THE family of a York City fan say they are delighted after being reunited with a memorial seat which they thought had been lost for ever.

Clare Feasby said the seat with an inscription to her grandfather saying ‘In Memory of Jack Feasby 1913-1996’ was considered lost by the family who tried to find it years ago in the main stand at Bootham Crescent.

But groundsmen removing auctioned seating from the club’s old ground and preparing them for collection managed to find it and trace the family and reunite the seat with Jack’s son, Derek, who now lives in Easingwold.

Derek said his dad, who died in 1996, started supporting the club when they were at Fulfordgate and followed them through thick and thin throughout his life.

The family arranged for the plaque to be fitted after Jack’s death, but they struggled to find it again when Derek contacted the club back when there were initial talks of selling Bootham Crescent in about 2011.

Derek said: “I couldn’t find the plaque and no one at the club could find it at the time, until we got a phone call out of the blue asking us if we’d like it back.”

Speaking to the club Clare said: “Myself, my dad and my sister are over the moon with this, we can’t thank you all enough, we really thought it was lost forever.

“We have so many happy memories of sitting with grandad watching City when we were younger, something we’ve carried on doing, even when we all lived 200 miles away from Bootham.

“You honestly don’t know just how much this means to us.

“Please thank the groundsman who found it and thanks to all of you who worked together to find us- this is what our City family is all about.”