End game for Dave

My tenure as York City writer has been relatively brief when compared to my esteemed predecessors, Wilf Meek, Malcolm Huntington and Tony Kelly.

However, it is probably fair to say they have been four of the most eventful years in the club's history.

On pitch matters have rarely risen above the hum-drum but off the pitch and the club's fortunes have plumbed to the deepest depths and scaled to the highest of peaks.

There has rarely been a dull moment and yet when I was installed as York City writer there was not even a whiff of what was to come.

Certainly, if someone had told me that in less than four years the club would be owned and run by the supporters I would have laughed off the prospect.

Douglas Craig was not exactly popular with the fans but independent pressure group FACT - remember them? - had caused a few ripples with their protests but lacked any real mass support.

Bootham Crescent Holdings had been established but a few weeks and its formation and the transfer of ownership of the ground hardly raised an eyebrow.

Financially, the club was arguably the most stable and well-run club in the Football League and had not long announced profits of more than £1million.

Four years on and it would be hard to find a single York City fan with a good word to say about Craig.

Others are culpable, in particular John Batchelor, but make no mistake, City's current problems all stem from the decision to transfer ownership of the Bootham Crescent to a holding company.

The formation of BCH has taken the club to the brink of extinction and has left the club with the very real prospect of having nowhere to play next season - the very thing the company was supposedly set-up to prevent.

Financially, the club is more stable than it has been for sometime but it is still walking a tightrope.

City are perhaps out of intensive care and on the road to recovery but they still have a long way to go before they are given a completely clean bill of health.

And yet for all the uncertainty regarding what lies ahead, would City supporters want it any different?

The club may be sick but in many ways it is in the rudest of health now it is finally owned by the fans.

It has taken the events of the last two years to make the dream of a supporter-owned York City a reality.

Without all the heartache, anger, frustration and uncertainty there would be no Supporters' Trust.

And the last 24 months or so have certainly given the Trust the mandate and confidence to guide the club into a new and exciting era.

I can think of no better body to do just that. The club is now in the safest of hands, if not the wealthiest.

Dreams of a rich benefactor riding into town to bankroll the Minstermen may still occupy the thoughts of a few.

But it is a pipedream, if such a person existed he would surely have come out of the woodwork ten months ago, when the club's future was at its most precarious.

In any case, a reliance on just one individual is a very dangerous path to take, as City found out with Batchelor.

The 'saviour' chairman, who impoverishes himself for the good of football, is a myth. Such creatures are rare and getting rarer.

The one issue to be resolved is the ground and where City will play next season.

Huntington remains unpalatable to many but at least supporters can be assured that whatever decisions are taken they will be done with the best interests of City and City alone in mind.

If I had just one wish it would be to see City still playing at Bootham Crescent next season having regained ownership of their ground.

It seems unlikely, very unlikely.

But if the last four years have proved just one thing it is not to underestimate the supporters of York City.

They have proved anything is possible.

To pinch a line from Rob Havercroft, City's match day announcer; "keep the faith".

Press man Stanford's selection

Best player

Alan Fettis.

Saved City so many points during his time at Bootham Crescent.

City could well have dropped into the Conference without Super Al.

Worst player

Toss up between Craig Skinner and Mark Maley

Skinner just never looked interested.

Asked to play at left wing-back, a right-footed Maley, signed from Sunderland, never looked comfortable, fit or remotely like a former England Schoolboy captain.

Best goal

Darren Edmondson's 35 yard volley in the 1-0 win at Bristol Rovers last season. Dip, swerve, power and accuracy.

Most important goal

Scott Emmerson's match winning strike at Rochdale in February 2001

City had days earlier gone bottom and went to Spotland having lost eight of their previous nine encounters.

Relegation was looming but Emmerson popped up out of nowhere to grab the winner.

It proved to be his only goal for City but after that goal the Minstermen never looked back.

City lost just two more games in their remaining 15 games to beat the drop.

Most significant contribution

A tie between the current management team of Lee Nogan and Chris Brass.

Nogan's first game was the 3-0 defeat at home to Exeter which saw the Minstermen hit rock bottom. City were heading for the Conference and fast.

However, with Nogan now leading the line, City lost just twice in their next 16 games. It was surely no coincidence.

As a player, Brass was instrumental in uniting a squad riven by cliques.

Last season in particular, as captain he held the team together both on and off the pitch.

This year, could City have picked a better man to have as player-boss?

Most memorable game

Not a classic by any standards but the 2-2 draw in April 2001 at Torquay that safeguarded City's Football League status lives long in the memory.

Needing just a point to be certain of safety, City were 1-0 up at the break and looking comfortable.

Torquay grabbed two second-half goals to turn the match on its head.

Suddenly, a testing trip to Shrewsbury and a home game to Kidderminster were looking far less inviting.

However, with virtually the last kick of the game, Graham Potter scored direct from a corner and City were home and dry.

Least memorable game

City's 1-0 surrender to what was, in reality, a Hull City second team, in the LDV Vans Trophy in December 1999.

"York City filled a vacant Bootham Crescent with shame last night...." I penned.

Only 1,005 supporters had bothered to turn-up. They were the unlucky ones.

Best moment covering City

Another tie.

Attending the launch of the Supporters' Trust at the Barbican in February last year.

An emotional night when suddenly everything seemed possible.

Finding out that some £60,000 had been raised in just one February weekend to save the club from extinction.

Worst moment covering City

Yet another tie

Receiving a late night call from a contact, who had just got hold of the document about to be handed out to prospective purchasers of York City from Bootham Crescent Holdings.

It made clear any would-be owner must have to pay £4.5million if they wanted to stay at Bootham Crescent.

Felt sick to the stomach as suddenly the real motives of BCH became apparent.

That sick feeling returned at the first meeting of creditors in the social club earlier this year.

It was supposed to be a formality only for the tax man to demand more dosh and the agony continued.

Funniest moment

When I declined the offer of an autograph from David Beckham.

When City played Manchester United in a pre-season friendly, security officials were trying to whisk Beckham out of Bootham Crescent.

Coming down the players' tunnel, Beckham spotted me with my note book and pen waiting to conduct a few interviews with City players.

Thinking I was waiting to get his signature, the England skipper made to take my pen and sign my notepad, but I pulled it away with a "no thanks, mate".

In the hot seat

DAVE Stanford's successor as the Press's City writer is Dave Flett, 30, who has previously reported Luton Town for the Luton News and Scunthorpe United for the Scunthorpe Telegraph.

Updated: 10:22 Saturday, December 06, 2003