I didn't actually realise the facts of what had happened to put Palace into administration and this is pretty sickening stuff. I hope that they pull through this relatively unscathed. I've honestly never been very well disposed towards them as a club but this has made me root for them in this current hiatus.
In these financially straitened times of high wages and lower income streams what befell Jordan and Palace is a cataclysm that must be avoided by all chairmen and all clubs.
Palace's owner was watching the team he loves, Neil Warnock's committed Championship side, taking the game to Premier League opposition at Molineux. This was an FA Cup tie, bringing welcome extra funds to a club with cash-flow problems. "Happy days,'' thought Jordan. Then his phone went. Who on earth would call during a match?
It was somebody from Agilo, the hedge fund that had lent Palace £5.1 million.Jordan promised to ring back at the break. "I missed all of the second half, standing in the foyer at Wolves, having a very heated conversation with the hedge fund,'' Jordan recalled. "I missed the [Darren] Ambrose [equalising] goal on what turned out to be my last game.''
Even as his world was crumbling around him, as the prospect of administration loomed, Jordan thought like a fan, annoyed at not being present for a memorable goal. For all his bluster, Jordan is a real football man. He has poured £35 million into Palace, never expecting to see much of it again.
Palace's problems really started when they failed in the 2008 play-offs. "I was already £28 million into Palace and thought I wouldn't mind some funding from elsewhere. I got introduced to Agilo and raised £5.1 million. Agilo were charging 18 per cent on their money - and were being paid.''
But Palace's financial travails continued: their top player was earning £11,000 a week while attendances were dipping. "The cash flow was shot to pieces, gate receipts were £1 million down,'' said Jordan. "Most directors at other clubs would have run for the hills but I stood tall and paid in £6 million.''
Agilo, though, was becoming concerned about pressure for payments from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the collapse of a proposed injection of £7.5 million from the controversial Hero Fund (which lends against young playing squads). The race was on to see which would get its money out of Palace first: Agilo or the tax-man.
"On Jan 26, I told the hedge fund I have player transfers I can do, I have buyers in the wings, we'll be fine,'' said Jordan. The following day, at 3pm, Agilo called in the administrators to the horror of Jordan and the club's bankers, Lloyds.
The debt was relatively minor, £4.1 million, yet the ramifications were major. "There is a very real possibility that because of the action over the debt, Palace may not survive,'' said Jordan. "This administration is outrageous and utterly pointless. I felt royally shafted. I felt devastated, humiliated, embarrassed. I have done 10 years of my life and £35 million on Palace.
"My only focus was trying to pay the players and staff with the Revenue and hedge fund up my ****. I asked the players to wait a few days to be paid; whilst they need their money, a guy on £15,000 a year on the commercial staff needs his money a little bit more.
"I had six months of torture, every morning waking up with dread, fighting to keep the club alive, putting my two-year-old's future on the line because I believed I could pull this club through. I walked around for six weeks with a disc in my back sitting on a nerve.
"I was in so much pain I had three epidurals but I had to be focused on rescuing the situation with Palace. Within hours of open back surgery, I was on the phone to agents, lawyers and banks.
"I was determined to win this fight for Palace. Then – bang - administration, someone pulls it from me. It's so illogical and could ruin the club. I feel a failure. I feel I've let down Neil, the supporters and the staff. When most clubs have financial problems, they fall apart on the pitch.
"My team didn't so there must be something right inside the club. I have the best Academy in the country, if not close to. I have a conveyor-belt of young players because I would not drop down to a Centre of Excellence, which would save me £800,000 a year. That's why I fought so hard for [John] Bostock [who went to Tottenham for a tribunal-set £700,000 when Palace wanted £2.5 million]. As it turns out, he's at Brentford. He's doing really well, isn't he?
"I worked so hard to make Palace considered a serious club, not this flash, flighty club that Terry Venables was once involved with and Malcolm Allison had Bunny Girls (Fiona Richmond) in the bath. I wanted the club to have backbone. I fought the Steve Bruce situation because it was wrong - Birmingham were unsettling him. What Iain Dowie did was wrong [leaving Palace and then taking over as manager at rivals Charlton].
"People think I'm a bully-boy full of hot air but I'm not. I'm fair. I don't take any prisoners but neither should I. I'm not the kid who came in 10 years ago who wanted to cock a snook at everybody. I thought it was funny to be the enfant terrible, but by the end people knew I didn't lie, that I had bollocks.
"Anyway, the devastation reverberated. My mother came around to have a chat with her son. By the time she got there, I'd got myself going again, I was fighting back.
"I've made two very hard phone calls in football. The first was to Jeremy Peace [West Brom's chairman] when we got relegated in the 87th minute away to Charlton - who were so motivated against us - and West Brom stayed up [in 2005]. People think I'm a baby but I'm not. I phoned Peace to congratulate him.
"The second most difficult call was to the administrator, Brendan Guilfoyle. Rather than the media image of me as 'bombastic, confrontational', I kept it totally un-emotive.
"I told him that he has a responsibility to the biggest creditor, which was me, and that his job is to administrate the club not run it into liquidation. I said to Guilfoyle: 'I'm going to be as helpful as I possibly can. The biggest thing is that the club survives. And don't touch that Academy'.''
Palace knew certain Premier League clubs were "sniffing around'' their starlets.Even in his hour of darkness, Jordan thought only of Palace's future.
"I'm very proud of my fans, manager and players. I phoned Neil and said: 'Neil, we've gone into administration.' 'OK,' he said. 'I'm going. Sharon [Warnock's wife] says, 'we came in for you, we will go with you'.' 'Neil, I'm asking you to stay for Palace. If you go, Palace are in disarray. It needs you, Neil. If you have any regard for me, then stay.' Neil said: 'I'll stay because of you.'
"The administrator's job now is to save the club. I don't know how he is going to do it. I've seen the cash-flows. He's got a couple of months. Last night [Tuesday's FA Cup replay win over Wolves, securing a lucrative tie against Aston Villa] might have brought him another month. But he couldn't get the player sales away.''
Victor Moses did depart to Wigan Athletic for a knockdown £2.5 million. Neil Danns might have gone to Southampton but stayed. Most importantly, Palace retained Nathaniel Clyne, a teenage defender considered one of the best talents outside of the Premier League.
Under Football League rules, administration triggered a 10-point deduction. "We won't be relegated. The squad is still there, Neil is still there. But a year of Neil's life has been taken away. He's 61 and wants to retire at some stage, but with some success.
"Palace have lost the opportunity for promotion, although I wouldn't put it past Neil! It's not a bad time to buy the club. It has the big windfall of the Villa game. The players are totally committed. The debts are going to be crushed down by a CVA.
"I'm the biggest creditor and I'd like some of my money back. Am I asking for £30 million? No. £20 million? No. £15 million? I am talking to everyone and anyone either about buying or investing. This club has to be saved.''
