A PARANORMAL investigator with a reputation for changing the fortunes of sports teams has offered to use his golden touch to help embattled Scarborough FC.

Scarborough Today - Dec 11 2006

Dean "Midas" Maynard backed Southend to beat Manchester United in this season's Carling Cup before they won 1-0, focused positive thoughts on Reading all last season when they secured promotion to the Premiership and was called in to help the Chicago White Sox baseball team in 2005 – the year they won the World Series for the first time since 1917.

He now believes he can bring Boro the good luck they need to help them out of the relegation zone in the Conference North and move forward on the stalled plans to transfer to a new ground.

Mr Maynard said: "I am a massive football fan and whenever I get involved with a team it seems to bring them good luck.

"I do not like to see any club in the situation Scarborough is in and would like to do anything I can to help them.

"The club dates back to 1879, so it is virtually as old as any other club in the country and there are going to be a lot of people upset, not just in the town, but in the whole of football, if the council refuses to back the move and the club folds.

"I just will the teams I get involved with to win and it seems to do the trick. I feel terribly responsible if they don't – I almost know how the managers feel.

"Some people have called me the English Uri Geller, but I don't bend spoons and I'm not friends with Michael Jackson, I just want to help. I realise 80 per cent of the population think it's mumbo-jumbo, but whatever you believe, it surely can't hurt to send positive thoughts towards the club."

Mr Maynard's other sporting successes include helping Sunderland achieve promotion to the Premiership in 2005 and seeing Wigan Warriors Rugby League team fight off relegation by winning nine out their last 10 home matches.

He also investigates paranormal incidents and is regularly called out with four other people in his team to businesses and organisations which believe they have a problem with ghosts. He said: "We use special equipment, a bit like ghostbusters, and go into premises and tell the owners what we find and how they get rid of it."

Former Boro chairman Malcolm Reynolds said Mr Maynard would be welcome to come down from his home in the North East to any home game, as his presence "certainly couldn't hurt".

Mr Reynolds said: "It's funny, but an elderly gentleman actually once told me before a game that the club would never do any good because the ground is cursed. I asked him what he meant, just thinking it was a fan sounding off a bit, but he then told me the McCain stadium used to be a gipsy site, and the gipsies were moved off so they put a curse on it when they left."