YORK City Supporters Trust will seek an independent valuation of Bootham Crescent to ascertain its current market price.

A figure of £4.5million has previously been given, but that is an out-of-date estimate recorded by the City of York Council, with Persimmon Homes the agreed purchaser.

City’s club auditor Steve Kilmartin now reckons developers, he has canvassed, have suggested they would pay no more than £3million for the five-acre site, given the demolition costs also involved.

But the Trust believe there could be equity left in the sale following the payment of creditors, including all the money chairman Jason McGill has paid into the club on an interest-free loan understanding.

Commenting on the land’s expected worth, Kilmartin said: “I don’t think a developer will pay the £4.5million for Bootham Crescent that the City of York Council valued it at. It’s only a five-acre site and I’ve asked somebody in the industry to give me a value for what it’s worth and they said between £2.5million and £3million.

“Persimmon will make an offer that will be accepted or it will go to a tribunal.”

When the cost of a valuation was estimated to be £6,000 by a member of the audience at the Supporters Trust AGM, Kilmartin also challenged the Trust board to foot that cost, retorting: “Right, well have it done, because it’s hard enough paying the salaries.”

Kilmartin added that McGill, as the sole director of the York Stadium Management Company, was working fervently to ensure that the Minstermen achieve the greatest possible income-raising potential at the new community stadium, which will be shared with rugby league outfit York City Knights.

“The Knights have to fight their own battles, but the community stadium will have two boardrooms and other facilities that will be for the use of both clubs,” Kilmartin explained. “That will all be agreed between the three parties – the football club, rugby club and the council – but Jason is fighting hard to ensure the majority of the revenue comes into the football club.”

Trust chairman John Lacy, who revealed that the Trust had been bolstered by 60 to 70 new Trust members in recent weeks, went on to explain that two previous proposals to resolve the shares issue, discussed with McGill, were never put to a members’ vote.

The reasons given were that the Trust would not agree to a condition that the Trust board recommended the proposals being passed and that greater transparency regarding future intentions was not forthcoming.

One proposal was the golden share agreement where the Trust received their stake back if the club did not play a game at the new stadium by 2019 and the other involved the dilution of shares from 25 per cent to 9 per cent.

But Kilmartin claimed that the Trust board have now exhausted McGill’s patience, following 22 months of negotiations.

East Riding Minstermen chair John Uttley also relayed that McGill had informed him that his relationship with the Trust board was now “untenable”, with the former calling for “fresh faces” on the committee.