York City boss Martin Foyle refuses to pay transfer fee for Gainsborough Trinity loan star Adam Smith

8:40am Tuesday 13th January 2009 in Sport Photograph of the Author By Dave Flett, Sports reporter

York City boss Martin Foyle is refusing to pay a transfer fee for Gainsborough Trinity loan star Adam Smith, right York City boss Martin Foyle is refusing to pay a transfer fee for Gainsborough Trinity loan star Adam Smith, right

YORK City manager Martin Foyle will not shell out a transfer fee for Gainsborough Trinity winger Adam Smith.

Smith impressed during a one-month loan spell with the Minstermen, scoring two goals and picking up a couple of man-of-the-match awards in his seven appearances.

City boss Foyle was ready to hand him a permanent contract at KitKat Crescent, but he is not prepared to offer money for the former Chesterfield player.

Foyle feels the Lincolnshire part-timers have reneged on a gentleman’s agreement to release Smith from his contract should a professional club become interested in his services.

The Minstermen chief also added that the club did not boast the funds to meet Trinity’s asking price in any case.

He said: “I’d desperately like to take him on until the end of the season and perhaps beyond that, but it’s up to Adam whether he can come to some agreement.

“We can’t afford to pay a transfer fee, which they are asking for. They are playing games, but we won’t go there.”

Meanwhile, City were denied the chance to play a practice match on Saturday with the KitKat Crescent pitch frozen, but Foyle’s new assistant Andy Porter has still been able to make his presence felt since the Minstermen’s last first-team outing.

Foyle said: “Andy’s got into the swing of things quickly and we are in a position now where we can’t be nice.

“We’ve got to get in amongst them and their standards have to be as high as ours, but there’s a fair bit of work to be done on the training ground.”

City reserves’ totesport.com League fixture at home to Hartlepool next Tuesday has been postponed and a new date will be announced shortly.

Comments(27)

cityred1967 says...
9:05am Tue 13 Jan 09

it would be interesting to see where the money city received for martyn woolford has gone as it was said at the time that it would be made available for new players etc, i appreciate that some of it must have gone to bring in players like russell etc (wages).I also wonder at the size of the transfer fee Gainsborough are demanding for city to baulk at it. We will now probably miss out on him alltogether as some other side will have noticed his performances and pay what gainsborough are asking.

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Alan Fetish says...
9:24am Tue 13 Jan 09

It paints a very sad picture that, having taken Dyer and Rothery off the payroll and having received a fee (albeit unknown) for Martyn Woolford, we can't afford to buy one part-time footballer.

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MARTYN1982 says...
9:26am Tue 13 Jan 09

How bad has it got at York that they cant afford a small fee off a conference north team??? he is the best player and only who looks like doing something on the pitch, which can excite like Woolford did!! surely we can spare 5/10k from the reported 200k we got from woolford! depressing times ahead for York if this is the kind ambition the city board have got!! one depressed York fan!

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Yorkie69 says...
10:28am Tue 13 Jan 09

I agree with these earlier comments. Smith is a quality player and should be signed even if Gainsborough have gone back on their agreement. The fee received for Wooly ( reputed to be £200,000 ) should be spent on strengthening the squad. I fear for the clubs future. I really do.

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MARTYN1982 says...
10:36am Tue 13 Jan 09

end of the fay why would gainsborough let him go for free? they are only looking out for their best interests! only York let their best players go for free!!

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Alan Fetish says...
11:27am Tue 13 Jan 09

Haha - too true, Martyn1982. One wonders if there really was a 'gentlemen's agreement' between Smith and Gainsborough - if the stipulation was that should a higher club come in he could just walk away, why would they have bothered contracting him in the first place? It would mean they were never looking to make money from him, so it would have only been logical to employ him on a match-by-match basis. It would be as daft as York saying to a new signing, 'look, if you play well enough to attract the attention of a league club then who are we to look for a profit?'

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jcyorkie says...
11:37am Tue 13 Jan 09

why not offer Gainsborough a pre season friendly at their place and let them keep the gate money and a sell on clause etc.

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drs1706 says...
11:41am Tue 13 Jan 09

Pay for him, bright, quick talent in the mould of wooly. We desperately need him!

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Dave Smith says...
1:21pm Tue 13 Jan 09

I'm sick to death of us chasing fellow confernece players who can't get into their own clubs teams.
The can't get in the teams for one of two reasons they lack the quality / attitude or they are unfit/injured.
Why would we want to offer such players an opportunity, we already have ala Farrell, Russell, Rusk,

Need I say more.

Lets search for some up and coming talent in the lower leagues if we haven't got the money.

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Dave Smith says...
1:23pm Tue 13 Jan 09

Refusal to look for better quality players even if they do command a small fee, will steer us towards conference North.

Clearly the current group of players are unable to turn fortunes around, how many more chances do they need.

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Romfordpele says...
1:24pm Tue 13 Jan 09

I believe Smith signed for Gainsborough because he got injured in the summer, so they were slightly fortunate to have him in the first place.

Considering they are paying Luke Beckett, and have also been linked with Clare, you'd suggest Trinity aren't short of a bob or two. If Smith honestly had an agreement in place with them then City are right not to buckle, despite their desire to have the player.

At least this story has managed to bring up 'The Woolford Money' again. It's received so much attention it must be close to a seven figure sum by now.

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Dave Smith says...
1:32pm Tue 13 Jan 09

The question that fans need answering is:

WILL MARTIN FOYLE NOT PAY A FEE ON PRINICPLE

OR

IS THE MONEY NOT THERE TO SPEND

An answer to this question would at least enlighten us poor souls

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OLD - HEAD says...
1:56pm Tue 13 Jan 09

Im afraid its the old old story the fans know that we will be relegated if we do not strengthen the team, but the club just wants to sit back and hope that the tide turns. We have a right to be concerned, for if they let it go too far, then there will be no road back.

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Yorkfan71 says...
2:07pm Tue 13 Jan 09

A friend at Scunny said we got 200K but only 50K of it so far. We already blew the first 50K on Dyer (and other pointless "he's a good lad, he has a nice face, he can't play, but he has a nice face and is a good Christian) loan signings) on wages and some costs. The rest will have to mainly go towards running the club as our crowds are down due to the absolute crap sqaud we have.

Says a lot when there's zero interest in our released list of what is 80 percent of the squad, even from leagues lower than us. Even Harrogate thinks they are crap.

These players should stop acting like they are superstars in Gallery nightclub, drunk beyond reason and even, in the case of one player a while back, claiming he plays for a Premiership club to one female friend of mine, before I put them both straight. Embarassing that a) he can't even have any pride about who he actually plays for, in the same city (did he think no one would recognise him), and b) is obviously mentally deluded. Wish they could be brought down to Earth with a paycut. Contracts probably stop that, but something needs to be done to show they need to put in the effort for the 14 quid it costs to watch this pile of crap.

On the tinpot Gainsborough, if they had an agreement, they should be told to get lost over a sudden demand for a fee. We should not be blackmailed.

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Alan Fetish says...
2:34pm Tue 13 Jan 09

Dave Smith wrote:
The question that fans need answering is: WILL MARTIN FOYLE NOT PAY A FEE ON PRINICPLE OR IS THE MONEY NOT THERE TO SPEND An answer to this question would at least enlighten us poor souls
Dave - the article mention that York don't boast the funds for Smith, with Foyle saying "We can’t afford to pay a transfer fee". Assuming this isn't a lie, it probably answers your question. But an assumption in the world of York City is about as much use as, in the words of Rowan Atkinson, a one legged man at an arse kicking contest. As for your earlier comment, Adam Smith is an up and coming talent in the lower leagues and he was ever-present in the Gainsborough squad in the months before joining us. But you're certainly right about the need for better quality than what is out there right now - it's as worrying a time as I can remember at the Crescent.

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Sir Alex says...
2:43pm Tue 13 Jan 09

Stuart Elliot put on transfer list by Grays! Sad thing is that he would walk into our current midfield.

Foyle needs to strengthen centre midfield asap. The Smith thing is just a waiting game since he clearly wants to come and we want him. Its not that Gainsborough have had him very long but it looks like they are being bank-rolled by their owner so they can afford to play these silly little games.

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Dave Smith says...
2:51pm Tue 13 Jan 09

Alan Fetish wrote:
Dave Smith wrote: The question that fans need answering is: WILL MARTIN FOYLE NOT PAY A FEE ON PRINICPLE OR IS THE MONEY NOT THERE TO SPEND An answer to this question would at least enlighten us poor souls
Dave - the article mention that York don't boast the funds for Smith, with Foyle saying "We can’t afford to pay a transfer fee". Assuming this isn't a lie, it probably answers your question. But an assumption in the world of York City is about as much use as, in the words of Rowan Atkinson, a one legged man at an arse kicking contest. As for your earlier comment, Adam Smith is an up and coming talent in the lower leagues and he was ever-present in the Gainsborough squad in the months before joining us. But you're certainly right about the need for better quality than what is out there right now - it's as worrying a time as I can remember at the Crescent.
Alan - Yes all very confusing though, one minute we hear funds are available and the next minute we don't have funds.
We can only assume that Gainsborough are looking for a small fee say £10,000 or £20,000 do we not have that given the sale of Woolford.
What I'm alluding to is can the club tell us exactly what has happened to this cash.
If is has been used to cover debts then the club need to tell us and we will certainly be more understanding.

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daveymcgurk says...
4:09pm Tue 13 Jan 09

good afternoon to all york supporters.
all the speculation of how much money we recieved for martin woolford is accurate £200.000 of which £50.000 is paid immediatley then the rest once he has played so many games!
this next part is fact-i spoke to jason mcgill before the torquay home game,expressing at the time of my concerns over mr walker!!.then i asked him why we had`nt spent any of the woolford money to bring in some badly needed fresh faces to the club?
he replied by saying "the biggest part of the woolford money will be used to pay off the football league loan!"
he then said there will be money available in january for players,he hinted on one player which is believed to be daryl clare and the other he named as andrew burgess of rushden.
i think all we want as york supporters is to be told the facts/truth instead of being left in the dark all the time.
my personal opinion is we need another keeper as ingham is proned to mistakes.
we also could do with a better left back than robinson and mcwilliams.
we need a neil bishop or steve bowey in the middle of the park.
russell will prove to be a usefull winger if he is played on the same wing week in week out.
smith would be a good signing if we can lure him to york "he must play on the right wing".
get rid of mcbreen,farrell and the lazy sodje!!.adam boyes is the future but bring him in at the right times!!.
richard brodie is a goal scorer (fact) a daryl clare type player would compliment richard really well and visa versa!!.
also a striker from the conference north would be good buisness ie novak of gateshead or daly of southport.
if you bring decent players in playing good attacking football the crowds will come back therefor more money coming into the club.

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cityforthepremier says...
5:06pm Tue 13 Jan 09

the best thing to do instead of speculating and debating on here is to get yourselfs down to the york`city social club on thursday 15th jan 8pm and put the questions of money and players to the man himself and hopefuly one of the mcgills might be there because this is a shambles and embarrassing for york fans, before long we will be relegated and asking the questions later!!!

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Imp says...
6:51pm Tue 13 Jan 09

At last!
Among all the usual nonsense, a couple of people talking sense about the "Woolford money".

As two other posters have said, the idea we have £200k in cash all of a sudden is nonsense.
Modern football fees are entirely conditional, with a small fraction up front, some over instalments, and the rest reliant on appearances, goals, promotion and the sell-on.

The FF loan wasn't sorted out as quickly as expected, so we'll have had to make 6 months of payments there.
Money was used on Hirst, Rothery and Dyer (who will not have been cheap).


Also, Smith's "Gentleman's Agreement" is a verbal contract, and could be open to interpretation. Gainsborough may see it only as applicable in the case of a league club.
Or they may have said "We won't stand in your way" meaning "We'll only ask a small fee" as opposed to "We'll let you go for nowt".

Nobody knows how much they are asking, it could be they are asking something ludicrous.

May gut feeling on Smith is, this is all about brinksmanship. By the end of the month, he'll be at York on a permanent basis when Gainsborough realise they've an unhappy player who wants out.

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Some old bloke says...
8:49pm Tue 13 Jan 09

Can't understand why the headline says "Martin Foyle refuses to pay transfer fee". Surely it should say "Jason McGill refuses to pay transfer fee".
I have a feeling that the manager would love to snap up Smith given the chance.

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Imp says...
9:23pm Tue 13 Jan 09

Some old bloke wrote:
Can't understand why the headline says "Martin Foyle refuses to pay transfer fee". Surely it should say "Jason McGill refuses to pay transfer fee".
I have a feeling that the manager would love to snap up Smith given the chance.
"McGill can't, Foyle won't" from the sound of it. Not that I see it as anything more than pre-amble to an actual move.

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sixtyfourfive says...
4:18pm Wed 14 Jan 09

Daveymcgurk, Wakefield comments above :-"my personal opinion is we need another keeper as Ingham is prone to mistakes." What nonsense! - Ingham has had a pretty good season in the overall circumstances and is surely as good, if not better, than most keepers at Conference level.

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daveymcgurk says...
6:32pm Wed 14 Jan 09

im guessing sixtyfourfive-strens
ell does`nt get to many york games or he would of witnessed time and time again poor kicking,poor handling and not commanding his penalty area!!
granted ingham at times is a good keeper,but however at key times he has cost us games/points (fact).
comment when you can call yourself a york city supporter!!
untill then zip it!!

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Some old bloke says...
7:13pm Wed 14 Jan 09

And do you seriously think that the club has sufficient funds go out and buy a keeper of a higher standard than Ingham??? What's the weather like on your planet?

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daveymcgurk says...
8:43pm Wed 14 Jan 09

ha ha ha another muppet who has`nt got a clue what he`s talking about!!
go and take your seat at old trafford and have a prawn sandwich on me!!

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sixtyfourfive says...
10:11pm Thu 15 Jan 09

Nice to see the supportive and sensible comment re Ingham from "Some Old Bloke Manchester". As for the comments of "Daveymcgurk" I would merely state that I am a season ticket holder of many years standing and have watched City regularly for over forty years. Most keepers at all levels will inevitably make the odd mistake and Ingham is no different.Invariably however when contributors to this forum suggest which players of the current squad should be retained for the future, Ingham's name is to the fore - "Daveymcgurk" seems to be a lone voice?

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