YORK City’s supporters have guaranteed the continuation of the club’s junior side.

Donations from the York Minstermen’s spring raffle and the annual darts tournament have ensured the £10,000 target, needed to meet a shortfall in funding the youth team, has now been met.

The money has been raised following an appeal launched in April by first team coach driver Colin Swann.

Since then a deluge of donations have been pledged to the KitKat Crescent club, with City fan and ITV commentator Jon Champion contributing £1,000 towards the survival of a youth policy that has included the likes of top-flight stars Jonathan Greening and Richard Cresswell as its graduates.

Last season also saw teenagers Andy McWilliams, Liam Shepherd and Adam Boyes all make their first-team debuts for City, with the latter ending his season on trial at Manchester United.

The spring raffle, organised by York Minstermen stalwart Ian Tyssen, raised £1,420, with the darts competition, sponsored by Ward’s Hygenic Cleaning, also resulting in a three-figure sum.

A happy Nick Bassett, City’s club secretary, said: “Since Colin Swann kicked off the appeal, we have had 32 separate donations, which have ranged from £10 to the biggest single donation of £1,000.

“It’s fantastic the way people have rallied around and sent in extra bits of money with their season ticket applications. Opening the mail to find a cheque for £500 was a very pleasant surprise.

“We’ve had people run half-marathons for the cause and it just goes to show that an awful lot of people regard the continuation of our youth team as a very serious matter.

“Its success was seen last season with players who had come through the Centre of Excellence going on to make their first-team debuts and Adam Boyes’ subsequent trial at Manchester United.

“I would like to thank everybody for their efforts and the timing of reaching the target could not have been better, with the youth team players starting pre-season training this week.”