Controversial businessman takes control of Matlock Town FC

Businessman David Hilton has taken full control of Matlock Town FC following a ballot of supporters.

The club said it was “delighted” with the amount of votes cast and that the ballot “broke all records by a significant margin” compared to all previous member votes.

The Gladiators said over 80% of voted, with the “vast majority” in favour of the controversial David Hilton taking full control of the football club.

A statement from the club said: “We will be passing on all of the information to the club’s solicitor in order for them to impartially validate the vote outcome and then the restructure will immediately take place.

“Mr Hilton will be carrying out an interview in due course discussing the current season and his plans to move the club forward.

“He has also requested that we invite all supporters to attend a fans forum in the not too distant future at the Proctor Cars Stadium. We will confirm the date of this in due course.”

Meanwhile, the former chairman of Matlock Town Football Club has questioned whether a £200,000 donation to the Gladiators by entrepreneur David Hilton was actually a gift.

Martin Harrison, whose short-lived reign at the club ended in November said there is “evidence” that the cash was “never a donation”.

Harrison has raised concerns over the future of the club in an interview with BBC Radio Derby ahead of the deadline on Friday (April 25) on a vote whether members should relinquish club to Hilton, or continue as a fan-led club.

Harrison was appointed as chairman of Matlock Town in August last year, but quit in November in protest at Hilton investing the money in October.

Harrison said: “I put my heart and soul put into fixing things that were wrong with club. Because of Dave Hilton’s involvement with the football club I couldn’t be involved any more and resigned.

“There is evidence that the £200,000 was never a donation, it was £200,000 that was, let’s say, invested. It was not a donation. The PR that is coming out of the club is trying to present something that is factually incorrect.

Ahead of a the vote, Harrison said: “I think the whole thing isn’t right. Members are being forced into a decision. From Dave Hilton’s first involvement I’ve been worried. I feel sad and worried for the future of the club.”

A statement from Matlock Town said: “Mr Hilton is not named [as a director] on Companies House purely because he’s not yet a director of the club. His initial role has been advisory due to his connections with the club’s board as has seen him make donations to help improve the playing squad.

“He has passed the FA’s Owners and Directors test for if, and when, the takeover goes through. If members vote for him not to be involved then he’ll walk away without asking for any money back. If he is voted to remain, he’ll continue to invest, but wants 100% control of where his money will go as he doesn’t want any decisions to be hampered by red tape.

“Since the initial proposal of 75% ownership was put forward it has been established that there is a great deal more to sort out if the club is to progress, not least issues with the adjacent cricket club which need to be resolved if Matlock are to get relevant ground gradings in future.

“Any private investor has aspirations to go higher and it’s no difference in this case. Any club that wants to progress can’t be run by the goodwill of volunteers and any investor has a right to own it.”

Hilton has a chequered history in football club ownership as the former owner of Scunthorpe United and one-time chairman of Ilkeston Town. If he takes control of the Gladiators it will place him and the club under increased scrutiny after he endured a torrid time as the owner of Scunthorpe United in 2023.

In September 2023, he revealed he had served nine months of a two-year sentence for 15 counts of fraud worth a total of £68,000, which he had since paid back, after an investigation by The Athletic.

The Athletic investigation, via a podcast, alleged Hilton had twice changed his name – from his birth name of David White to David Anderson and then David Hilton – and that as David White he was director of four companies that were dissolved without filing accounts between 2006 and 2012. As David Anderson, two further companies were dissolved, and he was convicted of 15 counts of fraud, cleared of a 16th offence, and started a two-year prison sentence in April 2015.

Hilton said the convictions related to his keeping the proceeds of a council refuse skip brokerage.

“It was completely the wrong decision,” he said. “I’m completely embarrassed by it. But it happened.”

Hilton, who stepped down as Ilkeston Town chairman when he bought Scunthorpe United in early 2023, said he had trained as an electrician and started property companies which failed as a result of the global crash. He said the failures led to the break-up of his relationship, and in 2011 he had attempted suicide.

The decision to keep the money was when he was in that “dark place”, he said. “I didn’t really care. I didn’t care about consequences, didn’t really care what happened to me.”

He had run out of money and used the fraudulent proceeds to live, not to fund a flashy lifestyle, he said.

But he said his time in prison allowed him time to reflect, and to quit anti-depressants.

Hilton sold Scunthorpe United in October 2023, after he said he was unwilling to fund the club any more. It was saved in a deal led by local businesswoman Michelle Harness.

Matlock Town were relegated from the Northern Premier League last week after it was revealed they fielded an ineligible player.