Crystal Palace boss wins court battle

Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has won a claim for £1 million in damages against the club's former manager Ian Dowie.

Mr Jordan launched the legal battle after he alleged that Mr Dowie had lied when he negotiated his way out of his contract last May and became manager of Premiership club Charlton.

A clause in Mr Dowie's contract stated that if he left to join another club that Crystal Palace would receive £1 million in compensation.

However, Mr Jordan said that Mr Dowie had claimed that he wanted to leave the club in order to move nearer to his wife and family in Bolton, and said that he had not contacted Charlton, nor had any present intention of joining the club,

Mr Jordan had agreed to waive the compensation clause in Mr Dowie's contract as a gesture of goodwill.

At London's High Court on Thursday, Mr Justice Tugendhat, ruled that Mr Dowie had been freed from his contract on the basis of "fraudulent representations".

He did not rescind the compromise agreement, which would have resurrected the compensation clause, but the club will still claim £1 million because they lost the chance to claim the compensation due to the fact that Mr Dowie had lied to them about his intentions.

In his defence, Mr Dowie, who now manages Coventry, said that the compromise agreement was a "clean break" and said that the club had avoided paying him contractual entitlements as a result.

The level of damages and any costs is to be decided at a further court hearing.

(KMcA/SP)