Guardian Unlimited – When Simon Jordan bought Crystal Palace in July 2000, flush with £36m from selling his mobile phone company to One2One, the club’s fans could hope that he would deliver Premier League football and a ground shinier than today’s weathered Selhurst Park. Eight years on, with Jordan having fought sundry energetic battles and become something of a celebrity – and with Palace having enjoyed a single season in the Premier League – he says almost all of that money has been spent. Palace are in the Championship relegation zone, still do not own Selhurst Park and are mortgaged to a hedge fund, Agilo, which describes itself as specialising in "distressed companies".
Jordan laughed at the idea that Palace is a "distressed company" and emphasised that he is not under financial pressure. But he did say he has had enough of football and he does want to sell the club.
"I want to do other things," he said. "I will miss the fans, and I will miss Neil Warnock [Palace’s manager], but I won’t miss much else. I’m fed up with avaricious footballers."
