YORK City’s home clash with Maidstone on Saturday has been designated the club’s fourth annual Football v Homophobia match.

As part of the Minstermen’s efforts to show support for the local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, 50 tickets for the match have been donated to York Pride.

City’s players will warm up in Football v Homophobia t-shirts and there will also be anti-homophobia PA announcements before the match and at half-time.

The gesture is part of an international initiative that was originally launched and conceived by the Justin Campaign in 2010 which was founded to demonstrate that more than a decade after gay footballer Justin Fashanu’s tragic suicide in 1998, homophobia was still hugely prevalent in both grassroots and professional football.

On the importance of the initiative, City chairman Jason McGill said: “York City is an inclusive football club with a strong emphasis on building positive relationships with everyone in our local community regardless of race, sexuality, religion or gender. We fully support the ‘Football v Homophobia’ campaign as we actively promote the message to our supporters that football is for everyone.

“We hope that our continued efforts to combat homophobia in football will make a positive difference in the city of York and local area and will lead to greater acceptance of LGBT players and supporters.”

City have also decided to make the home game with Eastleigh on Saturday, March 4 their second Kids for a Quid fixture of the season after successfully experimenting the idea earlier this season against Dagenham.

Children aged 11 years and under will be able to attend the clash anywhere in Bootham Crescent for just £1 to a maximum of two tickets per any full-paying adults or season-ticket holders.

Tickets will be available from the City ticket office from next Monday and any supporters wishing to sit in the Family Stand or York Pullman Main Stand B must purchase their tickets in advance either in person or by calling 01904 624447.

The initiative will also be available on the day for visiting supporters.

Finally, City will be revisiting the “Bring A Friend for a Fiver” scheme that saw a rise in crowd attendance of 300 earlier this season for the visit of Torquay.

It will be in place for the Saturday, April 1 home contest against Braintree and will permit every City season-ticket holder to bring along a friend or family member for £5.

The discounted tickets will only be available in advance from the ticket office in order to allow supporters easier access to the ground on the day of the match.

Supporters will need to present their season-ticket booklets to take advantage of the offer with tickets available from Monday, March 20 to Friday, March 31

For anybody unable to visit the ticket office in person, there will be the option of purchasing a guest ticket by telephone, but a £1 card charge will be applied.