No takers for Darlington, yet

Last updated : 20 February 2004 By Luke Thornhill
Greek-based businessman Ted Forster had lodged a bid with administrators in charge of the club which would have seen him pay off creditors in full and defer a £10million payment to George Reynolds for the Reynolds Arena.

But he has withdrawn the bid after administrators put the deadline for bids back until next month, meaning the club will incur further debt as interest on outstanding payments build up.

They apparently did this as they had no proof that Forster had funding in place, although he insists this is because no proof was asked for and could have been easily provided on request.

A seperate consortium lead by businessmen Des Kelly and Noel Furlong have also pulled out of the running, claiming that the amount of money owed to former chairman Reynolds was a disincentive.

Reports on Thursday night however suggest that Reynolds is prepared to accept ten per cent of what he is owed if: "someone comes in and wants to take the club forward."

A potential bidder would still need to raise up to £9million to buy the club, who managed to pull themselves out of the Third Division's relegation zone at the expense of Macclesfield at the weekend.

If Reynold's offer is genuine then both bids could still be resurrected, while two other consortiums - including one backed by the Darlington Supporters' Trust - are also in the running but have yet to lodge a firm bid.