YORK City have recorded a profit for the first time since 2004 thanks to their FA Trophy final appearance and the sale of Martyn Woolford.

Finance director Terry Doyle revealed the Wembley windfall and Woolford’s departure prevented the club from making losses in the region of £400,000 for a second successive season.

The Minstermen’s accounts for the year ending June 2009 have revealed a profit of approximately £30,000 despite proceeds of between £250,000 and £300,000 from the run to Wembley and the six-figure sale of Woolford to Scunthorpe on the eve of the 2008/9 campaign.

All the staggered payments for Woolford are included in the figures for the latest set of accounts although Doyle added that reports of a £200,000 fee had been exaggerated.

Adam Boyes’ transfer to the Iron this summer, meanwhile, will be included during the accounts for the financial year ending in June 2010.

City have only released abbreviated accounts, which is all that is required under the Companies Act 2006, with board member Doyle explaining: “We don’t want to give any information to our competitors.”

Doyle did reveal, however, annual turnover had risen from £1.1 million to £1.7 million.

Gate receipts showed a slight increase, rising from £494,000 to £516,000, largely because of the greater number of games played in the Trophy while the cost of ground repairs dropped from £33,000 to £18,000 but are likely to show an increase in the next set of accounts due to recent work on the Main Stand roof and floodlights, as well as improvements to the away toilets that need to be completed to meet Blue Square Premier standards.

The contribution of supporters’ groups, meanwhile, went down from £77,257 to almost £14,000.

The Supporters’ Trust, who still retain a 25 per cent interest in the club, contributed nothing compared to the previous year’s total of £5,346.25.

Wages for all staff, meanwhile, rose by £80,000 to a figure approaching £940,000, while an unexpected cost of £43,000 was incurred when the club was issued with a bill to help shore up the Football League pension deficit, which the club are still contracted to meet for the benefit of past employees.

Delivering his verdict on the accounts, Doyle said: “There’s a fairly clear message that comes out of them and that is the FA Trophy made a big difference in turning around our £400,000 losses. It was worth between £250,000 and £300,000 but we have still only made a small profit during what many clubs would consider a successful season by reaching Wembley.

“To run a competitive Blue Square Premier club on our basic level of income, you are going to incur losses of between £350,000 and £400,000 although moving to a new ground would obviously help things change in that respect.”

City’s last recorded profit was £83,000 in 2004 – the season they dropped out of the Football League. In 2005, they lost £83,000, which rose to £359,000 the following year. Losses of £270,000 were recorded in 2007 and £413,000 last year.