Bootham Crescent Holdings
"In the absence of any buyer therefore, I am more than happy to carry on but I should point out that I do have an alternative. It is one, however, at which I am sure all the decent loyal supporters of the club would be horrified should I contemplate taking it. The alternative, put bluntly, is that I should use my share-holding to start a campaign to close the club down."
Douglas Craig, Chairman, December 1999
You would assume a club with an 70 year tenancy in one location owns its own ground, or at least has some kind of security. Not so, not anymore.
In 1999, the board of York City Football Club, led by Chairman Douglas Craig, formed a separate company - Bootham Crescent Holdings (BCH) - and separated the ownership of the ground from the club. This, we were informed, was to "safeguard the assets". Minority shareholders may have raised concerns, but it is difficult to argue with majority shareholders.
"No-one who owns a shareholding of 75% or more is likely to take kindly to being told what he must or must not do. "
Douglas Craig, February 2001
In December 2001, York City Football Club was put up for sale, with Chairman Douglas Craig simultaneously announcing that he and the other members of the board intended to resign at the end of the season. (Full statement, from the Evening Press website).
BCH annou