A FORMER football club chairman yesterday denied reneging on a deal for a journalist to ghost-write his life story.

Former Darlington FC chairman George Reynolds is locked in a legal battle with John Sadler, former chief sports reporter on The Sun, in London's High Court.

Mr Sadler is claiming £100,000 damages for an alleged breach of contract after accusing Mr Reynolds of going back on the book deal.

The journalist insists he would have written a lucrative autobiography of the 68-year-old, who took over the Quakers in 1999 and oversaw the creation of a £20m stadium before the club hit the rocks financially.

Mr Reynolds, who stepped down as chairman last January, is defending the action without legal representation. He vehemently denies allegations that he went back on his word.

Mr Reynolds said there was no proper verbal agreement between him and Mr Sadler, although they had a provisional deal - first agreed in 2001 - which became unacceptable when the journalist moved to France.

Mr Reynolds said he considered this to be moving the goalposts on Mr Sadler's part, since, to be viable, the writing project needed interviews to be conducted in the North-East.

The two men had shaken hands on a deal, but the agreement was "subject to everything being right", said Mr Reynolds, under questioning from Mr Sadler's counsel, Korieh Duodu.

He also disputed claims that Mr Sadler coined the title for the book, published as Cracked It! in March 2003 in co-operation with another ghost writer. Mr Reynolds said the title was "definitely my idea".

Earlier, Mr Duodo said that had Mr Reynolds kept his word, Mr Sadler would have produced a best-selling autobiography that would "unquestionably" have won him a £35,000 advance from prospective publishers.

The book would also have netted royalties and "enhanced Mr Sadler's reputation" as an author, he said.

The hearing continues.