YORK City Knights fans are to get the show on the road as they try to drum up more support for the club.

Fans will this week launch a Knights roadshow to visit pubs and clubs across York to sell the new professional club to potential supporters.

It is all part of a membership drive by the Knights as they try to raise the £250,000 that they believe is a necessary foundation for a successful club.

The drive is being led by long-time supporter Jim Bone, who is among those fans co-opted onto the Knights fundraising committee.

As reported by the Evening Press, the structure of the new club shies away from the normal plc-style to a more fan-led organisation. And popular supporter Bone heads up the section of the committee charged with increasing membership.

Bone said: "We've got to get out to the people of York and not always ask them to come to us.

"We want to get the message over about the new club, its aims and who's involved.

"We're trying to get over a positive message and let people know we've got a decent business package and other things with that.

"There are still some people who don't believe that we're going to exist and I find that quite amazing after the coverage we've had. Yes, we want more members but another of the main aims of this is to let people know what we're all about."

The first roadshow will be held at St Clements Workingmen's Club in South Bank on Wednesday October 23, starting at 7.30pm.

Bone will be accompanied by the Knights' chief executive, Steve Ferres, and other members of the Supporters' Committee, while future roadshows might see player-coach Paul Broadbent and other players turn up.

"We're hoping to hold about five or six before the start of the season on January 19," explained Bone.

"We're wanting to take the roadshow to each area of York, to Acomb, Haxby, Huntington, Tang Hall, etc, so that people all over the city can hear what's happening and meet the people trying to put the club together.

"Because the season is set to start in January rather than March as previously expected, it means we've got less time to work in.

"The message is, the more members we can get and the more people who get involved in the lottery, in advertising, etc, the better the club will be. It will also affect what kind of team we can turn out in the first season."

He added: "It's nice of the clubs to work with us and let us stage the roadshow on their premises and hopefully it will all have a positive effect."

Updated: 11:27 Saturday, October 19, 2002