BUSINESSMAN Ted Forster claimed last night he was only days away from taking over Darlington Football Club and clearing all of its debts.

The 53-year-old called The Northern Echo from his home in Rhodes to say he had agreed a £4m deal with George Reynolds for his shares in the Quakers.

But the club's court-appointed administrators, Wilson Field, warned last night that they knew nothing of the deal and reiterated that any offer would have to come through them.

Lisa Hogg, of Wilson Field, said "I don't know what he is talking about. I'm not familiar with what kind of deal he's referring to.

"It could happen if he was to take care of all the liabilities, but since we have the details of those he would have to come through us."

Mr Forster said he planned to fly to England to hand over a cheque to Mr Reynolds tomorrow.

"The sale of the club is agreed," said the father-of-eight. "We will have to pay the creditors in full and George Reynolds will have nothing more to do with the club. I have a list of the creditors and I will ask them what they are owed."

He said he hoped to be in the High Court by Monday with an application to take the Quakers out of administration.

Normal practice for anyone wanting to buy a football club in administration would be to strike a deal with the creditors, and set up a new company to run the club.

Instead, Mr Forster is offering to pay the creditors almost all they are owed, including giving Barclays Bank £300,000 of a £330,000 debt.

He said he would pay Mr Reynolds more than the ten pence in the pound he had asked for because the Football League would not accept that figure.

"Even if the administrators would, the Football League has said categorically it would not accept the club coming out of administration and having the transfer embargo lifted for a payment of ten pence in the pound," he said.

"The figure that George Reynolds gets is immaterial. George Reynolds has to be taken out of the equation."

An agreement apparently signed by Mr Reynolds and his cousin and fellow club director Richard Tennick was faxed to The Northern Echo last night by Mr Forster.

Previous deals between the pair have collapsed. But Mr Forster, a chef who claims to own four hotels and various restaurants on Rhodes plus a catering business in West Bromwich, said he was confident that the latest would succeed.

Mr Reynolds would not comment on the matter.

Read more about the Quakers here.