YORK City directors were turned down FOUR times before being granted a £2million loan from the Football Foundation to re-acquire Bootham Crescent.

It was only after a fifth attempt by the dogged Minstermen board, led by managing director Jason McGill, that the charitable organisation were persuaded to sanction an agreement over the money required to make the club's dream of re-owning its 72-year-old home possible.

And the crucial loan, as well as the club's future, was even placed in doubt as recently as this month following the club's relegation to the Nationwide Conference with nervous Football Foundation officials questioning City's ability to meet repayments as a non-league club.

But financial director Terry Doyle provided a convincing report that will ensure the loan will be supplied by the Football Stadia Improvement Fund - a branch of the Football Foundation.

McGill, the driving force behind Project Gold, said: "There was a final fly in the ointment even at the 11th hour because when we were relegated to the Conference the Football Foundation were worried that we would not be able to meet our repayments. But erry Doyle put together the necessary paperwork that proves we can meet our financial obligations.

"The completion of the deal has taken huge amounts of hard work and effort. It has only been our sheer tenacity and our unwillingness to give up that has enabled us to save Bootham Crescent. There is no doubt that the odds were always against us but this has been another battle the club has had to overcome."

Today's announcement marks the end of an almost year-long battle to save the ground.

The loan was also secured during ongoing negotiations with former chairman Douglas Craig over the price of re-acquiring Bootham Crescent.

It is believed Craig had originally hoped to net £3.5million for himself and fellow Bootham Crescent Holdings majority shareholders Barry Swallow and Colin Webb from any sale but this was eventually bartered down to £1.8million after months of discussions.

Craig also agreed to sign an exclusivity agreement with McGill last summer, preventing the former from entering negotiations with other interested parties.

McGill first raised the possibility of obtaining a grant from the Football Foundation last July but, after three refusals, the Malton-based businessman switched tactics and applied for a loan.

"I would not take 'No' for an answer at any of the four stages when we were knocked back," he said.

Among reasons given by the charity for deciding against a grant were that certain individuals stood to benefit financially and that other clubs might want to follow the precedent to buy back their own grounds.

The Foundation are also reluctant to invest in antiquated stadia such as Bootham Crescent.

When all avenues to obtain a grant were exhausted, which included plane and car trips to and from Bournemouth and London for crucial Football Foundation meetings, a £2.5million interest-free loan was originally sought with the understanding that the club would be able to apply for a £2.5million grant in ten years' time when the ground would have been sold and relocation to a new stadium was underway.

That was also turned down but McGill went back with a request for a £2million loan paid back over the same period of ten years but with interest 0.5 per cent above the variable base rate and, finally, received an affirmative reply.

It is a unique agreement in the history of the Football Stadia Investment Fund and was made possible by McGill's persistence and the dedication of the club's other directors, as well as the support of the City of York Council.

McGill said: "By November, the council made it clear they were 100 per cent behind our plans to stay at Bootham Crescent. The Football Foundation needed to know that and they made all the right noises at the right time."

The fact that the club have never used any of the £2.5million grant made available to all club for ground developments and relocation costs following Justice Taylor's report into football stadium safety was also an important factor.

City were holding a press conference at Bootham Crescent today to explain more details about the deal.

City of York Council leader Coun Steve Galloway believes the deal is the best one the club could have negotiated.

Updated: 11:00 Friday, June 11, 2004