Pulis quits Crystal Palace after £2m bonus

The now-West Brom manager has been ordered to pay the Eagles £3.7m after a court ruling finding he had deceived the club was upheld on Monday

Tony Pulis has been ordered to pay Crystal Palace £3.7 million after a court ruling that found he had deceived the club over a £2m bonus was upheld on Monday.

Pulis was due the payment of £2m if he both ensured Palace avoided relegation from the Premier League during the 2013-14 season and was still in charge of the club on August 31 as the 2014-15 campaign began.

But after a request from the now-West Brom manager, Palace paid the bonus early on August 12 only to be told by Pulis the following day that he wanted to leave the club, which he did on August 14.

Pulis had told Palace chairman Steve Parish that he was committed to the club days earlier and that he needed the bonus to be paid early in order to buy some land for his children.

The court found both of these assertions to be false, and have ordered Pulis to pay £1.5m for failing to see through the terms of his contract before taking up employment with another club and £2.276m for his deceit over the bonus plus interest and costs awarded.

The explanation Pulis gave for the sudden change of heart as to his future at Palace was referred to by the court as a ‘Heated Players’ Meeting’, or HPM, that the Welsh coach claims took place on August 12 – the same day the bonus was paid.

The arbitration panel that initially ruled against Pulis, however, found that the HPM had actually taken place on August 8, with Palace further insisting that all the issues that had been raised during the meeting had been resolved.

After successfully steering Palace clear of relegation, Pulis was named the Premier League manager of the year for the 2013-14 campaign. He joined West Brom on January 1, 2015.