THE mystery would-be purchaser still to make a formal bid for York City today paid tribute to John Batchelor but insisted he would have no role in the club should their take-over prove successful.

A representative of the millionaire businessman, based in the north of England, admitted Batchelor had proved instrumental in alerting them to City's plight.

"He was very persistent and instrumental in bringing us to the table. Without him knocking on the door it is safe to say we would probably not be here," he said.

"However, if we are successful in achieving our goals then Mr Batchelor will not be part of our team."

Batchelor admitted last week he was working closely with both prospective purchasers. It is understood he is still helping the one firm bidder 'to move the situation forward'.

Despite having still to submit a formal offer to the administrators, the spokesman for the north-based would-be owner was adamant they were still working towards buying the ground from Bootham Crescent Holdings and acquiring the football club.

"As each day goes by we are resolving another problem but there are only so many hours in the day and we still have a lot of issues to clarify. It really is like a jigsaw puzzle" he said.

To that end, earlier this week a second round of talks took place with planners from the City of York Council.

It is also understood a meeting was organised with developers Persimmon, who have a conditional agreement to buy Bootham Crescent.

"We have also been talking to the Supporters' Trust, Douglas Craig and the other Bootham Crescent Holdings directors which should prove we are not playing silly games," said the spokesman.

"We can only apologise to the fans for wishing to remain anonymous at the moment.

"But as with all business deals the negotiations can sometimes be delicate.

"All I would ask is that they continue to support the Trust, the club and the team and if we are successful we will ensure York City has a football club to be proud of for another 81 years."

The spokesman confirmed their plan would involve acquiring Bootham Crescent from BCH but amid speculation as to their motives insisted their intentions were honourable.

"The club has got to be at Bootham Crescent for the next three to five years at least and our priority has to be the ground. There is no point in having a football club if you do not have a ground to play at," he said.

"We are both footballing people but we are also business people and in today's game you cannot have one without the other."

Updated: 13:04 Wednesday, January 22, 2003