York City is in the money, but not yet out of trouble.

That seems to be the message behind today's revelation that the club has managed to put itself in the black.

The financial turnaround has seen a loss of £332,338 - incurred in just 12 weeks - turned into a profit of £83,970. This is cheering news, even if further losses put at £330,000 still need to be recovered.

All this reminds us that there are two different sorts of football story: what happens on the pitch and what occurs behind the scenes.

This welcome, if small, improvement in City's finances is an important indication of good health. Yet the cold, uncomfortable fact remains that York City have been relegated to the Conference League, having dropped out of the Football League after 75 years.

That relegation continues to have grim repercussions for the club and its long-suffering supporters.

Fans will start the coming season with a heavy heart - but a hopeful one too. There always has to be hope in football and the key now is for City to plan its escape route from the Conference.

The first six weeks or so of the new season will hold the key to this strategy. Manager Chris Brass and his Minstermen have to prove themselves very quickly on the pitch if City are to have a hope of leaving the Conference, which is a notoriously tough place to escape.

Ideally, City need to achieve this at the first attempt. The club has to climb out of football's basement and give its supporters, and the city as a whole, a fresh cause for pride.

Taking hold of City's finances is certainly the right place to start - very soon that work will have to be translated into positive results on the pitch.

Updated: 10:07 Tuesday, July 27, 2004