THE cut-price season ticket offer announced in this column last week got tongues wagging almost as much as tills ringing.

Never look a gift horse in the mouth they say, and watching City for a fiver next season when possibly - hopefully - the Minstermen are in Division Two was obviously too good an opportunity to miss for fans.

So far and with the offer due to close on Tuesday around 250 tickets have been sold with more fans expected to take up the offer during today's game at home to Oxford United.

However, while many supporters have been quick to snap up the half-price tickets there has been unease in some quarters at the thinking behind it.

A thank-you to the fans, gimmick, or a short-term way of papering over some financial cracks in the City accounts - take your pick.

The latter suggestion, if true, would be of obvious concern, realising the possibility that income for next season will be already expended by the time the 2003-2004 season gets underway.

Not so, according to City chairman John Batchelor, who this week revealed to the Evening Press that some big sponsorship deals that should end City's reliance on gate receipts are in the pipeline.

"I think we have to run the club in much the same way as I run my motor-racing team," explained the City chief.

"By which, I mean that we need to use the exposure that the racing team gets to bring big sponsorship deals in to the football club.

"By doing this - and we are already well down the road to achieving it with several high-street names - we can finance the club to a much higher level.

"It also frees the club from its reliance on attendance figures and gate receipts.

"With sponsorship pending, this means that income achieved now can be used to strengthen the squad as we push towards promotion this season."

IF CITY are to ever play at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff they better get a move on.

In the wake of this week's announcement that the rebuilding of Wembley is due to finally get underway the Football League has already committed its five annual finals - the League Play-offs, the Worthington Cup and The LDV Vans Trophy - to the new stadium for a period of 20 years.

The agreement will begin as soon as the new stadium is completed, though in the meantime Cardiff will continue to host the League's finals.

The new Wembley is expected to be complete in time for the 2006 FA Cup final, giving City just four more seasons to make their mark at the Millennium Stadium before London calls again.

On the subject of Wembley, after years of wrangling it is good news indeed that the building of the 'best stadium' in the world is at last to get underway.

England, the home of football, deserves and needs a national stadium.

But it just had to be London didn't it?

Anything north of Watford would be just too much of a trek out of the capital for Crozier and Co., but if ticket prices don't put off the ordinary fan then surely the travel costs will.

More importantly, £750million seems an exorbitant amount to spend on just one building.

If it isn't 'the best' at that price I'd be disappointed.

It also works out at more than £100million per Football League club.

Given all the financial uncertainty surrounding the game, and particularly clubs in the lower reaches, just a fraction of the sum would safeguard all clubs for ever.

York City Ladies made it a hat-trick of wins with an 11-0 thumping of Norton at Bootham Crescent.

After a 5-1 win over Preston and a 5-2 victory over Wakefield, it means the City Ladies have scored 21 goals at an average of seven a game so far in their Yorkshire and Humberside Premier League campaign.

Jenny Garnett and 16-year-old Louise Ross both scored four goals each against Norton - Garnett grabbing her hat-trick within the first 30 minutes.

Skipper Kelly Chesterton set up three goals and added a brace of her own with substitute Tina Reeve also getting on the scoresheet.

The women are next in action tomorrow, when they travel to take on Doncaster Rovers.

WITH a hat-trick of long away days next month, the club has announced a special offer for fans travelling with the City Travel Club.

Exeter is next up on October 5, followed by Southend on October 12 and Bournemouth away on October 26.

Booking for all three trips at once will cost £55 for Travel Club members and £65 for non-Travel Club members, saving £10.50 and £12.50 respectively.

For further details visit the club shop at Bootham Crescent or telephone 0870 777 1922.

IT'S NOT going to be too long before thoughts start turning to Christmas and presents.

One possible stocking filler for Minstermen fans is the recently published York City Memoirs.

There are less than 100 copies of the book, which charts City's history through the eyes of ex-players, on sale.

Around 40 copies are available in the programme shop at Bootham Crescent, while author Gary Beckett has around 50 copies at his Surrey home.

For every £10 copy sold, Beckett has promised to donate £2 to the City Supporters' Trust.

They can be bought from the programme shop or by writing to Beckett at 37 Cambridge Road, West Molesey, Surrey KT8 2AU. If ordering by post an extra £2.50 is required to cover mailing costs.

The book features contributions from the likes of Jon McCarthy, Gary Swann, Keith Walwyn, Jack Pinder, Alf Patrick, Sid Storey, Norman Wilkinson, Barry Jackson, Chris Topping, Keith Houchen, Steve Tutill, Paul Stancliffe, John Ward and Paul Barnes.

THIS column featured Argentinian Hernan Cunzo and his love for the Minstermen last season.

He visited York in June 2001 and quickly fell in love with York and its football club.

He now lives in Spain but still keeps up to date with City's exploits via the Internet and plans a return visit to Bootham Crescent in the future.

In the meantime, Hernan would like to hear from any City fan able to send him a video of the Minstermen in action this season.

He can be contacted via his e-mail address, which is : Hernan_Cunzo@jdedwards.com

Updated: 10:10 Saturday, September 28, 2002