July 16 2012

Jamie Fullarton

Former Crystal Palace midfielder Jamie Fullarton has returned to the club as the new Development Coach.

Fullarton, who made 54 appearances for the Eagles between 1997 and 2000, joins from Bristol Rovers where he was Youth Team Coach.

Pirates' Head of Youth Ken Oram told the official Rovers site: "While we are disappointed to lose such an outstanding coach, and someone who has done such a good job for the department, we are pleased for Jamie and wish him every success in the future.

"He's gone to an Academy set-up, where he will be working with the Palace U21 players and overseeing the transition of those in the 18-21 age group through to the first team.

"It's a step up for him, given the infrastructure in place at Palace, and he will work within a more prominent Academy so to be able to use his skills to work with those players and getting them up to Championship standard represents a fantastic opportunity for him.

"Jamie bought into the philosophy of the club straightaway and he and I worked very well together. We have complementary skills, which worked for the top end of the programme and the scholars and the schoolboys who were introduced into the group, benefitted from the experience and expertise he brought to the job."

In his new book, former Eagles chairman Simon Jordan accuses Fullarton of being a troublemaker and forced him to leave on a free transfer to Dundee.

Jordan said: "Alan Smith was having trouble with certain players and struggling to get control over them. One particular player was getting up his nose, Jamie Fullarton, a Scottish international and barrack-room lawyer. Every club had one and Alan wanted to get rid of him.

"I sent Fullarton a letter about his conduct and he ignored it. So I had Kevin Watts remove him from the training ground in front of all the players."

We are sure the 37-year-old Fullarton has matured and has a better attitude today.

Meanwhile, actor and comedian Eddie Izzard has become an Associate Director of Crystal Palace.

Izzard told the official site: "I am very happy to lend my support to Crystal Palace FC by becoming an Associate Director of the club.

"With Dougie Freedman as our manager and the new young players coming up through our Academy - I hope that Crystal Palace will be pushing forward to new heights with all of them succeeding to the best of their ability - and further."