YORK City’s board of directors are “determined” to achieve Blue Square Premier success.

Expressing their relief at maintaining their league status, a statement from the KitKat Crescent club board declared the management team would be given the “best possible budget” to try to propel the Minstermen up the ladder next season.

Following a difficult campaign which began with ambitions of promotion, the board said of the last nine months: “It has been a disappointing season and our league position is far from where we anticipated at the start of the campaign.

“However, we have maintained our Blue Square Premier status, which has been our primary focus for the past few months.

“Everyone at the club has worked hard to achieve this, and we have remained united and have received tremendous support from our fans during this difficult and stressful time.”

The Minstermen’s league status was not secured until a 2-1 win over Weymouth last Friday night and the board hoped everyone could now enjoy the FA Trophy final at Wembley, against Stevenage on May 9, now the threat of relegation from non-league football’s top tier had gone.

The statement added: “The high point of the season has been our success in the FA Trophy and reaching the final at Wembley on May 9.

“Now safety in the league has been secured, we can all enjoy this fantastic occasion and the team can focus on winning the game and bringing the trophy back to York.

“Over the coming weeks the board will be preparing budgets for next season.

“We are determined to achieve success in the league and we will be giving our management team the best possible budget we can to try to achieve this.

“We would like to encourage York fans everywhere to support the team at Wembley and, in doing so, they will be helping the club next season.”