However, Saturday could be York’s last ever visit to Roots Hall as the troubled Yorkshire side are currently up for sale for £4.5million and chairman Douglas Craig has warned they will have to withdraw from the Football League if a buyer is not found by the end of March. Although a number of consortiums have said to have come forward, including York City Council, and hopefully football will continue in York for the foreseeable future where this reporter has enjoyed many an enjoyable trip to Bootham Crescent and the City of York itself.
The future of professional football in one of England's most historic cities is under threat due to the actions of the Club's current owners. However, York City is not just another small club struggling financially. Given that it has one of the highest wage bills in Division Three the Club has made significant losses over the past few seasons. However, the bank overdraft is small compared to many other lower division clubs. The 'killer blow' is the proposal by the directors (who also happen to be the key shareholders, with 94% ownership) to sell the Club's home to the highest bidder for around £5 million before the end of March 2002. The Bootham Crescent site is prime development land in a city with booming property prices. Not only have Douglas Craig and his fellow directors announced that they intend to quit the Club, but the Club must quit its home of the last 70 years and, if it survives, find somewhere else to play in the 2002/03 season. The key issue is that the money from the sale is not being reinvested in a new ground for York City. Instead the money will be pocketed by Craig and his fellow directors. The directors appear to have 'sidestepped' certain FA rules. This week Craig sits on the arbitration panel that is deciding whether the owners of Wimbledon can move the club to Milton Keynes. Save City campaigner Pete Brandon said, "The actions of the directors are not in the best interests of York City Football Club. We risk losing our club." City, who faced Premiership millionaires Fulham in the FA Cup 4th round, have an 80 year history of great cup adventures. Brandon added "It is very important all fans stand together at times like these. This is not just about York City. It is about asset strippers threatening the survival of clubs up and down the country. The FA is supposed to be the guardian of the English game. But what are they doing? If the FA won't show they care, the fans will." There are fears that owners of other clubs may copy the actions of Craig such that assets are sold off to benefit individual shareholders at the expense of football clubs and their local communities. This could lead to a domino effect whereby in the next few years several Football League clubs could disappear.
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The Minstermen’s last visit to Roots Hall came in October 2000 on a day when Roots Hall welcomed back Southend United’s most successful Manager - David Webb - back into the Roots Hall hotseat. Blues moved into sixth place in Division Three with a one-nil victory, not the most convincing of Blues displays but the win, thanks to Trevor Fitzpatrick’s 14th minute strike meant Blues had gone eight matches unbeaten.
York’s off the field problems appear to be affecting them on the pitch as well as they currently sit second from bottom of the Third Division, although they have three more points then bottom club Halifax Town and have two games in hand over their Yorkshire rivals. York have managed two victories on their travels this season, drawing three and losing seven, scoring sixteen and conceding twenty-eight. Their last outing came on Tuesday night when they were involved in a nine goal thriller at Rochdale’s Spotland eventually losing 5-4.