July 16 2008

Simon Jordan

Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has shocked fans by announcing he wants to sell the club.

Jordan has fallen out of love with the way football has been run for some time and only his love for Palace has kept him at Selhurst Park.

But Academy star John Bostock's controversial move to Tottenham Hotspur last week when a tribunal awarded a paltry £700,000 fee for the midfield prodigy was the final straw for Jordan.

After buying the Eagles from administration in 2000, Jordan - who says he ploughed £39million into the club - is now ready to walk away.

Jordan said: "Without a shadow of a doubt, this is my last year. I have taken the club as far as I can. It is my specific intention to find a buyer this season.

"I will do nothing to affect manager Neil Warnock and I will be absolutely committed to the club and I will find a responsible buyer. I am not demotivated by my team, manager or fans – I am thoroughly proud of my club.

"But I have been disillusioned with football for a long time. I don’t even watch England games. I watch one team. That’s Palace and I’ve missed one league game in eight years.

"But I have had battles since my first day here, with clubs, managers, the players and the establishment.

"I kept my sanity by pumping millions of pounds into my academy, feeling the saving grace of my club was finding players who would be champing at the bit and honoured to play in the first team.

"But that has been taken away from me now as well, as Bostock – one of the best players my academy has produced in the last 10 years – has just been sold for a packet of crisps.

"He was the gem of gems and had Barcelona and Manchester United courting him. I got £700,000 from the tribunal – the system that is meant to represent me.

"I was fighting on my own against people – the people who are supposed to defend me – so I thought, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’

"Tribunal decisions like this won’t stop. It will happen again the next time we produce a player – but I won’t be around to see it."

Jordan has always talked honestly about the game - but his outspoken views have upset many people.

He added: "I understand some of my battles have been self-inflicted, but all I have done is battle for my club and refuse to be ridden roughshod over.

"I have allowed my reputation to be tarnished and my personality to be tarnished, just because I speak my mind. I am constantly criticised for being outspoken – but I’m just honest.

"I have taken invasions into my private life and I’ve taken the pressure of leading this club by myself, putting money in for eight years.

"I have paid £20,000, £30,000 or £40,000-a-week wages and accepted it. I have put in around £39m, but there comes a time in everyone’s life and I feel I have done my bit."