THE sale of York City, announced at the annual general meeting of Bootham Crescent Holdings plc, caught many people by surprise.

However, it was not an overnight decision.

The financial battle to keep the club afloat has always been on the agenda at the board's regular meetings.

City simply spend more money than it generates and their bank won't extend the current overdraft or provide a bridging loan.

The club is not in a financial position to continue after next month and will close.

However, BCH are to fund the club until the end of the season when the City board will resign.

If a buyer is not found by the end of the season - the final League game is at Scunthorpe on April 20 - City will cease to exist.

The financial cards are stacked against the Minstermen - players' wages have shot up and support is falling in response to a poor home record. The average League crowd this season is just 2,603.

Midweek matches often have to compete with big TV games and floating fans appear to be choosing the armchair option. The success of Leeds United just over 30 miles away has had a bearing.

Even if City were to double its crowds overnight it still will be way, way short of breaking even. A break-even figure is believed to be in the region of 6,000 fans each home game.

City have not been well supported even when the club has done well.

In 1983/84 when City racked up a record League points total they averaged 5,008. Their only two seasons in the old Second Division, now the First, in the 1970s pulled in 8,680 and 5,108 on average.

The season they won promotion via Wembley the average home crowd was 3,946. They following year it went up to 4,633 but has fallen away gradually ever since.

City have survived by selling players to bigger clubs, but since the Bosman ruling came into effect, the transfer market has dried up.

Apart from striker Brett Ormerod's £1.7million move from Second Division Blackpool to Southampton in December, there have been hardly any big money moves from the lower divisions in recent years.

Richard Cresswell's transfer to Sheffield Wednesday in March 1999 was City's last big deal. That sale, plus increments paid by Manchester United for Jonathan Greening, and the subsequent sell on fee to Middlesbrough, have kept City in business.

Now the board have no more rabbits to pull out of the hat to keep the club going.

Instead of waiting to go bankrupt they have decided to act now and see if someone else can make a better fist of running the club.

The new owners will not be required to make any payment or assume responsibility for the overdraft and/or bridging loan, but will have to provide certain guarantees and undertake certain obligations.

The City board don't want to say what those guarantees and obligations are at the moment but such details will, presumably, be included in the document which will sent to prospective owners.