In December 2001, the directors of Bootham Crescent Holdings plc (“BCH”) announced that York City Association Football and Athletic Club plc was for sale. Under the management of Douglas Craig and his fellow directors, the Club had underachieved at income generation and spent excessively on costs – particularly since the 1999/2000 season, which coincided with the creation of the holding company (BCH) and the ownership of Bootham Crescent being stripped out of the Club. At best this management can be described as “poor”. Some have described it as “deliberately destructive”.

In January 2002, the directors of BCH announced their intention to sell Bootham Crescent and slapped a £4.5 million price tag on the site. Bootham Crescent has been the home of York City since 1932. The supporters have invested in the site financially and emotionally for 70 years. The increase in value of the assets is largely due to the good fortune of location in a city with booming property prices. It was not due to the management of the Club over the past ten years, yet it was they who sought to profit at the expense of the club and the community. The actions of the BCH directors have been widely condemned.

In March 2002, John Batchelor acquired the Club from BCH for just £1. At the same time, and unbeknown to the Trust, Batchelor pocketed a £400,000 payment and the Club’s security of tenure at Bootham Crescent was ended. Batchelor was in control of the Football Club for just eight months. He fed his own ego with a series of sometimes bizarre media utterings and lined his own pocket with the proceeds from the so-called sponsorship money that was supposed to have come to the Club. It transpired that Batchelor made a bad situation worse.

In April 2002 BCH entered into a secret deal with property company Persimmon plc (who happen to be headquartered in York), such that Persimmon would buy Bootham Crescent for £3.5 million when vacant possession is achieved (i.e. the football club has been ousted). In July 2002 Persimmon submitted a planning application to demolish York City’s Bootham Crescent home and replace it with 93 houses.

Having diverted the £400,000 away from the Football Club, Batchelor also committed the Club to costs far beyond its means such that, by December 2002, the Club had accumulated debts of around £1 million that, without corrective action, were forecast to climb by up to a further £3/4 million by June 2003. As the Club was plunged into Administration, the threat of the Club being liquidated was a very real prospect. The Club had been driven to the brink of extinction.
Some people said the club was “beyond salvation”, but the Supporters’ Trust was not prepared to let York City die.
Liquidation would not only have meant an immediate end to the season for York City; it would also have been the end of York City as a Football League Club and the end of employment to all the players and other staff. And, of course, it would have been the end of the Club for the supporters and the community.

The Trust is the main body through which the supporters of York City have acted.

With the help of Supporters Direct, the York City Supporters’ Society Limited (known as “the Trust”) - an Industrial and Provident Society - was formed in record time in January 2002. This was against a backdrop of the serious threat from owners BCH to close down the Club in April 2002 (they had, in fact, lodged a letter of resignation with the League as part of their plan). Aided by the Evening Press Save City Campaign, the Trust generated an enormous amount of support, publicity, fundraising and positive action for the benefit of the Football Club.

From the outset, the Trust established a set of guiding principles. Principles that were, unfortunately, alien to some of the parties that Trust representatives have had to deal with.


The Supporter's Trust stands for:

• Integrity
  
• Credibility
  
• Community values
  
• Democracy and representation
  
• Commitment and solid organisation
  
• Business values aligned to all of the above.

Back in June 2002 the members of the Trust (of around 1,400 supporters) elected a Board to carry out the Trust’s work. That is, a small group of City fans who were prepared to volunteer their time and efforts to help save the Club they love. The work of the Trust has been led by that Board.

The Trust Board comprised (correct as at September 2003) Steve Beck (Vice Chair), Mike Brown, John Catton (membership lapsed January 2003), Kirsten Gillies, Terry Herbert (Treasurer), Ian Hey (co-opted December 2002), Graham Kilby, Sophie McGill, Paul Rawnsley, Peter Rookes (co-opted April 2003), Michael Shannon, Richard Snowball (Chair) and Richard Willis (resigned December 2002). Stan Collins is the Trust Secretary.

Of course, there have been plenty of other City fans who have also applied their time and money to help the cause. It has always been acknowledged that the success of City’s Trust is due to the efforts of many people and the positive support that the Trust has both created and received. Since it was first created, the achievements of the Trust have been portrayed as a team effort, which it has always been.

A key ingredient for the future survival of York City is for the Club to continue to have a decent home stadium in the city. With this in mind, the Trust initiated the campaign to protect City’s Bootham Crescent home from property developers.
Landlord BCH – the previous owners of the Club and whose directors had been York City directors at the time they stripped the ownership of Bootham Crescent away from the Club – was seeking to massively profit from the sale of the Bootham Crescent site to property developers Persimmon.

In October 2002 the Trust initiated the campaign to save City’s home. The Trust’s key concerns were as follows:

• No change of use should be allowed for the Bootham Crescent site unless and until a better facility is in place for York City Football Club to play its home games. It is important that the proposed housing development should not put York City’s future at risk.
  
• Bootham Crescent is a leisure facility of regional importance. York City Football Club is North Yorkshire’s only Football League club and Bootham Crescent is the only stadium which meets its needs.
  
• Bootham Crescent is also a community facility of regional importance. York City Football Club is an important part of community life in York, both directly and through its work with youth and women’s football. Having a professional Football League club in York has positive benefits for the status of the City.
  
• The stadium at Bootham Crescent meets the standards required of the Football League and is in an excellent position for such an important local facility. It is near the city centre, has good access by public transport and brings positive benefits to local businesses.
  

There was massive community support for the Trust’s stance in relation to the Bootham Crescent issue and a record number of people have submitted comments to the Council’s Planning Office.
The Trust has continued to hold these key principles throughout the time since the campaign was first initiated. The campaign to try and protect Bootham Crescent for the benefit of City has been picked up by other City fans since that time.