YORK City Knights' supporters club have called for John Guildford to relinquish all control of the club - ownership as well as chairmanship.

The Press revealed today that Guildford, the Knights majority shareholder, has stood down as chairman, in the latest twist to the community stadium saga that has seen the club begin the season homeless.

Having been frozen out of stadium talks by project leaders City of York Council, Guildford confirmed he left the board last month at the request of the local authority to enable new directors to get back around the table with the project team. Those new talks are ongoing, with Guildford saying he was hopeful of an agreement shortly.

Nevertheless, the Knights Independent Supporters' Society (KISS) today issued a statement asking for Guildford to cede ownership of the club, too. York City's owners, JM Packaging, last month issued an open offer to take over.

Guildford declined to respond to the KISS statement.

The statement said: "It is with great frustration that it has come to this, but the Knights Independent Supporters Society feel that John Guildford’s position as owner of the York City Knights is no longer tenable, regardless of him having stepped down as chairman of the club.

"We feel the only way the club can progress is under new ownership, be it JM Packaging Ltd or another interested party.

"We would like to thank Mr Guildford and his family for their hard work over the last 13 years, but the time has come to step down and allow the club to flourish under fresh ownership."