While footballers continue to be caught with their pants down off the pitch, it is good to report that in the Queen’s Bench and Chancery divisions, certain football clubs’ fortunes are up. In two recent cases, the court upheld claims of fraud brought by clubs against contracting parties – with differing practical results.
As football fans will know, Crystal Palace FC fell out with Iain Dowie after he left as manager of the club in May 2006. After a disappointing end to the 2005-06 season, in which Palace failed to achieve promotion to the Premiership, Dowie entered into discussions with the club’s chairman and major shareholder, mobile phone magnate Simon Jordan. They reached a compromise agreement under which Palace terminated his employment and agreed irrevocably to waive its right under his employment contract to £1m compensation if he left before the end of its term and went to work for a Premiership club.
