MILLIONAIRE football club chairman George Reynolds has found himself languishing near the bottom of the table.

But unlike his club, Darlington FC, who slumped to 19th place in Division Three after Saturday's defeat at home to Chesterfield, there are plenty of people who would willingly swap places with him.

The 2001 Mail on Sunday Rich Report has placed the Quakers chairman in 216th place in its list of the country's richest people.

Although Mr Reynolds claims he is worth £250m, the Mail on Sunday's investigation team could only find assets which justified a valuation of £148m.

Those assets include a County Durham manor and a London property, as well as a helicopter and a Daimler car.

The Rich Report said the turnover of George Reynolds UK was down slightly, to £15.4m, but he sold a laminates business for £35m last year and put £26m back into the business.

Mr Reynolds' fortune is higher than Middlesbrough FC's chairman, Steve Gibson, who is in 288th place with £108m.

Richard Storey, a director and shareholder of Sunderland AFC, is listed at 291st, with a fortune of £107m.

Mr Reynolds, who bought Darlington FC and paid off its £5m debts two years ago, is also listed higher than former Beatle George Harrison and Rolling Stone Keith Richards.

But Mr Reynolds is by no means the richest man in the North-East. The Duke of Northumberland is 114th in the list, with a personal fortune of £260m; while the Earl of Stockton is not far behind, with wealth of £215m.

All of them, though, are dwarfed by Tetra Pak heir Dr Hans Rausing, who has a fortune of £5.96bn.

If the figures are correct, Mr Reynolds has had millions wiped off his wealth by the stroke of pen.

Last year's Sunday Times list of Britain's 1,000 wealthiest people had him at 112th place, with a personal fortune of £260m.

Mr Reynolds was unavailable for comment last night