supporters of York City Football Club look likely to fight the battle for the club's long-term survival on two fronts.

Fans threw their weight behind an effort by the club's trustees to improve upon council plans to relocate it to Huntington Stadium at a public meeting last night.

But football lovers also showed they were willing to fight a simultaneous rearguard action at Bootham Crescent to try to preserve the site as a sporting facility.

David Allison, of Friends of Bootham Crescent, told 70 people at the Priory Street Centre that "fan power" could fuel a challenge to deeply unpopular plans to transform the city centre stadium into housing.

He criticised City of York Council for - in his view - failing to offer clear and unequivocal backing for the club, which he said played a huge role in the city's culture and prosperity.

He said: "There's nothing wrong with going along with these Huntington plans, but there's nothing stopping us fighting for Bootham Crescent as well - it's our home."

In a show of hands, no-one at the meeting gave support to the council's four-stage proposals to move the club to Huntington to share it with Nestl Rowntree Athletics Club and York City Knights by next season.

But no clear consensus emerged as to how the club would successfully secure its future with few bargaining chips and the deadline for leaving Bootham Crescent at the end of the new season fast approaching.

Councillor Keith Orrell stressed that the clock was ticking and that the club must move quickly with its own carefully-considered plans for the Huntington ground.

Green party leader Mark Hill said supporters should continue to try to block plans to build at Bootham Crescent. So far more than 1,600 letters of objection and comment have been received by the council.

He said: "I think the Bootham Crescent site is ideal, it encourages supporters to come by public transport. To force people to travel another two miles to Huntington would affect tourism revenue."

Speaking on behalf of the club, Jason McGill said that securing the future of York City should not be to the detriment of any other sporting body.

He said: "It's very clear and important to us that we want all sports to survive, succeed and flourish in York and it's imperative that we have the support of our local authority to help us do this."

Mike Shannon, who spoke for the board of directors of York City Supporters Trust, said he was "absolutely thrilled" with the "energy and urgency" that the club had shown so far in tackling the challenges it faces.

Updated: 10:22 Wednesday, July 23, 2003