I AM in my early 70's and have watched and read with great interest all the recent happenings at York City and York Rugby League Club. I used to follow both clubs regularly.

I was a great supporter at Clarence Street and remember the days when if both clubs clashed at home on the same Saturday, supporters would run down Hospital Lane over the Glass Railway Bridge to catch a second half. Gates of course in those days were around 10,000.

Will someone tell me where high numbers of supporters are now going to come from? The rugby league club's ex-first team coach, Lee Crooks, told me that when the wind is in a certain direction the players could not hear the crowd unless they make a deafening din. The running track doesn't help at Huntington Stadium.

The supporters club organised amatch-day bus from Acomb to the stadium. Less than a dozen boarded the bus.

In the '50s and '60s men working in York did not have high wages, but they had a few shillings for a pint and ground admission. Today people earn fantastic incomes but they have high mortgages and a high cost of living. So is there going to be enough cash for the increased charges of admission? I doubt it.

Many wives and husbands work at weekends and someone has to look after children. This did not happen in the '50s and '60s. Life has changed.

The number of local lads playing in local sport is tremendous.

So John Batchelor, Roger Dixon and Steve Ferres, I ask, where are all those thousands of supporters going to come from?

I am not a pessimist. I would truly love to see York City and York Rugby rise again and become the proud clubs they once were - but I have my doubts.

John A Croft,

Brockfield Park Drive,

York.

Updated: 12:44 Friday, June 21, 2002