BETTER late than never but the week that was can only be described as a good one for York City.

Two home wins and six goals scored ended a season-long drought of no more than two strikes in a home game this season from the men in red and a four-year wait for a three goal margin of victory at Bootham Crescent.

On the back of such an impressive run of home form, City are assured a position of mid-table respectability even ahead of this afternoon's game at Scunthorpe to make the fact that relegation remained an issue for so long mind-boggling.

Indeed, should City win today and rivals Hull City lose then the Minstermen could even move level with the Tigers on 60 points - no mean feat when you consider the vast amounts of money Hull splashed out in pre-season in a bid for promotion and the fact that City have suffered such off-field turmoil.

And there has been further cause for optimism, with some of the fog surrounding John Batchelor's take-over of the Minstermen starting to lift.

Of course, the Evening Press has given plenty of encouragement and support to the new chairman's plans and vision in recent weeks.

But it would be fair to say there had been growing speculation about just what the actual deal between Batchelor and the previous owners Bootham Crescent Holdings entailed.

As reported in later editions of Tuesday's Evening Press, the motor-racing chief's control of the club has now been given a legal seal of approval.

With the formal transfer of the ownership of the club complete, so too is phase one of the 'transitional period' which has seen former chairman Douglas Craig, and club directors Barry Swallow, Colin Webb and Josh Easby remain on the board of the club.

Although this week's announcement means the quartet have not yet cut their ties with the club, the end of the 'transitional period' has moved a significant step closer.

"We are now into the planning section of the transitional period," said Batchelor.

The 'planning section' obviously centres around the location and the need for planning permission for the new ground and what will happen to Bootham Crescent.

Batchelor has already revealed a twin application for Bootham Crescent and for the new stadium so that both applications running alongside one another will be submitted.

A statement from commercial law firm Denison Till, who completed the "multi-million pound" deal that formalised Batchelor's take-over of the club, states the deal involves "the transfer of shares and property, a sponsorship arrangement and use of Bootham Crescent, the club's ground, free of charge".

That suggests the ground is still owned by Bootham Crescent Holdings, whose majority shareholders are Craig, Swallow, Webb and former club director John Quickfall.

However, while further details of the structure are remaining under wraps for the time being, more are expected to be revealed by the club over the summer.

The Denison Till corporate team, who were acting on behalf of Bootham Crescent Holdings, was led by partner Tony Ridge and the property team by partner Sally Robinson.

Ridge said: "The directors, while they wanted to get a proper price, were also very concerned that football should continue in York.

"The deal was structured in a way which made this possible.

"Being able to secure use of the ground free of charge as part of the deal also provides a basis for the club to go forward.

"If John Batchelor's plans come to fruition there could be a new dawn of football at a new stadium. Personally, I find it hard to see how Bootham Crescent could have continued as a suitable venue."

Updated: 12:00 Saturday, April 20, 2002