GEORGE Reynolds last night bowed to mounting financial pressure and called in administrators to save Darlington Football Club.

Insolvency practitioners Wilson Field have taken over the running of the 120-year-old club and are seeking a way to prevent it going into liquidation.

The move will come as a massive blow to multi-millionaire Mr Reynolds who invested a fortune in the club - but could not make it work.

Last night, the former safecracker vowed to stay on and battle to bring the Quakers back from the brink.

But there was a growing feeling around the town that the only way forward was for Mr Reynolds to leave the club.

Manager David Hodgson said Mr Reynolds had been trying to sell the club for some weeks before placing it in administration. He said the chairman had "put every single penny he had" into the Quakers to no avail.

Despite the massive blow, Mr Reynolds remains determined to bounce back.

He said: "I have invited the appointment of joint administrators to protect the club from being wound up by the Inland Revenue, who have issued a winding up petition. You should be aware that our old ground, Feethams, was condemned and that it was essential to relocate the club.

"The new stadium is almost complete and negotiations are ongoing with the council and it will be for the administrators to resolve this as a matter of urgency.

"I will provide every assistance to ensure the future well-being of the club.

"Whilst the administrators resolve the footballing issues, I will endeavour to develop other commercial interests for the benefit of the club.

"I understand that the administrators will be addressing the supporters via the company's official website."

After taking over in 1999 and paying off the club's £5m debt, Mr Reynolds invested more than £20m in a new 25,000-seater stadium.

The impressive arena was to be the springboard for a new era, he said.

His reasoning was simple: if you offered fans a better product more would pay to watch a game. Unfortunately, while the stadium was top class, results on the pitch were pitiful. Instead of boosting attendance, numbers started to fall.

Even worse, the collapse of ITV Digital meant every club in the lower leagues had less money to play with.

Mr Reynolds hoped to boost cash flow by staging car boot sales, concerts and opening a night club. His ambitions were stymied by stringent planning conditions he had agreed to that meant anything other than football was subject to local authority approval.

The planning regulations meant the club had to wait for the go-ahead. In reality Darlington FC could not afford to wait. It needed the funds immediately.

Mr Reynolds claimed his financial problems began when he sold his previous business - George Reynolds UK - to a company which subsequently failed. He claimed the deal had cost him £7m.

And he repeated his appeal to be given planning permission for more creative use of the new stadium.

"I can't sustain this club on 12 working hours a month," he said. "I have made the council aware of this. If we had one or two concerts or a car boot sale we would have sustained it.

"I don't think I have done a bad job. I came in and saved the club from going bankrupt. But I couldn't keep putting money into a black hole. I will stick in here and see it through."

Mr Reynolds pleaded with fans to get behind the club so gate numbers could be increased, to help save the company. He added: "This is not a crisis. I have had worse crises than this.

"If the fans fill the seats and the council allows the club to make money, we will be OK."

Darlington Borough Council will meet administrators on Tuesday to discuss the club's situation. Matches will be played as normal for the moment.

Leader John Williams said: "It is very sad and we hope that they can get out of the situation they are in.

"Darlington needs a football club. The council has done everything over the years to support them."

However Tony Taylor, of the Darlington Supporters Trust, called for Mr Reynolds to leave.