FORMER York City number one Dean Kiely has hit out at the man viewed as the villain of the club's present critical status.

Kiely, who since leaving the Minstermen in 1996 has gone on to become one of the Premiership's top goalkeepers and a Republic of Ireland World Cup squad member, told the Evening Press it was not a shock to discover that former City chairman Douglas Craig was at the heart of the club's perilous plight.

A year after Craig, in his capacity as chairman of Bootham Crescent Holdings, announced that he and his fellow BCH directors were putting the club up for sale, City now have just over three weeks in which to find a buyer otherwise they will cease to exist.

BCH own the club's Bootham Crescent ground and also still possess the club's Wigginton Road training ground, Grovesnor Terrace house and other assets.

It is a doom-laden prospect which has saddened the 32-year-old Kiely, who revealed he is to attend a rallying meeting of the London branch of the City Supporters' Club on January 9.

The current Charlton Athletic net-minder said he fell foul of Craig when he asked for a wage rise after being a pivotal performer in the Minstermen's historic Wembley promotion conquest in May 1993 followed by a near second successive play-off triumph.

Kiely recalled that after meticulously preparing his case for several hours his subsequent talks with Craig, who was then City chairman, lasted 'just 45 seconds' after which he was told he would not get the increase he felt he deserved.

"I was not asking to be the highest paid player in the club or anything like that, but then Douglas Craig went to the papers and told the public 'this and that'," Kiely told the Evening Press. "I was on the receiving end of his propaganda, so when I hear what is going on now, am I surprised? No.

"For the fans a football club is more than just a football club - it's a passion, it's their lives.

"But here you have a group of men who are using a club to make money for themselves. It's not for the football club, for the supporters, for the people, or for the city. It's for themselves.

"People called me a 'Judas' when I left the club, but people have got to realise Douglas Craig is doing to the fans now what he did to me.

"Does he lose sleep at night? I don't think he bats an eyelid."

When he was approached by City's London branch of fans to attend their next meeting Kiely readily agreed, adding: "There is still a lot of sentiment there. I married a girl from York and I still have connections there and while I am now reaping the benefit of playing in the Premier League, my grounding and my experience was first gained at York City - there's no question about that.

"I had to fight and scrap and that was done in York."

Updated: 10:53 Monday, December 30, 2002