ANGRY York City fans are preparing a Boxing Day protest against manager Terry Dolan.

City, without a win in six League games, have plunged to 20th place in the Third Division, and some supporters are set to use the high-profile game against Hull City as a stage to vent their frustration again.

Internet supporters are talking openly on unofficial City web-sites about protesting before and after the game in the club car park, although it is not clear if the protest is co-ordinated.

Other supporters are urging fans to boycott the match which, ironically, is against one of the clubs Dolan used to manage.

With City support dwindling, there is every possibility that Tigers' fans will outnumber their York counterparts at Bootham Crescent in six days' time.

Hull have already sold their allocation of 3,700 while City last attracted a 3,000-plus gate for a home match when they lost 2-1 against Luton on September 15.

Due to the magnitude of the game, City will already have extra police and extra security in order to combat any potential trouble, and the match is an all-ticket affair.

Fans are gradually voting with their feet as City are paying the price of their sixth successive season of disappointment.

Since 1997/97 City have won just 33 of their 126 league games at Bootham Crescent, scoring less than a goal a game.

Of their 378 points on offer over that period they have pocketed a mere 160.

The Minstermen's last home win in the league came on October 27 when Michael Proctor's last-gasp winner against Macclesfield could not prevent sections of the crowd from jeering the team off.

Successive home league defeats against Scunthorpe, Swansea and Cheltenham have followed, culminating in a car park protest after Saturday's 3-1 defeat against the Robins.

Curiously City have performed well in the FA Cup and have battled through to the third round for the second successive season but it is in the bread-and-butter Third Division matches where they have struggled.

City are still three points off the bottom, a position they occupied briefly last February after a nightmare 3-0 home defeat against Exeter left the Minstermen at the foot of the entire Football League.

The position off the field is not healthy either with the club's shareholders to receive official confirmation at the AGM on Thursday that City lost a record £1,261,038 for the year ending June 30 2001.

Ray Wynn, secretary and treasurer of City's Supporters' Club, which currently has 357 members, said he would be seeking answers at that meeting about the club's current plight.

"I don't really wish to say anything at the moment but will be asking questions of the board on Thursday," he said.

He revealed that City's directors had given the go-ahead for a fans' forum to be held on an unspecified date next year.

Updated: 12:16 Tuesday, December 18, 2001