York City fans were today left reeling by the shock announcement that football at Bootham Crescent could be no more after this season.

Paul Rawnsley, chair of Monday night's public meeting and a now a member of the working party set up to look at establishing a Supporters' Trust, said he was "disturbed" by the announcement that new owners of the club would be required to quit the ground.

"The supporters were really united at Monday night's public meeting and everyone was focused on achieving the creation of a Trust," he said.

"Now, if the Supporters' Trust does acquire the Club, in whole or in part, the rebuilding of relations with fans, businesses and the local community will be more difficult. "The initial proposals issued by the directors of Bootham Crescent Holdings plc do not appear to be in the best interests of York City."

Rawnsley added: "Fans of York City do not want to see the club kicked out of its home.

Most fans will consider that it is not right that the accrued value of the assets of the Club, purchased over the last 70 years, should now - potentially- be going into the pockets of a few individuals.

"Bootham Crescent has been our home since 1932. The supporters have invested in the site both financially and emotionally for 70 years. Along with the training ground it was acquired and paid for by the Club.

"The increase in value of these assets is largely due to the good fortune of location. It does not result from the management of the business over the past ten years."

Despite the bombshell announcement, Rawnsley insisted the supporters' bid to step up a trust goes on and he did not rule out the fans trying to raise the capital needed - £4.5million - to buy the ground and club.

"The Bootham Crescent issue was always one to be dealt with by the Save City Committee, although today's announcement provides some new challenges," he said.

"Clearly, we will be investigating a number of aspects surrounding the movement of assets between the two companies, including legal, corporate governance, football governing body rules and moral matters.

"At the same time there are a number of practical issues arising from the document that need to be addressed, such as the location of home matches for next season.

"On the face of it the club will be homeless and will have to groundshare somewhere outside York, and the costs, funding and practicalities of developing Huntington Stadium or an alternative site.

"We will also explore the option of raising sufficient finance to acquire ownership of both Bootham Crescent and the Club."Over the next few weeks, I hope we can work with the directors of Bootham Crescent Holdings to find a solution to help to ensure survival of a professional football club in York at Bootham Crescent for the 2002/03 season onwards."

Updated: 10:11 Wednesday, January 09, 2002