YORK City boss Chris Brass has admitted that he would have loved to have joined the club's supporters on their celebratory march to Bootham Crescent on Saturday.

March organisers are hoping thousands of Minstermen fans will walk to the home match against Mansfield together in a sea of red.

Fans are also being urged to wear City colours as part of a 'Proud to be Red Day' that also celebrates the club's long-term solution to staying at their home ground for the last 72 years.

Brass is sorry to miss the pre-match celebrations but recognises his responsibility to make sure the party does not fall flat once 3pm comes.

He said: "It would certainly be nice to join our fans on the march because I have lived through it myself and been part of it right the way through but the way we can help the celebrations continue is on the pitch. We will have to be focused and make sure we do not let them down

"We do not want the party and carnival atmosphere to peter out once the fans get to the ground. We want to make sure there's some fireworks on the pitch.

"It is our first home game since the news and fans will be able to appreciate that we are staying at Bootham Crescent. We have got to make sure we definitely get the right result.

"All sorts of things are organised and rightly so because there's been a lot of hard work from everybody and the supporters deserve their day."

Tomorrow is also Ladies Day at Bootham Crescent with all female fans receiving a bar of chocolate courtesy of Nestl, as well as being entitled to a £1 discount off tickets paid for in advance.

Updated: 10:42 Friday, February 13, 2004