YORK City supremo John Batchelor has revealed he is considering installing an artificial playing surface at the Minstermen's future home.

And the new City chairman's hopes of selling 1,500 season tickets for the next campaign are on track following a link-up with club sponsors the Evening Press.

Batchelor, who is still in talks with the City of York Council over two possible locations for a new stadium, was adamant no decision had yet been made on the playing surface at a new ground.

"But when I started looking at the new stadium I also started thinking about how many different uses we can put it to.

"Obviously, if it's plastic we can get more use out of it and it is easier to repair," said the City chief.

"The cost of putting a plastic pitch down is roughly the same as building a completely new grass surface - about £380,000 - but it is maintenance free and commercially it would make sense.

"The question is, will it perform as well as a perfect grass pitch?

"Given that most of the top Premier League clubs now have these plastic pitches installed at their training facilities one is led to believe they must be quite similar to the real thing."

Torquay United have already put in a formal application to the FA and Football League to have a plastic pitch installed in time for the 2003-2004 season with the game's top brass reportedly looking on the application favourably.

"From what I understand, it would probably take two years to get approval and that obviously fits in very well with what we are doing," said Batchelor.

Queens Park Rangers, Luton Town, Preston and Oldham all had plastic pitches during the 1980s before the Football League banned the surfaces.

However, new technology means it is now possible for players to slide tackle on the new surfaces, which are far removed from those football fans remember.

Batchelor said: "Now they are on a rubber base with lose rubber in-fill and you can vary the length of the grass."

At Bootham Crescent, work has already begun to prepare the current pitch for next season. As reported in the Evening Press, groundsman Bryan Horner is due to retire at the end of the week ending an eight year stint at the club.

His replacement, Jeremy Milner, 33, who has previously worked for Leeds United, has started work.

"We have had the pitch drained, the top part removed, levelled off and then we are having it verti-drained and then completely re-seeded," said Batchelor.

"It should be as good as we can do it. We could have spent more but if we do it is money wasted really given that we hope to be moving to a new stadium.

"It just needs to perform better than it did last year."

City's season ticket sales for next season have got off to a flying start thanks to the Evening Press and to the delight of the new City chairman and owner.

"We have sold half of last season's total ticket allocation within a week," said Batchelor after the Press and the club ran a promotion to enable fans to buy next season's tickets at last season's prices.

"And 30 per cent of them are new purchasers, which is a result of the Evening Press promotion. That is especially good news."

The promotion will be re-opened after the club confirmed today that applications for the discounted season tickets will not be processed without the required number of tokens. A new entry form and token will be published in tomorrow's Evening Press.

As reported in later editions of yesterday's Evening Press, City manager Terry Dolan's rebuilding programme continued with Stephen Brackstone pledging his future to the Minstermen.

Updated: 12:24 Wednesday, May 08, 2002