‘I had a situation’ – Simon Jordan reveals he was victim of abduction plot

talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan has revealed that he was once the victim of an abduction plot.

The former Crystal Palace owner discussed the issues surrounding security in football with Jeff Hill, a retired police detective.

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Hill, who is a security director for Harrier Global, which is an industry lead in security consultancy, gave an insight into the ongoing troubles that people in the sport are facing at the moment.

On Thursday, ex-manager Harry Redknapp was the victim of a burglary as masked robbers broke into his mansion with hammers.

Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana’s wife was also robbed of her handbag and watch earlier this year, with Dele Alli being held at knifepoint as he was burgled at his home in 2020.

Speaking about how many people in football are targeted, Hill revealed to talkSPORT: “Very difficult to say as there are now stats, we know a lot more than the general populus, as we are engaging with these people, very little is reported.

“It’s on scale, I was engaged with a very high-profile individual from football last week who was a victim of burglary. Criminals were in his house for four minutes.”

The former police detective also went into detail about why criminals look to burgle footballers so often.

“It’s quite a significant problem, what you read in the media is a fraction of what is going on,” Hill explained on talkSPORT.

“It’s not just gangs, it’s individuals and small groups of people that are working together.

“But it’s a perfect cohort for criminals, footballers, because every year a dozen or more multi-millionaires retire and it’s refreshed at the bottom end with a load more coming in.

“As a group of people, they’re perfect for career criminals because that’s where the money is at.”

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Simon Jordan’s security scare

Jordan, who owned Crystal Palace between 2000 and 2010, then opened up about his own terrifying experience.

He explained that when he owned a phone company before getting involved in Palace, he was the victim of an abduction plot.

“I’ve had this in my life,” Jordan said. “I’ve had a situation in my life where someone had tried to abduct me.

“And I know the circumstances around me, I had to provide personal security around me because I was threatened to be abducted as I was the owner of a very large mobile phone business.

“People were nicking mobile phones, they were lifting lorries and we got security around them, but then they decided they were going to lift me.

“I then had to go deep into it and of course, being an owner of a football club came with security issues as well.”

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Why do criminals target people in football?

Hill went on to further break down why football players, managers and anyone involved in the sport are targeted.

“It’s not a surprise to criminals that footballers earn a lot of money, that’s just one element of why they get targeted,” he said.

“The first is the fact that their movements are entirely predictable – you know where they train, when they train, what the fixtures look like, when they play away and stay overnight.

“The final element is that they’re not very good at security, they’re brilliant at football, but when they try and look for security, they’re in a marketplace that they’re not familiar with.”

What is the security solution?

Security director Hill and Jordan then both assessed how best the security issue could be sorted, looking at the work Harrier Global do.

Hill said: “You’ve got the player liaison officers, who are incredibly busy, they are servicing all manner of needs for players and they do a great job of that.

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“But when they are asked about security, they’re not skilled in this world and they go out, do what they think is right, but often that falls short.

“It really is a matter of not looking at security from the perspective of the solution, which is what most people do, instead what we [Harrier Global] do is look at it from the perspective of the criminal.”

On whether it is the club or the player’s responsibility to provide their security, Jordan added: “A menu of services can be provided from guys like Jeff that can then be utilised, and clubs can then get involved in it.

“I think the player should pay for it for themselves, not because I’m mean-spirited, I think I pay them enough for them to be responsible for looking after their lives.

“My responsibility [as an owner], would be to engage with people like Jeff, get a menu of services, make sure that they’re clearly visible to my players and allow them to use a suite of resources.”

Hill then explained: “The people we work with directly are footballers, but we are having conversations with a couple of clubs about providing this service for their players.”