YORK CITY chairman John Batchelor enjoyed his first match at the helm of The Minstermen on Saturday as the team recorded a comfortable 2-0 win over Darlington at Bootham Crescent. From The Yorkshire Evening Press.

Despite being the club's home for the last seventy years, most fans recognise the need for City to relocate, something which Batchelor will be addressing straight away.

One of his first projects will be to get work underway on a new multi-purpose stadium that will be home to the football club.. "I appreciate that the hearts of many of our fans will lie with Bootham Crescent but I think that most of them appreciate deep down that the only way we are going to be able to move forward is with a move away to a new state of the art stadium.

"We have plans in place for a 15,000 capacity stadium for the football club, and we will be relocating the race team there too. We are currently speaking to the local council about what they would like to see included in the development and hope to announce definite plans in the near future."

He also plans to substantially improve the standard of the playing squad, "In conjunction with my financial backers I plan to strengthen the playing squad in order to ensure we turn things around at the club. We have been languishing near the bottom of the league for too long now and we need to start aiming higher.

"With a city the size of York there really is no limit on our potential and, although we are a long way from Premiership standard, we must think big if we are going to turn things around. With this deal the club will at last have the financial clout to ensure that our achievements on the field match the huge potential that we have."

All this talk of major investment could easily be seen as a pipedream, it wouldn’t be the first time that a football club was taken over by someone promising miracles. The difference in this case is that Batchelor is not promising miracles; sure he is setting high goals, but they are all achievable with the right backing. He asks that he be judged on his past results and when you look at what has been achieved with the race team in such a short space of time you realise that he usually delivers the goods. As if to prove this he casually drops into the conversation that he has a new sponsor committed to a seven figure combined football and race team sponsorship deal. It will be an interesting, if somewhat busy, year ahead for the man formerly known as B&Q.

Yes, I am aware of it and I will be exploring all sorts of other avenues in terms of relationships with other clubs, although obviously not excluding Sunderland with whom we have had a very stable relationship.

John Batchelor replies:

Well Max, if you have a look at my race team website which is at www.bandqsi.com you will see that we have an excellent relationship with our fans and I think what we have planned at York will probably build the best relationship between a football club and its supporters in the country.

I don’ think the sale will fall through.

I do think it will have under-soil heating but it is unlikely it will have a retractable roof. However, it is something I would be willing to look into. I’ve no idea what that would add to the cost.

John Batchelor replies:

Okay John, in the short to medium term we have no problem and providing that we can build a new stadium in a relatively short space of time then York City抯 future is assured. As far as the second part of the question is concerned, yes I agree!

Yes, we are looking at it now!

I don’ think I can discuss individual employees futures until I am in the position of chairman. However, as far as attracting new supporters is concerned, in the immediate short-term and whilst we are still at Bootham Crescent we need to take the club out into the community and remind York it actually has a professional football club and without wishing to detract business away from one of my sponsors, there are other places to be on Saturday afternoons apart from B&Q!

John Batchelor replies:

We hope to complete the deal this week.

There is no limit to the potential of York City and in a city of this size I don抰 think 15,000 is an unrealistic expectation for crowds providing we can give them something good to look at.

The new stadium will be a 15,000 capacity, initially however not all-seater.

We are trying to involve big, local firms and once we have control of the club we expect to be in a position to make some interesting announcements - one in particular!

We have asked the City council what they would like us to put in the new stadium as additional resources for the city.

Yes I am looking to replicate the successful model at Rushden and Diamonds and improve on it.

If we have to invest this much in the club then it can only be in our interest that it is a success, whatever it takes.

I am very confident that this is a new dawn for York City. When the conditions of sale were announced by Douglas Craig in January it was a total bombshell. However, since then the supporters and community have rallied round, we have created a Supporters’ Trust that will play a pivotal role in the future of the club and now a sound buyer has stepped forward - things are looking a lot more promising. The Trust was very impressed with John’s bid. He has developed a strong business plan and has a lot of innovative and exciting commercial ideas. I think the key aspect is that John’s bid and aspirations are very long-term and this isn’t just a short-term solution to save the club.

John Batchelor replies:

I refer you to the answer that I gave to Lee Watson.

Enough to ensure that the side is substantially strengthened.

We are actually going to improve the standard and offer a better atmosphere in to watch it. We will bring a cultural change to the club that is very customer-focused.

John Batchelor replies:

No we won’t be sharing with the rugby league club but we will be improving the pitch at Bootham Crescent, even if we are only there in the short-term. As far as the rest of the questions are concerned, as we are in the middle of negotiations I don’t think it would be appropriate to comment.

Sophie McGill adds: With regards to the issue of encouraging students, we, the Trust, will support all initiatives to bring more students to Bootham Crescent. Throughout our campaign, we have had great support from the students within York and are featured regularly in the York University publication Vision. The Supporters of York City can only welcome a move to sign up to the Kick Racism Out of Football charter. As a club, we have received so much negative publicity over the years regarding this issue, let’s put York City in the news for all the right reasons.

Details of the take-over will almost certainly be subject to a confidentiality clause. However, where possible I will make known the names of the individuals who will become board members of York City Football Club.

Sophie McGill replies: The Supporters’ Trust and John have drawn up a memorandum of understanding. Once the club is acquired by John that will come into force. At this stage, we have received a number of verbal assurances from John at various meetings and are operating very much as a working partnership. We are confident that the deal will go through. However, as members of the working party we have a responsibility to all members of the Trust, the fan base, and the community and therefore do have a contingency plan in place. Throughout the campaign, we have been in talks with a number of parties and these negotiations will continue until we are sure the club is saved.

Football clubs are businesses and if they are to avoid constant crisis they have to be run within their income. Having for example, wages which are 180 per cent of income is totally unsustainable. With regards to your second question, we have a great deal of scope but I can’t be any more specific at this stage.

John is very media-conscious which is definitely a good thing. The current regime have had little understanding of public relations and the valuable relationship that can be developed between a football club and the media. Although John is not YET a York City supporter he does have the club’s best interests at heart. This has been made evident by his willingness to work with the Trust and therefore listen to the opinions of the fan base. This will be strengthened by his offer to appoint two supporters to the board - at last the fans/ customers will have a voice.

Yes!

With regards sponsorship, we will be announcing two major new sponsors who will be supporting both the football club and the racing team. I see the role for the trust as being assisting in communicating the actions of the club to the fan base and helping in all areas relating to moving the club forward. And no I won’t be changing my name to John Yorkie - unless Nestle move quickly otherwise it could John Terry Chocolate Orange!!

Changing the culture on and off the pitch.

We are a bunch of average supporters and therefore felt as every other York City supporter has about the actions of the board of Bootham Crescent Holdings. However, we have felt it has been imperative to maintain communications between ourselves and Douglas Craig to ensure a positive outcome for the club. At the end of the day, he is the man selling the club and we are part of John’s bid to acquire the club. Out of a crisis situation, I am pleased to say that this could be the best thing that has ever happened to York City. Let’s look forward to a bright future.

John Batchelor replies:

It is true to say that we are THE party team in the paddock and if anyone wants to come to one of our parties they will first need to get a medical certificate from their doctor and go into intense training. Indeed I have to make sure that I smoke at least 20 a day and drink a bottle of wine even in the off-season just to make sure I don’t get caught out through lack of fitness!!

Yes we can, and we will do whatever it takes!

John Batchelor replies:

Any current shareholder wishing to retain ownership can do so. Please contact me should we be successful in our bid.