RELATIONS between Charlton and Crystal Palace are at breaking point following a written attack by Simon Jordan.

In his column in The Observer newspaper, the Palace chairman hit out at Charlton plc opposite number Richard Murray and labelled Addicks fans "imbeciles".

Mr Jordan’s article centred on last season’s final day when Charlton relegated Palace from the Barclays Premier League after a 2-2 draw at The Valley.

Since then, rumours have persisted of a boardroom spat involving the two chairmen.

Mr Murray is believed to commiserated with his opposite number who mis-interpreted the gesture as cynicism.

In the second of two articles regarding what he described as the reception Charlton fans gave Palace on the day, Mr Jordan said: "Their (Charlton’s) fans revelled in it, abused us and even did the bloody conga."

After his first rant, Charlton supporters demanded an apology.

In his weekend article, Mr Jordan said: "I said before that they behaved like morons. In retrospect, of course, I regret calling them morons. Imbeciles would have been more appropriate.

"Quite apart from the fact that we gave Charlton a home in the 1980s when they were bust, I was objecting to the way they – and their chairman – celebrated the draw as if they’d won the Champions League.

"Rivalry is great, it’s healthy but this went beyond all that. They were like walking tabloids, lapping up misery and knocking people down. They lost their tiny minds."

After a Charlton board meeting this week, chief executive Peter Varney issued the following statement.

"The club is aware of the comments made by the Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan in a number of recent newspaper articles but does not consider them worthy of comment."