AS work continues on Darlington Football Club's gleaming new stadium , there is still no inkling of what the new ground might be called.

Whilst the club's owner - George Reynolds - may find it hard to resist the temptation to follow the example of other club owners and call it after himself, it occurred to Spectator that some credit for the project should go to an individual who, it could be argued, bears some responsibility for bringing it about.

This train of thought was prompted by a profile of the aforesaid Mr Reynolds in The Independent last Saturday. The piece adequately chronicled Mr Reynolds' rollercoaster tenure of the club but also revealed who was initially responsible for getting the one-time safecracker from Shildon interested in being a football club owner.

Step forward Alasdair MacConachie, your friendly local Vauxhall dealer, Vice Lord Lieutenant of County Durham and behind-the-scenes Mr Fixit par excellence.

One evening Mr Reynolds went looking to buy a car as a 21st birthday present for his daughter and his distinctive profile was spotted on the CCTV cameras at Mr MacConachie's garage, Sherwoods of Darlington.

Always one to seize an opportunity, Mr MacConachie was on the phone first thing in the morning to ask Mr Reynolds which car he was interested in. Mr Reynolds replied that he had purchased a vehicle elsewhere and Mr MacConachie couldn't help him.

And that was the point when the future of Darlington Football Club changed, for Mr MacConachie then said that if Mr Reynolds wouldn't buy a car, perhaps he would be interested in a football club. The rest, as they say, is history.

As befits a modest man, Mr MacConachie has never blown his trumpet as the man who introduced Mr Reynolds to Darlington Football Club. One would hope that provided Mr Reynolds is not too disillusioned with football club ownership, he would recognise the role played by Mr MacConachie.

An Alasdair MacConachie box in the swish Neasham Road palace would seem appropriate at very least.

Park life

IT'S funny how places have their names changed to make them seem more acceptable.

Driving through Northallerton this week, Spectator noticed the signs for the Northallerton Business Park had been erected.

Further on it was noted that the sign to what used to be the Standard Way Industrial Estate now says Standard Way Industrial Park.

We're not sure when the change came about but it is obvious that the word estate is now synonymous with rundown housing estates and therefore not an appealing moniker for anything in 2003.