RUPERT LOWE, the chairman of Southampton Football Club, launched a libel action against The Times yesterday over a claim that he had “shabbily” treated Dave Jones, his former manager, who had been accused of child abuse.

Mr Lowe told the High Court that he had continued to stand by Mr Jones and support him until events finally dictated that he should suspend him on full pay for 12 months. In an article on August 11, 2004, the sports columnist Martin Samuel wrote that Mr Lowe’s “idea of crisis management was to remove his manager over a court case that collapsed within 24 hours”.

But the libel jury was told that it was six months between the time that Mr Jones was first interviewed by police and his suspension by the club.

In evidence, Mr Lowe said that he and Mr Jones, whom he appointed in 1997, had a good and close relationship. “I still have fondness for Dave,” he said. “He’s a good guy. I never believed that Dave was guilty. I got to know him very well and I don’t believe they were charges he was guilty of.” As chairman of a public company, however, he also had a duty to shareholders, the young footballers who played for Southampton’s academy, and the club supporters.

He said that Mr Jones frequently had to travel to Liverpool to speak to police about the allegations and that a committal date was not set until December 1999 — six months after the allegations first emerged. “I noticed a big difference in the way he spoke, in his demeanour,” Mr Lowe said. “He was becoming somewhat victimised. As we headed towards a court date, I felt it put everything in an impossible situation.”

That situation became more “grave” as the club’s results worsened and eventually, after consulting with colleagues, Mr Lowe decided that suspension was the only option.

The court was told that Mr Jones was charged with 21 counts of sexual and physical abuse of children, including indecent assault and buggery. He was committed for trial at Liverpool Crown Court. The charges arose from his time as a care worker at a children’s home on Merseyside in the 1970s and 80s, and came after allegations by a man serving four years in prison for kidnapping and violent conduct.

In January 2000 the club appointed Glenn Hoddle on a temporary contract as Mr Jones took time out to concentrate on preparing his defence. He subsequently negotiated a release from his contract and, in December 2000, after four days of evidence, the case against him collapsed. Judge David Clarke, the trial judge, directed an acquittal and told Mr Jones: “No wrongdoing whatsoever on your part has been established.” Mr Jones went on to manage Wolverhampton Wanderers and is now manager of Cardiff City.

The article in The Times was about the state of the Football Association in the wake of “the mayhem caused by a piddling sex scandal”. Under the headline “Men who would be kings provide a ghastly alternative to FA”, the article discussed the merits of four men who could take over from it. Of Mr Lowe, the article asked: “How would Lowe approach the issue of an England player accused of breaking the law, when he so shabbily handled the case of David Jones, his manager?”

David Sherborne, counsel for Mr Lowe, said that all the Southampton chairman had wanted were “three little words” from the defendants — “we are sorry”. Mr Sherborne said that Mr Lowe was neither a shrinking violet nor over-sensitive. “But one type of allegation is very damaging, and that is of behaving in this utterly dishonourable manner and treating one of his employees so shabbily that it merits that sort of reference years after the event.”

Times Newspapers Ltd denies libel. It pleads justification and fair comment. The case continues today.

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