Darlington Football Club chairman George Reynolds has said that comments made by his wife about players throwing games were not directed at his own team.

Speaking at a fans' forum on Thursday night, Susan Reynolds said: "It isn't unknown for games to be thrown deliberately at this time of year, by way of favours."

At than point the players, who had been sitting listening, all got up and left the room, sparking fears about the future of the club.

But Mr Reynolds has told The Northern Echo on Friday evening that the comments were just a "figure of speech".

He said: "You hear it at every game. Some people say it's a crap game, you can get some other people say what a load of rubbish and how many times have you heard them say they've thrown a game?"

Mr Reynolds said it was accurate to say it was not "unknown" for players to throw games, referring to previous scandals.

He added he was not interested in what the players thought when the comments were made and said they were "like cattle" following each other.

He added: "I know nothing about football. I went in and stopped the club going bankrupt, we built a new stadium and took it forward.

"The only thing we're guilty of is saving the club. What an offence."

For the full interview see Saturday's Northern Echo.