George Reynolds (business)

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For other persons of the same name, see George Reynolds.

George Reynolds (b. 1937) is a controversial British businessman best known for his time as chairman of Darlington Football Club.

Reynolds became involved in criminal activities during the 1950s, and spent six months in jail for smuggling watches from incoming ships in the 1960s.[1] Later, he established a series of businesses, including a £25m kitchen surface factory based in Shildon and went on to amass a £300 million fortune. He was chairman of Darlington Football Club and built the team a new stadium costing £20 million, which he named after himself. Reynolds was originally very popular with fans but he then took the club into administration and left the club in January 2004, just months after the new stadium was opened. This has prompted many Darlington fans to chant 'there's only one George Reynolds' sarcastically at matches.[citation needed] The stadium was renamed shortly afterwards.

He married Susan, who has appeared on the Channel 4 gameshow 'Without Prejudice', and had a child, Paul. He built the Witton Hall mansion on the grounds of a cottage in the village.[citation needed] Some extravagant purchases included jets, helicopters, a swimming pool, a house next door to the Spice Girls in London, a yacht, a Spanish villa and a fleet of cars.

He was tried for charges of tax evasion after being stopped with £500,000 worth of cash in the boot of his car.[citation needed] The court heard how Reynolds was now almost penniless having sold the houses, cars and yacht. In October 2005 Reynolds was found guilty and sentenced to three years imprisonment. Reynolds was released on 6 December 2006 but was electronically tagged and subject to a curfew until he received his parole licence in April 2007.[citation needed] Reynolds now intends to renew his business career.[2]

He invested about £27m in Darlington and had a dream of taking the club into the Premier League, but was never able to even win promotion from Division Three.

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[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC Homeground, March 16, 2004
  2. ^ "George Reynolds vows to come up smelling of roses", The Northern Echo, 2006-11-06. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.