Tributes to real character
WITH THE LAW
EX-FOOTBALL CHAIRMAN ALSO BRUSHED
TRIBUTES have been paid following the death of the ‘extraordinary’ former Darlington Football Club chairman George Reynolds.
The former safecracker, who was in his mid-80s, ran a multi-million pound business empire and at one point ranked at 112 on The Sunday Times Richlist before his famous downfall.
He bought Darlington Football Club in 1999 and built the team a new 25,000-seater stadium costing £20million.
The archetypal football club chairman, complete with cigar and sheepskin coat, he dreamed of taking to Darlington into the Premier League – however it ended with him behind bars and the club going bust.
Yet that was simply one chapter in an incredible life story, in which he went from petty criminal to rubbing shoulders with Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump – making countless friends and enemies along the way.
“He was a roller coaster character,” admits radio host Paul ‘Goffy’ Gough, who spent an hour on the phone with him on Saturday night. It would prove to be the pair’s last chat.
“His health was failing but the one thing that came out clear was that he was still hanging on in there fighting,” added Goffy.
“He had been in hospital for some time, but he was always very positive and to his last breath George Reynolds would have been positive with hope.”
Paying tribute to a “characterand-a-half ”, he admits: “There is nobody to compare him too.”
Born in pre-war Sunderland, Mr Reynolds was also known for his brushes with the law, becoming involved in crime during his early life. His first known conviction was for stealing cigarettes, which he traded so that his family could eat.
In the 1960s he was also jailed for six months for stealing watches, and in 1964 got four years for safecracking, handling explosives, burglary and theft.
While serving time in the 1970s, he said a priest persuaded him to reform and on his release he set up the £25m Direct Worktops business in Shildon, County Durham.
He began to amass a £260m fortune, which saw him ranked 112 on the Sunday Times Rich List in 2000.
After becoming Darlington FC’s chairman in 1999, he promised to take the club into the Premier League and built a new £20m stadium, which he named Reynolds Stadium after himself. But in 2004 he took the club into administration. In June of the same year he was arrested on suspicion of money laundering after police stopped him and found £500,000 cash in the boot of his car. Reynolds later admitted tax evasion and in October 2005 was sentenced to three years in jail.
“There is no doubt that George Reynolds was an extraordinary and colourful character with a truly great story to tell about how he went from petty crook to millionaire businessman and chairman of Darlington Football Club,” said Peter Barron, former editor of the Darlington-based Northern Echo newspaper. “There are those who enjoyed his company, found him entertaining, and admired him for his self-belief, determination, and achievements in business.
“However, there is also no hiding from the fact that he was a criminal who resorted to bullying when he didn’t get his own way.”
Despite that, Goffy recalls a softer side to the divisive businessman, who he said would call him when he had his Century Radio show and offer take hard-up Darlington fans to the match as his personal guest.
“He was unique, a total one-off and a colourful character – but there was also a soft underbelly to him,” recalls Goffy.
“He did make a mistake or two a long the way, and I know he splits opinion, but there was a softer side.”
And he added: “Whatever you think of him, this bloke has gone out and lived a life.”