Simon Jordan

Football generates a huge amount of scrutiny and opinion, especially from fans.

The motivations for owning a club are varied. Ego always plays a part. Some buy them just because they can, some for the kudos and some to own an iconic British institution.

Once upon a time I owned a football club. It was one I grew up supporting, one my father had played for and one, as its owner, I had huge enthusiasm and great ambitions for.

It is not a badge of honour to be recounting to people how much money I have lost.

I don't think I failed at Crystal Palace.

I made mistakes and it is silly and foolish to suggest I didn't.

If you lose a football club everyone knows and other people get nervous, including banks.

As an owner, you wanted your young players to flourish and be recognised by their peers. And playing at international level could also increase their value.

Does international football really mean that much to players? I think when England fans look ahead to home games against Bulgaria and Kosovo, they think of empty corporate seats, overpriced journeys and the cost of tickets to watch pedestrian, uninspiring matches.

Football's got to own its own outcome and build its own platform and by becoming the Netflix of football you control your own destiny.

I've spoken about the Premier League becoming the 'Netflix of football,' ie, the video on demand platform that controls its own product.

The challenges in football are so engaging and so interesting.

I lost my club through a series of circumstances and bad luck. The whole banking system collapsing and my foolish bravery didn't help.

When I bought Crystal Palace - the club I supported all my life and the one my father had played for - in 2000 it was on the brink of extinction having been in administration for 18 months. It was virtually a carcass of a club and I was hailed a hero.

Football's a very unforgiving business.

Champions League revenues dwarf the Premier League returns.

The Big Six teams have long been waging a greedy campaign for a bigger slice of the Premier League pie.

When I owned Crystal Palace we had a real interest in the development of women's football and Selhurst Park hosted the women's FA Cup final three years in a row from 2001.

One of the biggest hypocrisies of all is the expectation of the fans themselves, demanding owners must come through the door, give them exactly what they want in terms of elite players, without caring less about who they are or where they got their money from.

Look at the Rafa Benitez saga at Newcastle. Riddled with hypocrisy.

If you look at football, it's full of hypocrisies.

As the scale of football finances increases, we see and hear of the decadence, irresponsibility and greed of the modern player.

If there was a place called Cynic, I would be its mayor, its MP and have keys to the town.

More often than not I am cynical.

Football is a force for good.

True diversity is created by equal opportunity.

Owning a club in a multi-ethnic community and firing managers for fun, I never once received an application from a black manager.

Racism needs to be eliminated, ignorance educated and opportunities created.

I am a great believer in evolution.

As a chairman I sometimes sat in a room adjacent to the dressing room, listening to various managers give team-talks, often thinking I'd heard more Churchillian speeches from 20-year-old sales managers in my retail business.

The image of Premier League clubs is they are awash with cash and have billionaire owners in the background to shell out endless amount of money. The truth is actually somewhat different.

A non-league club trying to get into the Football League is really about cachet that comes at a cost - wage bills go up, often exceeding increased gate and TV monies.

Given the illusion that sports presents - that of being indomitable, influential and financially powerful - what is remarkable is that it often exists because of the will of those that want it to and sometimes simply by chance.

The EFL is poorly run and has never taken advantage of, or prepared for, the challenges of the Premier League. When I arrived at Crystal Palace in 2000, I was staggered at their incompetence.

The Premier League has virtually created a wasteland outside of itself.

I love football fans. I love the humour, the passion and their perseverance.

I often feel my raison d'etre is to hold people to account. To bring authenticity and objectivity to the world of sport.

The culture of football is curious - steeped in tribalism, a sense of ownership, huge amounts of emotion and often a complete lack of objectivity.

A football club is the sum of all its parts.

Like any decent person, I am against any form of abuse but at no point do I agree that players should decide whether they walk off a pitch.

This increasing level of player power worries me. Of course they are the stars but this acquiescence over contracts, transfers, managers and even their vantage point on rules is too much.

England duty' meaning a responsibility to act in accordance with the privilege that comes from representing your country.

Sterling is a rare talent but cultural icon? I'm not so sure.

The festive season is the busiest time of the football calendar which players, managers, owners and fans alike approach with a mix of bonhomie, optimism and trepidation.

Talking heads like me get listening figures of more than one million on a radio show because football engages and enthuses people.

Netflix doesn't simply house its own content, it carries that of others as well to increase its opportunity.

Football could deliver its own content to a worldwide audience of easily 100 million people at a tenner a month.

Despite all the billions now involved, football still needs heart and soul and owners who believe, care and honour their responsibility of being a custodian.

Not in any parallel universe would I sign Sturridge. Not for me. I wouldn't even give him a pay as you play deal.

The reason the Football League is broken is because there has been a complete lack of direction or response since the Premier League revenue went supernova at the start of the 21st century.