York City Supporters’ Trust is sad to hear of the death of former Trust board member Richard Snowball. Richard was central to the formative years of the Trust, serving as its first chairman from June 2002 until February 2006.
He took on leadership of the Trust at the worst moment in our club’s history. York City had been put up for sale and Bootham Crescent was on the market for £4.5 million. The Trust was formed in response in February 2002, and in June that year around 1,400 members elected its first board. From those thirteen resolute volunteers, Richard was chosen as chairman.
What followed is well known to City fans, and Richard played a crucial part. By December 2002 John Batchelor had taken the club into administration, with liquidation a real possibility. The Trust set itself one objective: to save York City Football Club from extinction. Supporters raised £600,000, and on the 26th of March 2003 the club was bought out of administration and put back in the hands of the people who cared about it.
He stayed on through the three years of supporter ownership that followed. Those were difficult years, and keeping the club afloat took everything the board had. He stepped down from the Trust Board in February 2006 after handing over the chairmanship to Steve Beck.
Richard first went through the turnstiles in 1948, aged seven, and followed City for the rest of his life – a span of nearly eighty years. In 1993 he offered a lift to a fellow supporter travelling to Rochdale to watch City. Her name was Joan, and they later married.
Trust Chair Seth Sowerby said: “Richard led the Trust during York City’s hour of need. He gave years of his own time to help save the club he loved. Everything this Trust has been able to do since rests on what he and that first board got right. We owe him a great deal, and I hope he knew that.”
Our thoughts are with Joan and with Richard’s family and friends.
About York City Supporters’ Trust
York City Supporters’ Trust is the fan-owned body that holds a shareholding in York City Football Club. Run by fans, for fans, we give supporters a real voice in the future of our club – on and off the pitch.