Luke's Football blog

In August 2000, the club was bought by Jerry Lim, who then sold it to lifelong Palace fan Simon Jordan. He made himself chairman of the club and was set to take the Eagles back to the Premier League in the next 5 years, doing so in 4.

That would be the start of his downfall. Under his regime, he became known as a “hirer and firer” as he went through so many managers, the first being Alan Smith and the last being Neil Warnock.

This didn’t work out well, as being relegated from the Premier League meant that Jordan couldn’t fund the club as well, which led to the Eagles being put into administration in January 2010.

With manager Neil Warnock leaving around the same time and a 10-point deduction, it would take a miracle to save the Eagles from relegation and possible liquidation.

They managed to secure a 2-2 draw on the final day against Sheffield Wednesday thanks to a Darren Ambrose goal, which was important as if they got relegated that day, there might not have been a Crystal Palace anymore.

Then, the next month, a takeover was finally secured by a consortium made up of three wealthy Palace fans led by Steve Parish, whose chairmanship is still intact to this day. The fan campaign pressured Lloyds Bank into selling Selhurst Park back to the club, which was a key factor in saving the club.

This started the meteoric rise of the club, who are now in their 9th season of Premier League football and about to embark on their 10th season if they manage to stay up in the league this season.

If they did lose to Sheffield Wednesday on the last day, who knows where Crystal Palace would be as more losses could’ve led to the liquidation of Crystal Palace and a Phoenix club would’ve been in place.

This just shows how important fans are to clubs, as without them, Crystal Palace and many other clubs wouldn’t exist anymore. This story is also documented on Amazon Prime if you want to go watch it and learn about it.