Darlington manager David Hodgson last night thanked George Reynolds for giving him his best year in football, and admitted he felt partly responsible for his departure.
Reynolds yesterday resigned as chairman, three weeks after saving the club from a winding up order by inviting in administrators.
And while the relationship between Hodgson and Reynolds was always strained, the Quakers boss fondly remembers the better times.
"Putting aside all personal differences I still remember my best year in football came under George Reynolds," said Hodgson.
"The town was buzzing and it was a fantastic time for the football club."
Hodgson refused to put all the blame for the Quakers current dire position - both in football and financial terms - solely down to the chairman.
"Having come back I'm disappointed I didn't win the games which potentially would have kept the chairman in the job," said Hodgson.
"Had we been winning games and getting the crowds we might not have been in the position we're in now.
"The public opinion towards the chairman had been lost.
"George has his own rules and other people don't abide by his rules.
"He has a very straightforward way of thinking which is not the way forward."
Reynolds' arrived in a blaze of publicity in May 1999 and Quakers, under Hodgson, reached the Third Divison play-off final less than a year later.
But after Reynolds published players' wages, claiming they were greedy, it was only a matter of time before the pair came to loggerheads.
And just before the start of the 2000 season, Hodgson departed, claiming he was "physically drained".
It was in the wake of Hodgson's departure that a bitter war of words ensued between the pair, with Reynolds using his autobiography, 'Cracked It' to criticise the former Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Sunderland striker.
"For three years he ridiculed me and lambasted me in his autobiography," said Hodgson.
"But even when he was doing all that I still chuckled to myself because I knew it was his way of trying to degrade me."
However, it was Hodgson who Reynolds turned to in his hour of need in November with the club struggling at the foot of the Third Division.
"It must have been mega difficult for him to pick the phone up and ask me to come back," said Hodgson.
However, with just one win under Hodgson's stewardship, Quakers remain rooted in the relegation zone.
But despite all the problems, Hodgson admitted he is still taking in the shock news.
He said yesterday: "Even up until this morning the chairman was still talking confidently about coming out of administration."
Read more about the Quakers here.
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