Bootham Crescent

York City F.C. played at Fulfordgate in Fulford, on the southern outskirts of York, from 1922 to 1932.[1] It was difficult for most supporters to reach, being a good distance from the railway station, and the tram service to Fulford only had a single track.[2] Attendances declined in the club's second and third seasons in the Football League, which the directors blamed on Fulfordgate's location.[1] One director, G. W. Halliday, became convinced that the only solution was to move to a new ground.[3] York Cricket Club left Bootham Crescent, their home for around 50 years, for a new ground at Wigginton Road in January 1932.[4][5] Preliminary discussions and visits to Bootham Crescent took place,[3] and the directors believed that renting the ground would be cheaper than repaying the debts on Fulfordgate.[1] Further, Bootham Crescent was situated near the centre of the city, and the population living within a mile of the site was, at 30,000, 10 times that within a similar radius of Fulfordgate.[3] However, two former directors argued that attendances at many grounds had fallen during the Great Depression, and that the approaches and surrounds to Bootham Crescent were limited.[1]

2015 Ordnance Survey map, showing the ground's irregular shape, and how it is hemmed in from four sides

The directors were unanimous that a change should be made, and a special meeting of the shareholders was held on 26 April 1932.[3] The move to Bootham Crescent on a 21-year lease was approved by 115 votes to 37.[6] The site of York's new home was of an irregular shape and was hemmed in from four sides, with a narrow track to the south, barracks to the west, a school and almhouses to the north and terraced houses to the east.[1] Nonetheless, the grounds of the city's football, cricket and rugby league teams were now within a few hundred yards of each other.[1] The ground was renovated over the summer of 1932; the area was drained and then built to the design of local architects Ward & Leckenby.[7] The Popular Stand was erected on the west side using sections of the terrace cover at Fulfordgate, with the Main Stand built opposite.[1] Terraces were banked up in the wedge-shaped areas behind the goals.[1] After four months of construction, Bootham Crescent was ready for the 1932–33 season,[7] with an initial capacity of over 30,000.[8]

The ground was officially opened on 31 August 1932, when York played Stockport County in a Third Division North match.[7] The club president, Sir John Hunt, marked the occasion by cutting a ribbon of the club's colours of chocolate and cream.[7] In attendance were the Lord Mayor of York, the Sheriff of York, the vice-president of the Football League, the treasurer of the Football Association (FA) and the local Member of Parliament.[8] York player Tom Mitchell scored the first goal at the ground in a 2–2 draw, played before 8,106 supporters.[9] In the first four seasons at Bootham Crescent, attendances were not higher, and were sometimes lower than at Fulfordgate.[10] There were problems with the ground in its early years; the quality of the pitch was questioned,[10] and the Lincolnshire Echo remarked in April 1937 that the pitch was "almost a morass, with extensive pools of water in front of the goals".[11] There was an incident in March 1934 where the referee and linesmen were found unconscious in their dressing room, due to fumes from a faulty heater.[10]

The ground first hosted a match against First Division opposition on 12 January 1935 when York played Derby County in an FA Cup third-round match, which set a new club record attendance of 13,612.[7] Attendance records were set at four successive stages of the 1937–38 FA Cup, culminating in the 28,123 attendance for the sixth-round match against Huddersfield Town on 5 March 1938.[7] By now the ground's capacity was around 23,000, and seats were placed around the pitch to accommodate more fans.[12] During the Second World War, the tunnel at the back of the Popular Stand was used as an air-raid shelter for pupils and staff of Shipton Street School.[7] The ground was slightly damaged after the air-raid on York in April 1942, when houses along the Shipton Street End were bombed.[7] Considerable improvements were made in the immediate post-war period.[13] Deeper drainage and the concreting of the banking at the Grosvenor Road End were completed, and loudspeaking equipment was installed.[13]

Entrance to the ground (1992 picture), with the Main Stand visible to the left of the entrance sign

It was announced at the shareholders' annual meeting in September 1948 that York had purchased Bootham Crescent for £4,075, with the club's finances in a strong position at the time.[13] Bigger crowds were recorded around the country in the post-war period, and York achieved five-figure average attendances in 1948–49 and 1955–56.[14] Over the late 1940s and early 1950s, concreting was completed on the terracing in the Popular Stand, due to the efforts of the supporters' club, and the Shipton Street End.[13] York reached the semi-final of the 1954–55 FA Cup, and two matches from this run were played at Bootham Crescent: the first-round match against Scarborough, which York won 3–2, and the fifth-round match against Tottenham Hotspur, which was won 3–1 before a crowd of 21,000.[15] During the summer of 1955, the Main Stand was extended towards Shipton Street, funded by profits gained from the FA Cup run and a stand extension fund.[16]

A concrete wall was built at the Grosvenor Road End for over £3,000 in 1956, as a safety precaution and as a support for additional banking and terracing.[17] These improvements saw capacity extended to 23,600.[18] Two FA Cup ties against First Division opposition were held at the ground in 1957–58: Birmingham City were beaten 3–0, followed by a 0–0 draw with Bolton Wanderers, which drew a capacity crowd of 23,600.[18] Floodlights were installed at the ground in the summer of 1959, costing £14,500, a substantial part of which was raised by a supporters' club.[17] They were officially switched on for a friendly against Newcastle United on 28 October 1959, which Newcastle won 8–2 before a crowd of 9,414.[19]

The Shipton Street end in 1976.

York reached the quarter-final of the 1961–62 League Cup, and in the earlier rounds beat Bristol City, Leicester City, Watford and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic at Bootham Crescent.[20] The half-time scoreboard at the Shipton Street End ceased to be used by 1965, but remained as advertising boarding.[19] On 5 May 1969, referee Roy Harper collapsed and died on the pitch during a match against Halifax Town.[21] Seats were installed in the Popular Stand for 1974–75, York's first season in the Second Division.[22] This increased the ground's seating capacity to 2,762,[22] but meant the overall capacity was reduced to 16,529.[10] The floodlights were updated and improved for £20,000, and were officially switched on by former Wolverhampton Wanderers player Derek Dougan for a friendly with Grimsby Town on 1 August 1980.[22] A gymnasium was built at the Grosvenor Road End for £50,000 early in 1981, and to help towards this York received £15,000 from the Sports Council and £20,000 from the Football League Improvement Trust.[22] In the summer of 1983, new offices for the manager, secretary, matchday and lottery manager were built, along with a vice-presidents' lounge.[22] The lounge was officially opened by Jack Dunnett, the chairman of the Football League, prior to a match against Wrexham in November 1983.[22]

By the early 1980s cracks had appeared in the wall built at the back of the Grosvenor Road End.[22] The rear of the terracing was cordoned off, and the capacity of the ground reduced to under 13,500.[22] The Grosvenor Road End was segregated and allocated to away supporters, and fencing was erected for the first time before the FA Cup match against Liverpool in February 1985.[22] All the fencing had been dismantled by the early 2000s.[22] During the 1983–84 and 1984–85 seasons, problems had arisen in handling big crowds, due to the ground having only two of four sides available for entry and exit, and the home supporters funnelling through the car park to the Shipton Street End.[22] Extensive improvements were made in the summer of 1985 for approximately £100,000, and eight new turnstiles were installed at the Shipton Street End.[22] Further, the dressing rooms were refurbished to incorporate new baths and showers, and a new referees' changing room and physiotherapist's treatment room were readied.[22] Hospitality boxes were built into the Main Stand during 1986–87, and video equipment was installed inside the ground.[22] Crash barriers were strengthened, meaning ground safety requirements were met.[22] These improvements meant that shortly before the Taylor Report was published, the ground's capacity was 14,109, including 3,059 seats.[10] However, by September 1989, the capacity had been increased to 14,628.[22]

David Longhurst Stand (2007 picture) opened in 1990, after a stand was built on the Shipton Street End.

The ground's major drawback was the lack of covered standing accommodation at the Shipton Street End, but the cost of erecting a stand had been prohibitive.[23] The Shipton Street Roof Appeal was launched in the spring of 1988 to raise money for a stand, and fundraising schemes were put into place.[23] On 8 September 1990, York player David Longhurst collapsed and died from heart failure during a match against Lincoln City at Bootham Crescent.[23][24] With the approval of his family, the David Longhurst Memorial Fund was launched, and all donations were added to the monies already raised for the roof appeal.[23] The Football Trust contributed half of the £150,000 cost of the stand, and it was constructed in the summer of 1991.[23] The David Longhurst Stand was officially opened on 14 October 1991 in a friendly match against Leeds United, which was watched by a crowd of 4,374.[23]

The Family Stand was opened in the Main Stand in 1992, and manager John Ward ran the London Marathon to help raise funds for the project.[23] Bootham Crescent first hosted a play-off match when York beat Bury 1–0 on 19 May 1993 in the Third Division play-off semi-final; the attendance of 9,206 was the ground's highest in seven years.[25] During 1993–94 the Main Stand paddock was seated and covered, and the recent work to the stand cost £220,000.[10] The ground's capacity fell to 9,459, including seating for 3,645, after the renovations to the David Longhurst and Main Stands.[26] In May 1995, a new drainage system was installed for £11,000, to improve the quality of the pitch during winter.[27][28] New floodlights were installed in June 1995 at a cost of £122,000, and despite being shorter in height were twice as powerful as the original floodlights.[23][27] A water tower was installed in the late 1990s, to further help the pitch quality.[28]

In July 1999, York's real property assets, including Bootham Crescent, were transferred to a holding company called Bootham Crescent Holdings (BCH) for £165,000.[29][30] Chairman Douglas Craig put the ground and the club up for sale for £4.5 million in December 2001.[31] It was announced that the ground would close by 30 June 2002, and talks were held over a move to Huntington Stadium.[32] In March 2002, the club was bought by John Batchelor; he said York could continue at Bootham Crescent until a new stadium was built,[33] when in fact the previous 25-year lease was replaced with one that would expire in June 2003.[34] Batchelor spoke of building a new stadium at Clifton Moor, and Persimmon, who held 10% of the shares in BCH, submitted planning applications for 93 homes on the site of Bootham Crescent.[33][35] In March 2003, York extended their lease of the ground to May 2004, and under the ownership of the Supporters' Trust proceeded with plans to move to Huntington Stadium.[36][37] Planning problems arose with bringing the ground up to Football League standards, and the club preferred to stay at Bootham Crescent.[38] York bought Bootham Crescent in February 2004, after a £2 million loan from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF) was secured.[39]

The entrance as KitKat Crescent in 2006

York were relegated to the Conference National for 2004–05,[38] which brought an end to 72 years of Football League football at Bootham Crescent.[40] In January 2005 the ground was renamed KitKat Crescent, as part of a sponsorship deal under which Nestlé donated £100,000 to the club.[41] This money went towards covering the shortfall the club faced paying BCH directors, Persimmon and stamp duty when buying the ground.[42] The ground was still commonly referred to as Bootham Crescent.[28] The deal expired in January 2010, when Nestlé ended all their sponsorship arrangements with the club.[43] York returned to the Football League for 2012–13, and their first League Two match at Bootham Crescent was a 3–1 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers on 18 August 2012, before a 4,591 crowd.[44] The club was relegated to the National League for 2016–17, ending a four-year spell back in the Football League.[45] The final game to be played at Bootham Crescent saw York City host Guiseley AFC with York centre-back Josh King scoring the only goal of the game which unknowingly became the final goal there.[46] A charity match played on 24 April 2021 raised £4000 for local charities.[47] The ground had not been subject to any major investment since the 1990s,[48] and faced problems with holes in the Main Stand roof, crumbling in the Grosvenor Road End, drainage problems and toilet conditions.[49][50]

Bootham Crescent was officially handed to Persimmon Homes in April 2022 [51] and demolition began within weeks.[52]