88 ASPRILLA ALMOST JOINING DARLINGTON
When former safe- cracker George Reynolds took over as Darlington’s chairman in 1999, things looked up: after several stints inside the slammer, he’d set up a string of thriving businesses which valued him at £ 260m.
In 2002, such riches looked to have secured his biggest heist yet when parading Faustino Asprilla before 5,000 supporters at Feethams. Shortly after, though, the Colombian failed to turn up for a meeting to sign his contract after claiming he was jet- lagged... despite having been in England for nearly a week. Tino was then an hour late for his second meeting, but said he’d mislaid his passport in a restaurant. The contract went unsigned.
“It seemed cool to me, but on the phone Reynolds gave me one contract and in person he gave me another,” the ex- Newcastle striker later told FFT. “Everything changed – money, where I was living... lots of things.”
But the Quakers were furious after Asprilla ghosted them and fled for the Middle East, although it wasn’t clear where he ended up.
“I think it is absolutely despicable,” stated a club spokesman. “He didn’t have the good grace to say, ‘ Well I have some doubts about joining the club’. Everything was positive.”
As it transpired, Asprilla’s botched transfer wasn’t the only mirage. Reynolds had already failed to land former England playmaker Paul Gascoigne as he dreamt of crafting a team to suit the 25,000- seater arena he was building for Darlington, despite the Quakers’ struggles to fill the 8,500- capacity home they already had across town.
Reynolds pushed ahead and had the ground constructed anyway – naming it after himself, naturally – and the doomed home opened for Darlo’s 2003- 04 season. Poor road links meant just 10,000 supporters were permitted into the stadium at once, however – but even achieving that figure proved a pipedream.
Only six months later, Darlington went into administration and Reynolds stepped aside, before being arrested for money laundering in 2004 after police raided his car and discovered £ 500,000 in cash. He later pleaded guilty to tax evasion and served more time in prison.
The club’s nightmare had just begun, though. They diced with death after their relegation to the Conference in 2010, until being demoted to the Northern Premier League as a new club in 2012 after a takeover from supporter- owned group DFC 1883.
In February, Reynolds was nicked once again on suspicion of breaching a restraining order, following the harassment of a Durham County Councillor. Lovely bloke.