About York City Supporters' Trust

Why we were set up. What we do.

Background

York City Supporters' Trust was formed in February 2002, in reaction to former Chairman Douglas Craig's announcement that York City Football Club was for sale. He also announced that he had a contract with Persimmon Homes to sell our football ground, Bootham Crescent for £4.5 million. The club was subsequently sold to John Batchelor who put the club into administration within 12 months. We then raised £600,000, formed a new company and acquired the assets of YCFC from the administrator in 2003.

Club Operations

From April 2003 to June 2006, the Trust operated York City Football Club with the help of board of voluntary directors, including Jason McGill, the current Chairman. In June 2006, some 2,000 Trust members voted to transfer 75% of the company shares to JM Packaging Ltd, a company owned and operated by Jason McGill, in return for substantial loans of up to £1 million.

Current role

The Supporters' Trust remain 25% shareholders of York City Football Club and continue to act as guardians of the Club. Our objectives have remained unchanged since we were originally formed:

To strengthen the bonds between the Club & Community which it serves and represent the interests of the Community in the running of the Club.
To benefit present and future members of the Community served by the Club by promoting, encouraging and furthering the game of football as a recreational facility, sporting activity and focus for community involvement
To provide and maintain facilities for the enjoyment of professional football in the area
To promote coaching schemes to develop the football skills of young people and to widen interest in football regardless of the sex or ethnic origin of those involved
To further the development of the game of football nationally and internationally by upholding of our rules.

In addition, we are committed to ensuring that York City has a permanent home in the City of York and helping to facilitate the transition to a proposed new Community Stadium.

Why is the Trust here?

The Trust is just an organisation where all supporters can get together in a very structured way - making it easy for the club to understand what the supporters, as a body, feel about a particular issue. And because it can deliver a single message from a large body of people the strength of that message is difficult for the club to ignore. How did it start?

The people who started the Trust in York borrowed the basic idea from others. The first club to form a trust in this way was Northampton Town when they had a crisis in 1991/2. But this remained an isolated and little known example until April 2001. We are the 45th Trust to launch in the UK

The Football Task Force (amongst other things) gave birth to an organisation called Supporters' Direct. The people at Supporters Direct set out to spread the idea and provide help to supporter groups. Our Trust was set up with their direct help.

A small group dedicated local fans started the process on the 7th January 2002, when following a overwhelming mandate at a public meeting a working party was formed to launch the Trust. We launched the Trust on the 1st February 2002 at the Barbican, only 26 days from the public meeting - a record that all involved should be proud of; it showed what is achievable when a group of committed people put their mind to things.

It was an evening to remember for all those who attended and the entertainment provided by the ex-players in particular Jack Pinder and one of our oldest Supporters - Arthur Robinson will live on forever.

One by-product of Supporters Direct is that we have been able to swap ideas with other Clubs and it is unlikely that our Trust would have achieved this success so quickly without their help and support.

What is the Trust?

The Trust is formally called "The York City Supporters Society Limited". It is registered with the Registry of Friendly Societies. You will know it as York City Supporters' Trust - it's more common name. The Trust is registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965 -1978. Registration number 29345R.

It has a set of 121 Rules (the "Constitution" or "Model Rules" drawn up for us by Cobbetts, solicitors of Manchester) and these give strict guidance to the way it is run. The Registry has approved these Rules and the Registry must also approve any changes. And they will not allow any changes that weaken the principles of the Trust.

Please click here to download the Trust Rules (PDF format)

The most important of these are:

It exists for the benefit of its members
It must be inclusive so that anyone who cares about the club can join
Any money it receives can only be used toward achieving its aims
It is democratic - one member gets one vote no matter how much money they give

There can be no changes to these principles unless the members as a whole vote for it (in practice this means they will not change). The Trust has not been set up to replace existing supporters clubs and organisations. But to be an 'umbrella' group where there all such bodies can work together with individual supporters to bring the club closer to the community.

What's in it for you?

The Trust exists for the benefit of its members. The aims of the Trust are all about the well being of the club, bringing it closer to the community of York and District and helping the development of young footballers in the area. By supporting the Trust you support these ideals.

Any money you contribute will help the Trust achieve its aims and all monies will only ever be used for the betterment of York City Football Club. The cost of running the Trust will be kept to a minimum and will be met from a proportion of the membership fees.