage Jordan song and dance, he then sent a henchman to hijack the Charlton press conference called to unveil Dowie as the new Charlton boss, and he issued the former West Ham man with a writ despite several attempts to banish him from the room. All of which was televised live by Sky.
(Even if I have to say so myself, the action and timing of the issuing of that writ by Jordan was in itself, undeniably a publicity masterstroke of monumental proportions!)

Dowie was sacked by Charlton after only 12 Premiership games in charge.
Charlton are not being sued but their chief executive Peter Varney is a witness in the case.

Counterclaims for defamation & breach of contract could follow.



Tale of the Tape: Dowie 6, Jordan 7
Temperature: Warming up nicely: 21*C

The case continues...


Round Two - Day Two - Thursday 10th May 2007

In Court today:

Palace reiterated that Dowie "made representations of fact which were knowingly false" when he said his reason for leaving was to go north.

In his written defence statement Dowie said that the compromise was a "clean break" with Palace letting him leave thus avoiding having to pay him substantial contractual entitlements.

The statement continued: "Unfortunately for Mr. Dowie, Mr. Jordan has a particular dislike of Charlton, Mr. Murray and their fans. In reality, Mr.Jordan's dislike of Charlton and a desire to damage that club, given that Mr. Dowie became their manager, was a particular motivation for bringing this action."

Jordan was so livid with the comments made to him by Charlton vice-chairman Murray after the 2-2 game, that he urged Dowie NOT to join a club "which was dancing on our f-ing graves."



Tale of the Tape: Dowie 5, Jordan 6
Temperature: Dull and overcast: 19*C

The case continues...


Round Three - Day Three - Friday 11th May 2007

In Court today :

Simon Jordan who was in the witness box for five hours, denied telling the lads' mag FHM he "hated" Iain Dowie but then admitted he "couldn't stand" his former manager.
What I said was that "I couldn't stand Iain Dowie," but it was 'tongue in cheek,' and said in a 'jocular' tone of voice.
But he admitted he told Dowie he did not like working with him and accused him of a "lack of respect."

Jordon also denied that he refused to give Dowie a decent transfer budget.
Jordan claimed he turned down Dowie targets Tim Cahill and Michael Carrick over agent's fees demands.

Jordan continued by saying when he offered to watch a video of a match with Dowie to discuss players, Jordon claimed: Iain said "under NO circumstances am I going to watch matches with you. If you want to manage, do your coaching badges."
Jordan added he did NOT want to sack Dowie, even after a heated telephone conversation following Palace's semi-final play-off defeat last season.
He said: "I told Iain in the past I did NOT enjoy working with him but I do have great regard for him as a coach and to lose him before this season - such a critical season - was a bloody disaster."


Dowie's barrister, Michael McParland, then put it to Mr Jordan that he had "no respect" for the legal system, an allegation he denied.

Mr McParland referred to other parts of the FHM article in which Jordan had said that it was "hilarious" that Tara Stout, who was convicted of stalking him, had spent extra time on remand in prison because he postponed a court hearing due to business commitments.

Arguing that he had been "misrepresented" in the article, Mr Jordan denied using the word "hilarious".

But Mr McParland insisted: "You thought you had pulled a stroke."

Jordan replied: "I was busy. I was otherwise engaged."

The barrister continued: "You made her life difficult."

Jordan said: "That's not my concern, what the legal system does. It's not my jurisdiction."

Mr McParland asked: "You misused the system because you wanted to punish her. You made a big joke of it in a lads' mag."

Jordan replied: "No I didn't. I may have said it is ironic. I'd had 18 months of systematic abuse."



Tale of the Tape: Dowie 8, Jordan 7
Temperature: Fire up that BBQ: 23*C

The case continues...

Jordan Bennett!

The Chairman

Crystal Palace Football Club
Selhurst Park Stadium
London SE25 6PU.

6th June 2006

JOHNSON / DOWIE / BRUCE & AGENTS


Dear Mr. Jordan,

Following recent events at the CPFC I felt compelled to write to you, & take this opportunity to congratulate you on the way you have dealt with circumstances of late at our Club, yours as the Chairman & mine as a football supporter.

As a die-hard Palace fan I have always had a high regard for the enterprising way you have publicly represented Crystal Palace Football Club, and in particular the dynamic way in which you have stood your moral high ground on a number of issues. This has expressly come to light in view of recent affairs, not to mention several others during your tenure.

In addition, your dealings with regard to the Andrew Johnson transfer were indeed a terrific example of your business acumen. AJ was a wonderful player, a terrific pro & a credit to CPFC.
You successfully secured his services with a substantial contract offer last summer & he stayed with us far longer than many fans thought he might. The temptation for Andrew to join a Premiership club must have been tremendous following our infamous last day relegation defeat at Charlton.

You negotiated a substantial, yet totally justifiable fee for a proven goalscorer & an England International.
He may even have seen out his contract at Palace, had we won promotion this year, so it was inevitable he would want to further his career with a Premiership club, but not ‘any old’ Premiership club as it turned out (in the cases of Wigan & Bolton). That in itself added an interesting dimension to the eventual outcome!

I felt some of the offers for him were derisory & insulting to say the least, to you, to the Club & indeed the player himself.
You were spot on when you dismissed a previous attempt by Everton to secure AJ’s services, when you were quoted as saying that their offer of £6million was, ‘Not enough to buy his trainers.’ And so it proved.
I wish Andrew the best of luck at Everton FC & I hope some of the money from his transfer can be used to strengthen the team & backroom staff this summer, in pursuit of promotion next season.

All in all as disappointed, as I was to see him depart it was a terrific bit of business for a player that cost £750,000 back in 2002!

Moving on, what is Mr. Iain Dowie trying to do except embarrass the Club by moving to The Valley in such a fashion. I myself wrongly assumed that when Billy Davies was linked & interviewed for the vacancy at Charlton, that Dowie would then be given an opportunity to impress those at Deepdale & convince them he was the man to succeed Davies at Preston.
If appointed Dowie would have therefore successfully achieved his ‘apparent desire’ to return to the North-West, by enabling him to both work & live in close proximity to his family. Bingo!

As it tuned out Davies was so unimpressed with Murray & the Charlton set up that he turned down their offer and went to Derby County, which says it all! So what was it that attracted Dowie to the Charlton post?
I am still at a loss. Surely it wasn’t the resplendent trophy cabinet, or did Murray pull out all the stops & offer him a sparkling new caravan & a pitch on Woolwich Common.

Serving him a writ on the day of his unveiling at the press conference was a masterstroke. Not in terms of a publicity stunt, but in showing the footballing nation of this country that it should be possible to reach an amicable settlement providing both parties are honest in their intentions.
Dowie obviously reneged on your agreement.

I agree with you, I don’t care if it had been Charlton, Millwall or Brighton he went to. It’s the principle & he has disrespected the fans of the club as well as yourself.
I have spoken to some close friends who are Palace supporters & they are fully behind you.
Dowie failed to get us promoted. That was his primary job & it proved futile.

Our fate was ultimately sealed in forty-five second-half minutes of madness at Selhurst Park in the play-off semi-final first leg, as we witnessed the Club lose out on a financial windfall at the expense of a talented, but pretty ordinary ‘London’ club. A club we had beaten twice in the regular season.
As fans we all felt the team played pretty ‘mediocre’ football for much of the season & were tactically inept, particularly in games when we were up against it. I personally hope the new manager, whoever it may be is more tactically astute.

When Steve Bruce decided he ‘fancied’ a change, not long after being installed as Palace boss in 2001 you played another trump card & subsequently put him on ‘gardening leave.’
If only more Chairmen would not be intimidated by ‘bully boy’ managers & make them honour their lucrative contracts, or pay the price.
Mr Dowie could have found himself in a not too dissimilar position if he had not misled all and sundry regarding his intentions.
I look forward to greeting Mr. Bruce with jeers of derision both at Selhurst & St. Andrews this season.

I have to whole heartily agree with you on your stance regarding the behaviour of Players’s Agents.
They are simply ‘advisors’ & advise they indeed do, but in many cases pretty badly. They prey on naive young professionals, extorting outrageous sums of money, they describe as ‘fees’ for doing quite often very little, in an effort to further line their already opulent pockets.
Surely parents, fellow professionals, managers & chairman alike can see this!
Greed is their food of love. It’s a set menu.

In a previous life they were probably all failed insurance salesman, who drove bottom of the range company 4 door saloons, with their fibre mix jackets hanging up in the back whilst listening to dolphin music.

Their idea of an evening out was meeting up in a once fashionable now re-furbished wine bar & drinking non-vintage champagne straight from the neck of the bottle.
I digress, & bad taste is not an excuse to abuse, just one to avoid. However this does not change the fact that morally they are evil self centred individuals, whatever their taste!

Hindsight is a marvellous thing & I could say to you that the Tim Cahill transfer fiasco may have cost us dearly on the field in terms of midfield creativity & goals, but off of it somebody needs to make a stand & these parasites must be shown the error of their ways.
How do they sleep at night……..probably on their own!

Mr Jordan, may I say as a loyal fan, that as a Chairman you are a credit to Crystal Palace Football Club, & a breath of fresh air to the football fraternity.

Good luck for the forthcoming season.


Yours sincerely,


Mark L.A Ross.