Simon Jordan interview: Administration has left me devastated and humiliated

By Paul Smith in Mirror Football Blog

Published 23:00 06/02/10

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On reflection, Simon Jordan admits he made mistakes along the way.

He’s not beyond ­reproach, and it’s fair to say there are few people gloating at his perceived demise.

The manner in which Crystal ­Palace fell into ­administration on January 26 is a horrific tale of ­betrayal, broken promises and ­humiliation.

Today the man who single handedly ­bankrolled the Eagles for ten years finally breaks his silence as the Championship club fights for its life on and off the pitch.

“I have vigilantly kept my own council since Palace went into administration, but I think the time is appropriate to talk publicly for the first time,” said Jordan.

“It’s important to make it clear that I did everything in my power to avoid this ­completely unnecessary and ridiculous situation.”

Jordan was forced to put a further £6million of his own money into the club between May and October of 2009 to keep Crystal Palace going.

That’s in addition to the £25m he had ­already invested in the club during his tenure.

“Tragically it was ripped out of my complete control ­because of the agenda of an aggressive, hostile creditor,” Jordan explained.

That ‘hostile creditor’ was Agilo, a hedge fund. He added: “And this was a fund that we were entirely up to date with in terms of payments.

“Two agreements had been drawn up, one where I was prepared to sign over £20m of shareholder loans to give them ­security on a £4m debt.

“The other agreement was a stand-still agreement until ­February 4, that allowed ­Palace to trade all through the ­January thus ­enabling me to secure transfer fees and ­finalise additional funding to pay down their debt in full.

“I was paying for both sets of lawyers and they were solely working on that basis.”

Agilo were made aware on numerous occasions by ­football finance experts that putting the club into administration was highly unlikely to recover their money, and more likely to send Palace out of existence.

Agilo chose to ignore the ­advice and found a firm willing to take on ­the administration.

Once they had found a ­company prepared to act as administrators they ruthlessly pushed the button.

Jordan said: “Knowing what I know now ­– rather than what Agilo were telling me at the time – it didn’t make an ounce of difference, because they were hell bent on putting the club into ­administration regardless of the consequences to the club.

“Perhaps someone in the long run would be able to ­explain to me and the ­supporters ­exactly what Agilo have achieved ­besides the ­attempted fire sale of our ­players, which didn’t happen.

“As I see it, with only Victor Moses sold, they can only have achieved the payment of ­certain football debts and the payment of wages.

“They have left ­themselves with no payment at this ­moment in time, and having to fund the club going forward.”

Jordan had worked with Keith Harris from investment bank ­Seymour Pierce to set up the Hero Fund – a body designed to make available transfer funds to Football League clubs.

On October 19 last year ­Jordan signed a term sheet for £7.5m (a promise of funds for Palace) and then shook hands with Hero Fund chief executive Damien Roberts, sealing the Fund’s first deal in ­English football.

But the Hero Fund failed to deliver, even after repeated ­assurances to Seymour Pierce, the FSA-regulated bank representing Crystal Palace.

This started the chain of events that was to led to ­horrific consequences for Palace.

And having known ­Jordan for ten years, I feel desperately sorry for him.

Seeing Palace thrown into administration has clearly affected him.

“I was just ­devastated, ­humiliated, ­embarrassed,” he said. “I was completely and ­utterly inconsolable.

“I felt I had let the ­supporters down, the manager down and the staff down.

“Throughout this whole process Lloyds Bank were unswerving in their ­support. They did everything to ­support the club. I’m ­particularly grateful to Peter Holton at Lloyds.”

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