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A football club chairman who pretended he had cancer and stole more than £500,000 to keep his team afloat has been jailed.

Dean Fisher, 36, chairman of Croydon Athletic Football Club, stole from TCS Media where he was an admin manager, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Fisher, of Caterham, Surrey, spent £260,000 on paying the club's bills and players during the fraud.

The father-of-four was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to fraud.

He wrote a series of false invoices for his employer to steal the money, whcih was also spent on living a life of luxury.

The man, who once weighed 26 stone, then told bosses he had cancer - before taking time off for a gastric band operation.

Simon Parker, managing director of the Bayswater-based advertising firm, said the fraud "left me cold".

It happened while the firm was "on its knees" during the recession.

'Tried to look big'

Mr Parker said: "The pressure on me and my wife was immense.

"The last six months have taken their toll on the company and me personally."

Judge John Price told Fisher: "You tried to look big and you were prepared to steal from the company to do it.

"It didn't all go to yourself. But you were trying to support a club which you had no right to steal to support.

"You were in a position of trust and you breached that for all the wrong reasons. You almost ruined the company."

Last season Croydon Athletic were promoted to the Ryman Premier League.