SO, Huntington Stadium it is then. Dismissed as the 'sports graveyard' by many, it is a prospect few City fans will relish at the moment.

But, crucially, it is at least a prospect and one that offers a chance of a long-term future.

For too long City and the Supporters' Trust have been fighting a war on two fronts - trying to solve the club's cash problems while also trying to find a solution to the long-standing ground issue.

A tentative peace has now been established on the latter front and by Monday, hopefully, the club will also be on a more secure financial footing as well.

It may not be palatable to everyone, but the ground proposal is a practical, workable and, in the circumstances, sensible solution providing all sides stick to their agreement.

Some will claim more should have been done to keep the club at Bootham Crescent, their home of the last 70 years and for many that fight may continue.

However, for the Trust, time and reality dictated otherwise. There simply was no other workable alternative.

Had they continued to oppose Persimmon's planning application the Minstermen would have been evicted at the end of this season.

With prospect of having nowhere to play, the Football League would never have rubber-stamped the Trust's take-over bid ensuring all the hard work of the previous 15 months was wasted.

In any case, there are no guarantees the planning battle would have been won, particularly if City are no longer playing at Bootham Crescent. If it is no longer being used as a leisure facility would there be any grounds for opposing Persimmon's bid?

There remains the hope that a generous benefactor may yet buy Bootham Crescent from Bootham Crescent Holdings and keep City at their home until a new purpose- built stadium is erected.

However, the clock is ticking for the Trust, it needs a future now to satisfy the League its deal is workable.

Perhaps the biggest hope for many fans was that the City of York Council would make a compulsory purchase order on Bootham Crescent.

However, the council have already rejected that suggestion. It will be up to councillors to justify their decision at upcoming elections.

But not only was it important a deal was thrashed out to satisfy the League, but for the sake of the football club and its staff too.

Terry Dolan had described the current uncertainty as like slow torture.

Sooner or later City had to come off the rack before the situation was irrecoverable and the club and its fans were drained of all hope, spirit and fight.

Since the turn of the year, the club has been teetering permanently on the brink.

Now there is a real prospect of a supporter-owned club, playing rent-free at Bootham Crescent for another season before moving to a much improved Huntington and at no cost to the Trust.

Roll on Monday when, for the first time in months, City should be able to start looking forward rather than continuously casting furtive glances over their shoulders.

AMID the debate as to the proposed move to Huntington, it has to be remembered the redeveloped stadium will not be the lifeless, sterile shell that exists now.

It will to all intents and purposes be a new stadium.

Fans may bemoan the fact the club will no longer be within walking distance of the City centre.

But how many fans live in the centre of York?

Most must use public or private transport at some stage to get to Bootham Crescent on a match day, so why not extend that journey just a little bit?

It may mean a longer ride for some but as most people seem more than happy to do their weekly shopping at Monks Cross then why not also for their weekly dose of football.

A proposed new park and ride facilities, plus improved parking, will also serve to make Huntington more accessible than Bootham Crescent.

Furthermore, John Batchelor's plans for a new stadium were widely supported, even though that would have involved moving City to an out of town site.

Of course, a number of obstacles and issues have to be overcome and addressed. A pub would be nice for starters and the running track has to go if the ground is to generate any sort of match-day atmosphere.

Of course, it will be unfortunate for the athletes who use the track. It is a shame they must also be uprooted because of the actions of a few.

Hopefully, the City of York Council will make good on its pledge to the Trust to relocate the track to a new venue in the city.

If it is willing to endorse the loss of an entire stadium it is surely not asking too much to move a track to another location.

MANY fans will say it's been a wasted year.

After all, much of what has now been proposed was first suggested 14 months ago by Bootham Crescent Holdings in their prospectus for potential buyers of the club.

It could also be argued it has proved very costly for the club.

Had this deal been done 12 months ago the Trust could have inherited a club free of debt and maybe with a £400,000 head start thanks to the sponsorship money Persimmon decided to give to John Batchelor's motor-racing team.

However, what's the saying that states 'if it doesn't kill you it doesn't hurt you?'.

Having endured the year from hell, there is no doubt the Trust has emerged much stronger, wiser and focused from all the adversity.

Had the Trust gone it alone a year ago and it had gone wrong they would always have been subject to snipers insisting they should have sought the help of Batchelor.

The last year has given the Trust confidence and, more importantly, the strongest possible mandate upon which to negotiate on supporters' behalf.

Finally, as the club has fought against extinction, a united front has been forged among supporters, players and staff at Bootham Crescent.

With everyone seemingly pitching in, the match-day atmosphere has notably improved in the last year or so and that has undoubtedly had a positive effect on the team.

It is surely no coincidence that City have lost just three League games at home since the start of 2002, when the troubles first erupted.

THE buckets that have helped give City a stay of execution were notable by their absence at Nene Park earlier this month.

The collection buckets held by the Friends of Bootham Crescent, the Harrogate Minstermen and other volunteers have become an almost permanent fixture at both home and away games.

An approach was made to officials at Rushden to carry out another collection last Saturday and the Diamonds readily agreed.

However, organisers were informed the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity would also be staging their own bucket collection at the match.

Fearing a collection in aid of the Trust would reduce the amount donated to Marie Curie it was decided City's bucket collection should be shelved.

MARATHON Andy Heppell is on the run again.

The chairman of the York City Supporters' Club is in training for next month's London Marathon, in what will be his ninth 26-miler in the capital.

Andy will be running in aid of St Leonard's Hospice and any City fans wishing to sponsor his efforts can contact him at Bootham Crescent on match-days.

Andy can normally be found selling half-time draw tickets close to the main entrance. He also carries the board around the pitch at half-time detailing the winning numbers.

ANYONE in any doubt as to the magic of football need only have tuned into Newcastle United's gripping Champions' League encounter with Inter Milan in the San Siro on Tuesday night.

Commentator Peter Drury made the point that exactly two years to the day Newcastle full-back Olivier Bernard was making his debut on loan for Darlington at Bootham Crescent in front of 3,900 fans.

A meteoric rise indeed.

Updated: 08:58 Saturday, March 15, 2003