'Bah!' 'Humbug!'

"Why would we want to play anywhere other than Bootham Crescent?"

(Douglas Craig, rejecting a ground-share offer, January 2002)

20 December 2001

A Christmas present from Scrooge and Bootham Crescent Holdings - announcing that the club is for sale.

20 December 2002

Club in administration. BCH have offered another Christmas gift: the Huntington Stadium.

Well, cheers, for those generous Christmas gifts.

The official statement from Douglas Craig and the Board in 1996?:

"The Board initially had two options namely to re-develop and improve the existing stadium or move out of York to a green field site. Several years ago the Board decided that a new stadium on a green field site was not financially viable. The subsequent experiences of the York Rugby League Club in moving from Clarence Street to a green field site at Huntington have confirmed that the Board's decision to re-develop and improve the ground at Bootham Crescent was the right one."

2002: They want the club to move to that same site at Huntington.

"I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master-passion, Gain, engrosses you. Have I not?"

Dickens - A Christmas Carol

The ghost of Christmas past might remind Scrooge that 70 years of history at Bootham Crescent means thousands of memories.

The ghost of Christmas present might suggest that BCH sell the ground for a reasonable price to the Trust.

The ghost of Christmas Yet to Come . . . ? Who knows if the majority shareholders of Bootham Crescent Holdings will sleep easily at night, knowing what damage they risk causing to our club and its ground.

In A Christmas Carol, Scrooge saw how miserable his money-oriented life really was. We can only hope that a similar enlightenment will change the ways of Douglas Craig and his BCH partners. Meanwhile, Scrooge's words can mean something to the rest of us, who care about York City FC, and never once wanted to "cash in". Merry Christmas from FoBC, and here's wishing that 2003 sees that all people of the "Scrooge" mentality see the light . . .

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.