SUSAN Reynolds is dressed all in black. It matches her mood.

The wife of Darlington Football Club chairman George Reynolds is an angry woman. She feels aggrieved, wronged, and hurt by the consequences of her now notorious speech to a "clear-the-air" supporters' meeting at Darlington Football Club last Thursday night.

She finds it hard to come to terms with, that while her husband saved the Quakers, she and he have ended up at the centre of national controversy, to the point where she says she is now afraid to be seen in Darlington, let alone at the football club.

Mrs Reynolds, a club director, had warned at the beginning of her speech that she would take no prisoners. A small section of abusive fans, players who didn't try hard enough but made greedy pay claims, former manager David Hodgson and the media, all came in for a hammering. But she insists that the remark which proved to be the last straw has been misconstrued.

Her speech came to a premature end with the statement: "It isn't unknown for games to be thrown deliberately at this time of year by way of favours."

It was still a hugely inflammatory thing to say, but she insists it would not have been so controversial had she been allowed to carry on. Instead, the crowd reacted angrily and the players walked out.

"I was not implying that games had been thrown for financial gain. I've never said that, but players can also throw games by not trying hard enough," she says.

She says her speech also contained positive comments about the fans and some of the players.

"I highlighted the fact that there are many unsung heroes at the club - many of whom turn up voluntarily to clear the snow away to allow matches to take place. We can't believe the dedication and commitment of the fans.

"I also stressed that, on the whole, we have a team of very diligent and committed players and we all know who they are. Unfortunately, their efforts are sometimes undermined by the bad apples in the barrel.

"We have probably got the best attitude amongst the players since we took over. It's been a really happy spirit this year - most of them are playing their hearts out - but we have a few who simply aren't pulling their weight."

Susan Reynolds enjoys a lifestyle of which all but a few can merely dream: a lavish mansion, Witton Hall at Witton-le-Wear, County Durham; swimming pool, designer clothes, and a sports car.

But it hasn't always been the case. Before she met Mr Reynolds, she had ended up in a women's refuge three times.

Now, she finds herself under attack from the supporters, players and media, and she does occasionally wonder why she ever became involved in Darlington FC.

"Yes, the pressure does get to me, I can't deny that," she says. "It would be easy to walk away but we won't do that. We're North-East people. We want to be here and I support George in what he wants to do."

The talk of moving to Monte Carlo - before their lives became so entangled with Darlington FC - was, she insists, purely for tax reasons.

So what of the future? The new stadium, she insists, will be completed, although it is now accepted that it will almost certainly not be in time for the new season in August.

And, ironically in view of the fact that she has found herself at the centre of the latest row, she gives her husband a black look when she says he has to learn to stop making controversial comments.

"He speaks from the heart but has to be more careful what he says," she says.

"Aye, I'm an open book," admits Mr Reynolds, who has transformed a life of crime into a life of business success.

Expect a professional public relations advisor to be appointed soon. In the meantime, Darlington have what has become an extremely important game at home against Macclesfield tonight. It will be the first test of the mood at the club since the chairman's wife - inadvertently in her view - caused a sensation.

How he will feel if he gets a bad reception? Mr Reynolds shrugs: "I'm not bothered. I've never run away from anything in my life. Even in a fight, when I was getting battered, I never ran. I'll be there to show I'm not going to start running away now."

His wife, however, will not be joining him. There are too many black clouds over Feethams for that just yet.

Read more about Darlington FC here.