YORK City Supporters’ Trust are encouraging the football club’s board to set a break-even budget for the 2018/19 season.

In a club board statement issued yesterday, it was announced that City’s majority 75 per cent shareholder JM Packaging and the Trust, who retain a 25 per cent stake, had been “approached to determine what additional funds are to be made available by each party in connection with constructing a workable budget for the 2018-19 season."

City announced in March that Steven Kilmartin, Dave Penney, Ian McAndrew and Richard Adams were the club’s new board of directors following owner Jason McGill’s decision to step down as chairman after Trust members voted against a proposal to hand over their shares to his Malton-based company.

In a statement of their own, the Trust, who have requested a meeting with the Minstermen’s new board to discuss the long-term ownership and operations of the football club, said: “The Trust encourages the club directors to prepare a break-even budget for next season as would be prudent in any business.

“Given the legacy of systematic over-spending during the past 12 years, we do recognise the significant challenges that this may present.

However, the Trust firmly believes that the football club can and should operate within its means and that it’s not sustainable or possible to continue borrowing millions of pounds.

“The club’s recent history has shown that throwing money at the problem doesn’t translate into success on the field. There is simply no business case to operate at a loss.”

In response to the request for a potential provision of funds towards next season’s budget, the Trust statement added: “The Trust have indicated that, whilst it would be happy to assist in reviewing the budgets, it would require copies of certain documents to properly assess the situation with its professional advisors. To date, no information has been received by the Trust.

“The Trust has begun development of a plan for the future ownership, operations and community outreach of the football club. The primary objective of this initiative is to provide a blue-print for a sustainable, successful and debt-free professional football club in the city of York.”