THE name leaves no one in any doubt who is responsible for the stadium, with marble floors, escalators and the much-vaunted automatic-flush toilets.

Huge lettering on the sides proclaim it to be the Reynolds Arena. Only the more modest brown directional road signs reveal it is actually the home of Darlington Football Club.

Fans, concerned the 25,000-seater stadium had become an obsession to Quakers' chairman George Reynolds at the expense of the team, have become increasingly alarmed at a steady stream of poor results over the past two seasons.

In the BBC1 documentary George Reynolds: Playing By His Own Rules, the businessman revealed with glee how 2,300 pies had been sold during the Arena's debut Division Three match.

Eleven thousand Quakers fans turned up to watch a 2-0 defeat against Kidderminster Harriers in what many acclaimed as Premiership-standard surroundings.

Worryingly, Mr Reynolds seemed confused as to the on-pitch action. "What's the score," and "which way are we kicking" seemed to give the game away.

With the club second bottom in the league, only 2,920, its lowest attendance this season, watched its 1-0 home defeat by Macclesfield on Saturday.

Mr Reynolds' drive to create a new stadium for the club is unquestionable, an unmissable monument to the huge belief he had in himself.

It was that belief which brought him into conflict with residents after he identified the Neasham Road site as the least intrusive for his stadium in summer 1999.

Unused to people questioning his vision - or who just downright disagreed with his plans - he soon clashed with residents, who formed the Neasham Road Action Group.

They organised public meetings, held a demonstration and presented a 2,000 name petition against the stadium plans.

They also threatened a public inquiry into the scheme, saying it would create traffic congestion, noise and pollution in a residential area.

Mr Reynolds announced work would start "almost immediately" in April 2000 when, having won the approval of Darlington Borough Council. John Prescott, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, also gave the scheme his blessing.

At the time, Mr Reynolds said: "I'll stick by the council's rules", referring to the planning conditions, to which he had agreed. But in September this year, he warned that the club could fold unless he was allowed to make money from events such as car boot sales.

He made the admission when Darlington Borough Council challenged his plans to hold a car boot sale, after he signed a legally binding document when planning permission was drawn up that the Reynolds Arena could not stage events other than football matches.

He has also talked of staging pop concerts at the Arena, but was told by the council that concerts and music would not be permitted.

He is in the process of seeking permission to open a nightclub under one of the stands. Most recently, the club was granted a public entertainment licence allowing the Arena to stage late-night parties and discos in its Bar 66.

"This is a massive season for Darlington Football Club," Mr Reynolds said in the summer.

Last night he hinted that his stadium may have been over-ambitious, given the financial realities of lower league football.

"If you take the Second and Third Divisions, you can't survive totally, you know, on a stadium this size."

* A decision on the application to hold car boot sales and other events at the Arena is due to be made next month.