York-born goalkeeper Nick Culkin is soaring Concorde-high after a fillip from treble-hunting Manchester United.

Culkin, who travelled to Barcelona in supersonic class with the rest of the red devils raiders for tomorrow's European Champions' League Cup final duel with Bayern Munich, will see the Millennium in as a Manchester United man.

The one-time York City intermediate has accepted manager Alex Ferguson's offer of a new two-year contract starting from this summer.

It is a major boost for the York lad, who moved to Old Trafford in a dramatic £100,000 deal when he was still a raw teenager. He is still more than a month away from his 21st birthday.

Since then Culkin has established himself as third in line behind the great Dane Peter Schmeichel, who is due to make tomorrow's third leg of an unprecedented treble his last senior appearance for the English League and FA cup champions.

While Ferguson is reportedly on the trail of every top-class custodian in the world, Schmeichel's impending departure from United strengthens the hand of Culkin in laying a claim to an even bigger impact at Old Trafford.

All told he has made 14 reserve appearances for the star-studded United ranks, as well as starting three senior games. Though they were all friendlies, the last was in front of a 55,000 crowd at Old Trafford for the Munich testimonial/Eric Cantona farewell game.

Culkin has also been a first-team substitute four times, including a Champions' League preliminary round game against Polish outfit VS Lodz.

It's quite a turnaround for the one-time Bootham Crescent youngster.Culkin had made literally just a handful of appearances for City's intermediates' side when he was snapped up by United as a 17-year-old in September 1995.

The £100,000 deal was completed shortly after the Minstermen's memorable Coca-Cola Cup conquest of United at Old Trafford. And the cash brokered from the shock deal was specifically set aside for the building of the club's new training complex, now and up and running at Wigginton Road.

When the 181/2-acre training base was opened last September by United boss Ferguson, Culkin was confirmed as the number three choice 'keeper behind Schmeichel and Belgium's Raymond Van Der Gouw.

Said Ferguson of Culkin at that time: "He has improved physically which is what he had to do.

"He's a big lad with a bit of physique about him and as goalkeepers go he is young enough."

The recognition of Culkin's progress is the second boost for an ex-City star.Striker Jonathan Greening, who joined United from City 15 months ago in a £350,000 deal rising to a maximum of £1.6million, has just been offered a 'considerable' extension to his current contract at Old Trafford, still with two years to run.

With captain Roy Keane and FA Cup Final scorer Paul Scholes suspended Greening has an outside chance of making the 18 for the Euro summit against fellow treble-seekers Bayern.Don't miss your Manchester United v Bayern Munich European Cup match preview in tomorrow's Evening Press - May 26.

City cash in on Dean

by Tony Kelly

York City were today in the money after the big-cash transfer of one-time goalkeeper Dean Kiely, as first revealed in the Evening Press.

Kiely has been bought for £1million by new Nationwide League first division club Charlton Athletic from Bury, to where Kiely moved from Bootham Crescent three years ago.

Kiely's move from City to the Shakers in 1996 was fixed by a Football League tribunal at £125,000. But under a separate clause hammered out at the tribunal, City were to receive 20 percent of any future transfer above that original fee.

So City's cut of Kiely's £1million move to the London club recently demoted from the Premiership will be a cool £175,000.

And that cash boost will hopefully provide extra financial muscle to new manager Neil Thompson as he plots the instant push out of the basement into which the Minstermen plummeted just over a fortnight ago.

I understand Charlton were one of three clubs homing in on the 29-year-old Kiely.The others were Charlton's fellow top-flight fallers Blackburn Rovers, plus Huddersfield Town, who yesterday appointed Steve Bruce as their new manager. Both were keen on prising Kiely away from Gigg Lane after Bury's relegation to Division Two earlier this month.

Kiely, who figured in 239 games in five years' service with the Minstermen, is presently with the Republic of Ireland squad preparing for Saturday's international against Northern Ireland at Lansdowne Road in memory of the victims of the Omagh bombing disaster.

The Republic are in France tonight to play a Brittany X1 in Nantes before Saturday's fund-raising clash in Dublin.

The 29-year-old Kiely has signed a five-year deal with the Valiants and is set for a battle for the number one spot at Charlton with Macedonian international Sasa Ilic.

Charlton chairman Richard Murray described the swoop for Kiely as evidence of Charlton's intent to return to the elite as quickly as possible. He said: "Kiely was probably the Division One's best goalkeeper last season."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.