York City fans have been betrayed. Bootham Crescent is to be closed and demolished at the end of the season, barring a miracle.

Those responsible for its destruction are not faceless outsiders, but the very people entrusted with the moral guardianship of this historic club: its directors.

What makes the news even more devastating is the timing. Less than 48 hours after fans left a meeting on a tidal wave of optimism, having unanimously agreed to try to save City by launching a Supporters' Trust, this bomb was detonated beneath them.

It has shattered high hopes and wrecked dreams.

The short prospectus that contained this bombshell is chillingly dispassionate, as if it had been written by London City slickers rather than York City fans as the directors have always claimed to be.

It certainly reveals why club chairman Douglas Craig refused to answer our questions last week.

The deal to sell Bootham Crescent, which will net the directors a vast profit, has been negotiated behind closed doors and is today presented as a fait accompli.

The directors have made every effort to conceal their plans from the fans. We are now left to speculate as to when the plot was first hatched.

Was Bootham Crescent Holdings set up in 1999 with the prime ambition of off-loading the club and selling the ground?

Directors have been in negotiations with various parties for some time before going public. That much is incontrovertible.

The prospectus talks of "informal discussions with Cannon Leisure Management who have a long lease of the whole sports complex at Huntington". How many others knew of the board's plans?

The reason the directors kept their scheme under wraps until the last possible moment is that they knew it would cause a storm of protest. To be open would mean consulting the real stakeholders in this football club, the fans, and that would have delayed pay day.

Instead they chose to deal York City a devastating double blow: announce the club's sale or closure on December 20, giving interested parties just four weeks over the Christmas period to register an interest. Then, on January 9 eight days before the first deadline reveal Bootham Crescent must be vacated by June.

York City's board have struggled with mounting financial problems for years, and no one could blame them for wanting to let someone else take the strain. But the way they have gone about disposing of their responsibilities is unforgivable.

What motivated this unseemly scrabble to dump the club?

The four major shareholders who between them paid under £200,000 for their 94 per cent holding and who stand to share a £3.5 million pay out are not saying.

They have offered to pay a million pounds of the Bootham Crescent sale proceeds to settle the club's debts and pay for Huntington Stadium improvements. This might help to salve their consciences, but it is not nearly enough to secure the future of professional football in York.

By closing Bootham Crescent, the directors are ripping the heart out of York City. The sale also makes the club a much less attractive proposition to potential purchasers who can be sure that fewer fans will travel to Huntington to watch matches.

The directors call themselves City fans. Today they sold the real fans down the river.

Updated: 10:18 Wednesday, January 09, 2002