Dowie denies he lied about talks

Dowie, who joined Charlton within days of quitting Selhurst Park a year ago, is contesting Palace chairman Simon Jordan's claim for £1million compensation.

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The Court was told that Dowie had talked with Charlton chairman Richard Murray but did not mention the conversation to Jordan before signing the agreement that ended his tenure at Palace.

Jordan has accused Dowie of lying when he said wanted to leave the club to be nearer his family in the north of England. The Palace chairman says he would never have waived Palace's contractual right to compensation if he had known the manager was planning to move to The Valley.

Dowie, 42, told Mr Justice Tugendhat that his initial statement, in which he said he had not been in contact with Charlton until two days after he left Palace was incorrect.

However, he added: 'We didn't talk about me becoming manager of Charlton. The first time I talked to them about that was the evening after I had left Crystal Palace.'

Asked why he got his dates wrong, Dowie replied: "We all make mistakes. I didn't concoct a story, I didn't concoct a story, I got my dates wrong."

Cross-examining Dowie, John Davies QC asked him: "Or was it because it was your first attempt to concoct a false story? Dowie: 'No, there was no attempt to concoct a story. I got the dates wrong. It was a mistake. I have nothing to cover up."

He also revealed that he had missed out on a £430,000 personal windfall from the sale of striker Andrew Johnson to Everton by leaving Palace seven days earlier.

As part of an agreement with Jordan, the manager was entitled to five per cent of the transfer fee when Johnson was sold. The England international moved to Goodison Park for £8.6million on May 29 last year, a week after Dowie's departure.

Dowie waived any bonuses resulting from transfer fees recouped as well as two years' salary of £1m when he signed the compromise agreement under which Jordan agreed not to seek compensation.

"Andrew Johnson was at the club when I arrived," said Dowie. "But in my view he developed as a player under my tenure.

"When I agreed to the compromise agreement suggested by Simon Jordan, I waived the considerable salary and bonuses I was due."

He said he had decided to leave Palace following a heated argument in a phone call with Jordan.

"I wasn't prepared to be spoken to like that. Simon demeaned my achievements, he demeaned my staff and he demeaned me personally. It came to a point where I wanted to leave the club."