THE revised plans of new community stadium developers Oakgate are being showcased in the De Grey Rooms and at Bootham Crescent today.

But standing areas, popular at the present homes of both York City and York City Knights rugby league club, remain absent from the current scheme.

Recent surveys suggested Minstermen fans would like to see some form of terracing included in the proposed arena and a “Safe Standing” meeting will now be staged at the football club’s Pitchside Bar on Wednesday night.

The evening, organised as part of the Football Supporters’ Federation’s Safe Standing campaign, will begin at 7.30pm and discuss the pros and cons of including terracing at the planned Monks Cross arena.

As part of their campaign, the FSF have persuaded 145 MPs to sign an Early Day Motion calling for a reopening on the debate of safer standing in football as, under current legislation, all-seater stadiums are still required to compete in the top two tiers of this country, as well as in European competition.

The latter prerequisite has been circumnavigated in countries like Germany and Austria, where standing areas permitted domestically can be easily converted into seats for use in UEFA tournaments.

A provision of terracing that could be switched to seats if required at a later date would obviously be beneficial cost-wise in relation to the Oakgate development and City’s Supporters’ Trust, who have pledged their wholehearted support of the current outline planning application, will be canvassing fans about their views on this matter and others next month.

Prior to Wednesday’s meeting, the amendments to Oakgate’s scheme can be witnessed at the De Grey Rooms next to the Theatre Royal in St Leonard’s Place from 10am to 5pm today.

There will also be a Digivan present in the car park at Bootham Crescent before today’s home match against Hayes & Yeading United, where the proposals can be viewed.

The revised plan, updated from the original application submitted to the City of York Council in September, includes the addition of all-weather pitches and the reduction of car-parking numbers.

• GROUND-HOPPING City fan John McClure is likely to be one interested observer of Oakgate’s plans at today’s game.

John, a City fan since 1956, has visited 244 different stadiums while indulging in a hobby that has spanned more than 40 years.

He became a member of the 92-club – a band of supporters who have travelled to every Football League outfit – back in 1979 with a visit to Ipswich Town’s Portman Road but is now 14 short due to the proliferation of new arenas.

Pictured presenting Matty Blair with his Press Player of the Month award for February, John writes a club guide in the monthly Non-League Digest but, as a devotee of Bootham Crescent and fan of traditional grounds, he has admitted that he is still hoping the club can find some way of staying at their current home.

From his travels, including five trips to the new Wembley stadium as a City fan and a neutral, the Minstermen’s current base remains his favourite stadium with John adding: “I do not want City to move as I think it is possible to upgrade the ground.”

• SKIPPER Chris Smith and star striker Jason Walker will be guests of Pocklington Minstermen on Thursday night.

The pair will be available to answer questions from 7.30pm at Pocklington Town Sports and Social Club, where the doors will open half-an-hour earlier. There is no admission fee and everybody is welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Loan ace Ben shares award with skipper

CAPTAIN Chris Smith and new on-loan defender Ben Gibson were the joint-winners of The Press Player of the Month award for February.

The pair shared the honours after Smith was our man of the match during last weekend’s 1-0 FA Trophy victory at Grimsby.

That accolade earned the City skipper three points towards the standings, placing him level at the top with Middlesbrough teenager Gibson.

The other points from the Grimsby match went to Michael Ingham (two) and Ashley Chambers (one) as our second and third-highest rated players respectively.

James Meredith collected the two bonus points on offer towards the standings after polling the most man-of-the-match votes from visitors to our website.

To be in with a chance of presenting the March Player of the Month with his prize at a City home game, vote for your man of the match from either of the next two home games against Hayes & Yeading and Tamworth.

The Press Player of the Year standings (do not include Player of the Month bonus points): Walker 28 points, Blair 25, Kerr 23, Smith 20, Ingham 18, McLaughlin 18, Meredith 15, Chambers 14, Fyfield 14, McGurk 10, Moké 9, Challinor 7, Parslow 7, Oyebanjo 6, Boucaud 5, Gibson 4, Reed 4, Doig 3, Blinkhorn 2, Pilkington 2, Henderson 1.

February Player of the Month final standings: Gibson 6, Smith 6, Blair 4, Doig 3, Reed 3, Blinkhorn 2, Ingham 2, McLaughlin 2, Meredith 2, Chambers 1, Kerr 1.

Goals: Blair 15, Walker 15, McLaughlin 10, Chambers 9, Reed 9, Challinor 3, Smith 3, Blinkhorn 2, Fyfield 2, Moké 2, Pilkington 2, Ashikodi 1, Boucaud 1, Henderson 1, Kerr 1, McGurk 1, Meredith 1, own goal 1.

Assists: Chambers 11, McLaughlin 11, Blair 8, Meredith 7, Moké 7, Pilkington 7, Reed 6, Walker 6, Kerr 4, Challinor 3, Oyebanjo 3, Potts 2, Henderson 1, McGurk 1, Parslow 1, Smith 1.

Bad boys: Smith 10 yellow cards; McGurk 8 yellow; Kerr 6 yellow; Meredith 5 yellow; Boucaud, Walker both 1 red, 3 yellow; Challinor, McLaughlin both 4 yellow; Parslow, Reed both 3 yellow; Fyfield, Moké, Oyebanjo all 2 yellow; Brown 1 red; Ashikodi, Chambers, Ingham all 1 yellow.