Jailed fraudster 'nearly destroyed Chesterfield'

A former football chairman who nearly bankrupted one of the oldest clubs in the UK, using more than £800,000 (€1.2m) of club funds to prop up his other failing businesses, is serving a four-year jail sentence for fraud, it can be revealed today.

Conman Darren Brown, 34, from Wingerworth, Derbyshire, was seen as a bright young entrepreneur when he took over Chesterfield Football Club, but in reality he was trying to milk the club of money to pay back his own creditors.